Focus Brings Clarity

Posted on October 14, 2011 by Ken McGarity, One of Thousands of Christian Coaches on Noomii.

In my interactions with Churches, Ministries and business leaders I have the opportunity to see a wide range leadership styles, goals, team dynamics and vision.

I have noticed a few trends between the organizations who are actually making incremental forward movement and those that are stagnate or worse yet, declining. One of those common threads is simple focus. As much as the “chameleon” model has proven ineffective, it is still employed by many. The chameleon organization is constantly shifting, always changing, driven by the next big idea and very unpredictable. Here is how you recognize the chameleon.

• Global consistency doesn’t exist in their organization.
• Each department is like its own mini-organization, because it has to be.
• They are constantly asking “what do the people want” instead of “what do we want to give the people”.
• The vision is always short term.
• Busyness is the key indicator instead of productivity.
• Their constituents, customers or supporters are constantly turning over, leaving or at best really confused.
• They become very hungry for winning the next battle instead of for winning the war.
• As soon as any consistency begins to form, they shift and move away from it fearing they won’t please the masses.
• Because they blend in so well, they eventually go unnoticed.
• They despise “less is more” and “keep it simple”.
• They spend a lot of time wondering why all of their efforts have made them invisible.
• When they do move in a new direction, they move slow.
• They are always reacting to their environment instead of creating one.

These are just some of the markers of a shaky foundation in a organization. A lack of laser beam focus.

I remember years ago when Coca Cola had the novel idea to change it’s formula. Lot’s of resources invested, huge marketing campaign, completely new direction and at the end of the day, a complete nightmare. Coke learned a valuable lesson. Let’s just keep doing what we already know we do well. Let’s focus in on our strengths and make them even stronger. Let’s improve on what we are good at instead of changing the core of who we are. Let’s choose an identity and stick with it.

Coca Cola has developed many divisions as an organization over the years to meet the needs of different market segments. However, each of those divisions is focused on its strengths. And you better believe that when you buy a Coke today it is the “original” formula. Because it was the original formula that put it on the map.

Have you as a leader decided what your “original formula” is going to be yet. Or are you still experimenting?