Do you focus on the beauty, at the sacrifice of acknowledging the work? Or focus on the work and miss out on the beauty?
I just took this photo on our morning dog walk. It’s already high color in the mountains, with peak color at higher elevations this past weekend. We probably have another week to go where we live at 7500 feet.
When I first saw this group of aspens this morning, I noticed the beautiful color.
And then my attention shifted.
Look at the pine tree on the left, and you’ll see clusters of dead needles.
That’s natural and happens every fall. And it was a reminder to me that we have some backbreaking work ahead.
Our 3/4 of an acre has around 60 trees. Needle drop is imminent. And that means days of raking and bagging. This happens twice a year, and each time we end up with around 50 bags of needles.
It’s unpleasant work, but necessary for both fire safety and yard health.
But if I focus too much on the work ahead, I miss the beauty of this time of year.
It’s kind of like leading a team.
You can focus on just what’s going well on your team, where things are humming along.
But every team has dysfunction—it’s just a matter of degree.
And if you don’t take time to look at where there is work to do, you run the risk of those development areas turning into barriers to success.
Or you can focus just on where the gaps are and give all of your effort to improving those.
But then you run the risk of not capitalizing on your strengths, and demoralizing the team in the process.
Can you find the balance?
In the month of September my regular LinkedIn posts focused on team development. There are a wealth of powerful tools and approaches to help you and your team leverage your strengths and take action on your gaps.
What are you going to do?
Don’t focus on just the beauty or the work. Take action and focus on the big picture of your team.
Looking to increase the cohesion, trust, and impact of your leadership team? Reach out and let’s discuss The Compass Team Experience and how I can help.
Recent Comments