The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader - Focus

We continue our learning and growing with the lessons contained in John C. Maxwell’s book titled The 21 Indispensable Qualities of a Leader. This book carries the subtitle: "Becoming the Person Others Will Want to Follow".

Everything rises and falls on leadership. And leadership truly develops from the inside out. If you can become the leader you ought to be on the inside, you will be able to become the leader you want to be on the outside. People will want to follow you.

Quality #8 - Focus: the sharper it is, the sharper you are.

“If you chase two rabbits, both will escape.” – Unknown

What does it take to have the focus required to be a truly effective leader? The keys are priorities and concentration. A leader who knows his priorities but lacks concentration knows what to do but never gets it done. If he has concentration but no priorities, he has excellence without progress. But when he harnesses both, he has potential to achieve great things.

How should you focus your time and energy? Use the guidelines below to help you:

1. Focus 70% on Strengths.
   1. Effective leaders who reach their potential spend more time focusing on what they do well than on what they do wrong.
   2. To be successful, focus on your strengths and develop them. That's where you should pour your time, energy, and resources.
2. Focus 25% on New Things.
1. Growth equals change. If you want to get better, you have to keep changing and improving.
2. If you dedicate time to new things related to areas of strength, then you'll grow as a leader.
3. Don't forget: in leadership, if you're through growing, you're through.
3. Focus 5% on Areas of Weakness.
1. Nobody can entirely avoid working in areas of weakness. The key is to minimize it as much as possible, and leaders can do it by delegating.

To get back on track with your focus, do these things:

• Work on yourself.
• Work at your priorities.
• Work in your strengths.
• Work with your contemporaries.

“What people say, what people do, and what they say they do are entirely different things.” – Margaret Mead, Anthropologist

Bringing it home:

1. Shift to strengths.
   1. Dedicate 70% of your time to your strengths.
2. Staff your weaknesses.
   1. Develop a plan.
3. Create an edge.
   1. Rethink how you do things, and be willing to make sacrifices.
   2. Time and money spent to take you to the next level are the best investment you can make.

Donald G Rosenbarger
Senior Vice President
Delta Companies Inc