One of my five top leadership mistakes is the vicious spiral many leaders get sucked into: the urgent taking over the important on a continual basis.

This spiral leads to goals that are unmet or have slipped past their deadline. It causes a lack of focus for the organization as people begin to question what the real priorities are for the company. And ultimately, the success of the organization is held back and performance is limited because employees are focused on putting out fires and not preparing for the future because the future is so unclear.  And, often changes are taking place externally in the market that are missed providing competitors with the advantage in the long run.

So what are the important things a leader should be focused on? And when the urgent hits you in the face, which it does to us all, what process do you have to quickly get back to the important items, which will make the difference between your company surviving and thriving?

The Important

A leader's ultimate job is to move her organization forward towards the company's long-term vision.  So the important things to a company are those projects, decisions, meetings, employees, and external influences that will impact a company in getting to their long-term vision.

And we all know the urgent, an employee crisis, a problem with a customer delivery, a vendor not meeting their commitment, a key prospect requiring a quick proposal turnaround, and the list goes on and on. Read more...