Remaining Focused - Even When Faced with Multiple and Competing Priorities

We all have different reactions to multiple-priority situations. The best leaders remain focused — regardless of how much is happening. The key element to this type of focus is vision. Vision is the core of every effective leadership practice.

Take Your Swing

In golf, you're responsible for every decision and action you make. The same is true in leadership.

In both golf and leadership, you expect to find yourself in situations where you have multiple options. You get to choose the clubs in your bag. You choose which club to use for each shot. You choose the shot itself. You determine everything except the lay of the course and the weather.

When you take your swing, you put all those decisions into action, which can be a lot of pressure. Nobody makes the right decision every time. Great leadership requires practice and dedication. You don't need to be perfect — you just need to keep following your true vision of success.

Hone Your Vision

When you have multiple, competing priorities, your vision helps keep you in focus. It's the path ahead — it's how you measure your success. You should be able to define it in just a few words, and it should never change.

If you ever feel like you're starting to lose your way in multiple, shifting priorities and competing options, it's time to go back to your vision. If that isn't easy to do, then it's a sign you need to refine and strengthen your overall goals.

Ask yourself a few questions: Where are you headed and how are you know when you are successful? If you have immediate answers for these questions, then you have a strong vision. If not, work on answering them in a way that feels true to you.

Keep Your Focus

Even with a strong vision, it's important to draw the line between your long-term goal and your immediate priorities. I refer to the immediate priorities as missions.

Missions are your goals for 6 months, 12 months and 18 months — they are targets that you can reach in a relatively short amount of time. Your vision is more of an ideal.

It's possible to have competing missions. It's possible for missions to fail, succeed or just never come to a full resolution. When one mission is no longer working for your goals, you simply begin another one that advances your vision of success.

Improve Your Game

If you sink a hole-in-one, you keep playing. If you choose the wrong club, you keep playing.

It can sometimes feel like you're starting over, but that's the beauty of practice and dedication. You can go back to the same course the next day — as a better, more focused player.

Regardless of which you choose, you become better equipped to handle similar situations in the future. You become a better leader. When you come up against multiple priorities, do you follow your vision?