What gets attention gets done.
What we like, think about, follow, are motivated by.
These all help define us, and our lives.
They especially help define leaders, and what they’re good at.
And what their teams pay attention to.
So too, however, does what we’re not interested in.
Not just the things we really dislike. We can think a lot about those actually.
The things we’re neutral about. Just don’t care about.
What we don’t like, don’t think about, don’t follow, aren’t motivated by.
What we ignore.
What we don’t pay attention to helps define our leadership.
Because what we ignore, we don’t learn about.
The problem comes when the things we don’t care about are important.
That might sound odd, but in a complicated world there are lots of distractions and opportunities for a leader to be disconnected from parts of their organization.
Or just be mistaken that something isn’t important when it is.
Unchecked, or unprovoked, we tend to avoid things we don’t like.
So good leaders need some tricks to help focus on things they don’t like.
Good leaders encourage themselves and their teams to focus on what’s important, not just what they are interested in.
That takes discipline.
Athletes and soldiers overcome this by establishing strong routines around things they know are important but boring or difficult.
Fitness, skills training, carrying loads, working in the dark.
Good leaders step back from their own interests and recognize what’s important but not interesting or easy.
Then they endure the pain.
“What we don’t pay attention to helps define our leadership…”
Are there things in your organization that aren’t interesting but are important?
How would you know?
What things do you force yourself to endure because they’re important?
Have you tried to re-frame them to make them relevant?
Have you set them into routines to make sure they happen?
Have you ensured that there is someone in your team who does care about those things?
Do you encourage them, or ignore them?
Does diversity have a practical impact here?
Try reflecting on what you don’t pay attention to …