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In the grocery store business, they call items that are marked at a severe discount, a loss leader.
For example, if you are a Sam’s Club or a Costco shopper, the tantalizing cooked chickens are a loss leader. You come in for the chicken and hopefully, you walk out with a cart full of other items! You sacrifice the profit for one item for the potential profit on other items.
This blog is about Lost Leaders.
I am talking about leaders at all levels who are in a slump, they have lost their way, their passion is dwindling, and their E-Factor habits and actions are at an all time low. Since this is my website and my words, I am diagnosing this aliment as something I call “Focus Interruptus”.
If this is not you, it may be someone in your family or someone on your staff. It can impact leaders at any stage and can be remedied.
If left unrecognized, it can result in career chaos and organizational disarray. It can take a wonderful leader from a world of potential and possibilities and turn them into an angry, lost leader.
This ailment, “focus interruptus” is highly contagious. It can spread through executive suites, companies, associations, organizations, families, churches and even social clubs like wildfire. When the leaders lose their focus, the entire group suffers and soon even the aspiring leaders are inflicted.
What happens?
Sometimes it is a personal or political loss. A personal loss might be a family crisis, a death of a loved one, a divorce, child issues, money woes, or even a health crisis.
Something happens that shakes the foundation of the leader and their focus is shifted dramatically. Depending on the maturity and experience of the leader, this may be remedied quickly or it may cause a permanent rift in their leadership.
On a professional level, it may be a political loss. A promotion does not come, the business loses a major client, an unhappy employee brings charges or disrupts the crew, a beloved employee retires or seeks another job. It is usually rooted in the feeling of loss, anger, hurt or even betrayal. Leaders who do not feel valued, appreciated and respected are the most vulnerable.
In either our personal or professional lives, it can start with a minor incident and become a major diversion. The diversion brings about feelings of loss, unworthiness, despair and even a huge loss in confidence. It can be insidious and seems to keep growing and adding evidence to back up the incident.
Some leaders will take this as a sign to move on. Time to dust of the resume and seek greener pastures and a better job. Some will stay and quit.
They will continue in the position but quit using their talents and abilities to the fullest. An organization that has had bold and positive leadership may drift into an uninspired and discouraging organization very quickly.
Is there a cure? What do the best leaders do? Can you avoid this? Can you prepare yourself for it? The answers to all of these questions are yes, yes, yes, and absolutely yes! If you are a student of biographies or autobiographies, you will read accounts of leaders throughout history who came down with a case of “focus interruptus” and used it to grow.
I love the idea of using it like a loss leader in the marketing industry. They accept the loss and figure out how to profit from it! If you or a member of your family or staff have “focus interruptus”, you may have the ability to use this experience to reignite your passion or in the words of that great motivational guru, Austin Powers, “find your Mojo”. And yes, I did quote Austin Powers! There is wisdom all around us if you really look!
It starts with some reflection. I consider this the ultimate brain dump. Take time to chart, journal, write out, make notes or reflect on how you feel, what is going on, who is involved, what is the situation, how did it happen, why did it happen, are there external factors influencing this, are you being too sensitive, is this a real crisis or is this a feeling of one, looking internal to find out who, what, when, where, why and how this is impacting you.
You may find it is a hurt or an instance that has been magnified. Something hit you at the wrong time in a devastating way. It was a temporary issue and you can get thought it. It may be something more serious and systemic. Something in your organization or life is out of balance or creating an issue and you need to deal with it NOW. Is this an issue that you need outside help with? Is there any help available inside your organization?
In one instance, the situation was centered around an instigator employee. There was one person in the organization who was creating issues. Rather than deal with this issue in a straight forward manner, the leader allowed it to continue. Some of the rationale was based on fear. If the employee left, the organization would lose history, maybe clients and expertise. They might even seek legal remedy. All of these concerns are valid, but an employee who instigates other employees is a liability. Either you find a way to mitigate the behavior you remove the behavior.
In another instance, a project was rejected and their was so much personally invested in the project, that the leader lost their ump. Why bother? This was great work and it was rejected. Nobody cares and why should I?
Earlier I mentioned maturity and experience. In todays workforce this maturity and experience is not about age or longevity, it is about emotional intelligence and self awareness. A great leader can use the brain dump, assess the situation, analyze their response, strategize on how to overcome this and what to do, create a plan and execute their plan. Yes, it is about assessing, analyzing, strategizing, planning, and executing the plan. A very simple recipe or prescription.
It can take less than an hour of your time or it may require several hours to utilize this prescription. You may need to read more on Emotional Intelligence, learn more about your leadership style and how you lead, and maybe even talking to someone you value and trust. It may just require that reflection and process that starts with a brain dump.
In working with a first time Superintendent of a school district, I saw a fiery, passionate leader arrive and after a difficult period of time, suffer from “focus interruptus”. It was my honor to be their sounding board and at times to encourage, other times to question, and finally to guide them through the prescription above.
They regained their focus and have reclaimed their passion!
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