Finding Focus as Leaders

Transcript

Beth Almes:                        

Hi leaders and welcome back to the Leadership 480 podcast. I'm your host Beth Almes. And today we're talking about finding focus in leadership, which is a struggle for so many of us as we have about a million things competing for our time and attention. My guest today is Julia Wolfendale. She's the author of the book, Five Ways to Focus. Julia is also the founder and director of On the Up Consulting, where she coaches executives on how to be their best selves and get things on the up. Julia, welcome to the Leadership 480 podcast.

Julia Wolfendale:             

Hi Beth, it's great to be with you today. Thank you.

Beth Almes:                        

It's so great to have you because this has been a struggle for me, and I think every other leader I know right now is just struggling to say, "Where should I spend my time? Where should I focus and get things done?" So, many leaders are really craving that focus and are struggling to find it in their careers. And I'm curious, as you've talked to leaders over the years about their struggles to focus, what tends to hold them back from finding better focus?

Julia Wolfendale:             

Yeah, well the world has changed, hasn't it? The way that we're interacting with people constantly. We're constantly available. We've got our laptops in our pockets, basically in the form of our smartphones. So, we've got in these habits of becoming very busy all the time. And for a lot of us and a lot of leaders, more hours and more busy means more successful and more important. And that's kind of a faulty logic. 

We've got kind of caught up in this way of thinking that the busier we are, the more important we are. And we've attached it to our self-worth, and it's kind of got out of balance. And what we've forgotten to recognize is that our cognitive processing actually reduces. We're less effective when we're multitasking. We're less productive by about 40%. The more things that we're doing, the less productive we actually are, the less quality we have in our interactions and the work that we're actually producing.

And it's true for so many of us. 71% of us in a recent study never turn our phones off ever. And so, work's always available to us unfortunately. And people are probably checking, on average now, about every 12 minutes of their waking hours that they're checking their phones. And about half of us are checking our phones within five minutes of waking up. So, where's the downtime? Asking me what tends to hold them back from finding focus? Well, too much accessibility to too much activity that's work related and being tied up with the idea of being busy.

Beth Almes:                        

I'll tell you Julia, I read a little bit about that in the book, about the constant need to check your phone and checking every 12 minutes. And as soon as I read it, my initial reaction was, when did I last check my phone, and should I check it right now? It gave me this itch, like I have to do this immediately. I was like, that's probably not what she's going for. But absolutely, it triggered me to be like, I should check, what if someone was trying to reach me?

Julia Wolfendale:             

Completely. And it is a real trigger. It's an itch like you described it. It's the dopamine hit. We get endorphins released by reading things that we're interested in or being able to act on things that make us feel important. So, we are kind of indulging that every time we check our phones. Am I needed? Is this going to be useful for me? Am I going to be important here? 

So yeah, it's kind of taken things a little bit too far out of perspective now and people are busy so much of the time, they're not able to make use of the downtime and actually focus on the stuff that really matters. Also, people, when you ask me what holds them back from getting better focus, I think the need to avoid drama is something that is important to start thinking about and talking about.

And I cover this in the book, helping leaders to start thinking about what the drama is that's going on in their office, in their teams, in their workplaces that they're finding themselves giving a lot of attention to and maybe taking their focus away from the things that really do matter, the things that really do need to get done. But we can choose when we see drama, what role do we want to play in that. So just being able to coach people through the dramas that they might be experiencing and helping them understand the roles they're playing in that drama can help them have better focus on how they want to be.

And I think the saying no. I say, "Okay, what would happen if you said yes less?" And suddenly people feel quite free. The idea that this saying no is something they shouldn't do. It means that they're not serving people, they're not fulfilling responsibilities. But you can't say yes to everything because now we are exposed to so many opportunities, so many things we can learn, so many things we can find out more about, but we have to put some limits in so that we can actually cope and focus on the stuff that really counts.

Beth Almes:                        

So, all of the things you just mentioned from constantly feeling like we have to check our phone and respond to messages, to wanting to be there for others and all these things they're going through and feeling needed in those situations and struggling to say no to the many requests that come our way. A lot of that does revolve around the need to be needed. 

And there's some real anxiety I think for leaders of taking a step back, of feeling like I'm going to empower others to do this without me, or I'm going to say no to something so I can focus on other things. So, when you're feeling anxious about how to start focusing and getting away from that busyness, how do you recommend that leaders start to reframe their thinking so that they can feel okay about a focused direction and not just about getting that dopamine hit from feeling needed?

Julia Wolfendale:             

Yeah. So, in the book it does bring to mind the things that perhaps people are struggling with at the moment and help them kind of work through some scenarios by asking the questions in the book, these insight questions and action questions. How do they respond, what do they want to do differently is the premise of the book. So, what we often find is that there is an initial resistance around focus, which is, "But I need to help, I have to do it all." So that's very sort of instinctive, very subconscious. 

But getting people to bring that out, writing their own answers in the book, talking about that in coaching gives people a chance to step back from that and realize that that's a strong driver, it's a clear driver for them to serve others and that's a good thing. And it could be a strength of theirs. But overplaying it might not be helpful in every situation, because it might mean that it weakens them.

And if they're making the assumption that then people won't need me or people won't like me or people won't value me if I don't respond to everything, I can help them then see, help them look at the resourcefulness within their staff. And if they aren't there helping all the time, how instead can they look for other people's capacity, other people's strengths, other ways people can step up. We have to make sure that managers are operating at the right level for them and not getting involved in their kind of day-to-day and the more operational, especially when they feel like their teams are really busy. They might really, really want to help. But how to help and how to focus on what matters is what makes a big difference.

So, I'm really encouraging leaders to look inwards, noticing their inner responses, their kind of tendencies, their subconscious reactions, getting them to notice that. And why is it their reacting in that way and is there another way for them to respond that is better for them, better for their team? And as well, I'm asking people to think about what do you care about? What matters to you? How can you make an impact? And when you realize what those things are and focus on those things, it helps you to just put the boundaries in place around why you might not then need to get involved in 10 other things that are actually somebody else's responsibilities.

Beth Almes:                        

I love that. And I think so many leaders too, and I'm including myself in that, just feeling like so often you're making so little progress on 15 or 20 things. Instead, how can you make really great progress on five things or six things that really are meaningful and really move the needle? That can be very rewarding, to start to see things actually start to change when you narrow down your focus.

Julia Wolfendale:             

Yeah, exactly. And I also think to take this kind of compassionately as well, because I've talked earlier about how busy people are, but I think perhaps sometimes people don't think about all the different roles that they're playing in their lives. So, I ask them to think about and reflect on what is it like to be them as a person. What is it like for them to be a manager, to have a job, to have a social life and still be a great leader, and still be a great parent, and be a great friend? And just to help them recognize that they're probably being pulled in many different directions. And if they've got a particularly busy work life as well, they are going to be feeling the strain of that.

And we really have to start talking about the risk of burnout. It's a very real thing. And if it can help people to start to focus on the things that they really can make an impact on, we know that people are going to have better, more fulfilling work lives and better home-work life balances. 

So, one of the exercises from the book Five Ways to Focus is I ask people to really think about what is the reason why they want to focus more, why does this matter to them? And I ask them to describe how they often feel so they can explore for themselves what's it like not to be focusing and how is it that they would actually like to feel? How do they feel now and how would they like to feel? I asked them then to kind of explore, okay, so what are you looking for? What would be better or different if you were to have more focus?

And then I asked them what that will help them to be more and what it'll help them have more, and why that actually matters to them. And just slowing down the mind and the thought process to think about those five things, what you're looking for, what do you hope that will help you to be more, what do you hope that will help you to have more, and why does that matter? 

Makes people just step inside themselves for a moment and just go check around, okay, what's this like for me? And when you are a busy team leader, you're probably, most of the time thinking, about how is it for the team, how is it for the boss, how is it for the organization. So, it's a great way to slow down, reflect, and really find the meaning for people again.

Beth Almes:                        

I love that framework of thinking about how you're feeling, which I think for many leaders may be overwhelmed or feeling like they're constantly jumping from thing to thing. And I love thinking about why it's important and finding that focus. Because so often what you find is that when you think about the consequences of no focus, when you shift your focus, there's actually somebody who usually suffers. 

So, if you're quickly asking your team to take on a new project, yes it satisfies one stakeholder, but your team is now taking on more work. Or you might be unable to deliver on something for another stakeholder that you had already promised. Or it becomes between, as you mentioned, your own work life balance of, we took on this extra thing so I'm putting in extra hours, but it's my son or daughter who's now not getting my time. And that last part of the exercise of defining why focus is so important to you, I imagine you've seen that be very powerful for a lot of leaders who are looking to really realign.

Julia Wolfendale:             

Absolutely. And one of the things that kind of really held true for me as a leader as well was there always more things that we could be doing, but what are we going to stop? And innovation and transformation are about the new ways, the things that you can do better, the things that you can do different. But it also needs to be around what do we stop doing because it no longer serves us. 

And coming on this call today with you and being intentional, the people on the call, your tech crew, et cetera, all being intentional about closing down other applications that are running in order to get the right bandwidth to focus on this call. That's what we need to do as leaders. We need to close down the other stuff that's noisy, that gets in the way, that distracts us, that takes us away from having a real, quality, meaningful, productive, efficient experience in the thing that really just matters just right now.

And I think some of the ways that I help leaders to think about doing that with the book Five Ways to Focus is I give them the five ways structure and that runs through the book. In every chapter, there's a five ways model, five things to think about that will help you get focused. So, in one of the chapters, it's understanding what's getting in your way. So, distraction, that's one of the five things. What is taking up my time and energy right now, and does it matter? 

The second thing would be organization, what is a mess and needs sorting? And you might not be dealing with it, but you might be very aware that it's a mess. And just the fact you're aware it's a mess could be getting in your head space. So, what is a mess I need to sort out right now?

Prioritization, the busy; what is it that you're procrastinating on that actually really matters? How do you prioritize that stuff that really counts? Delegation, we talked about that idea that no one can do it as well as me and I feel like I need to help them. Well actually this is shifting that. What can people help you with? How could you be okay asking them? 

And automation, what can I systemize, what can I make, what can I use? I bet there is an app there, I bet there is something within your organization that has probably already been designed that you're just not using because you do not have the head space to think about, how do I use that system? I haven't been on the training or whatever. But what's the things that can be automated so you can take your thinking time out of it and actually have the focus? So that's one example of five ways.

Beth Almes:                        

I love that of starting to break down everything into what's holding you back, what are your distractions, where do you want to spend your time? What can other people help you to do better? And I'll tell you, it's funny because when you were talking about how when you joined for this podcast, we say shut down some other apps so that it's not pinging you constantly, you don't hear the noise, things like that. I'll tell you, when I started posting this podcast, it was a funny thing for me that I noticed that these were some of the best conversations I was having at work. And in many ways because you simply cannot do a podcast and be answering emails and things like that. No one wants to hear my halfhearted responses.

Julia Wolfendale:             

Distracted one.

Beth Almes:                        

Right. So, I was actually taking this time to really sit and listen to someone and respond. And I started doing some of that then in other conversations as well of thinking these conversations I do for a podcast take my whole focus. I'm not answering other emails, I'm not doing teams pings and messages while I'm doing this. And it's been great for some of my other conversations too of trying to take some of these tactics forward. Now I'm not suggesting all of the leaders listening have to all start their own podcast, but it's an amazing exercise if anyone wants to try it.

Julia Wolfendale:             

It's a great discipline. Yeah. And I had to learn that as well in doing my coach training, becoming an executive coach to learn to give one single person all of my attention for all of that time. And when you're used to managing a busy team or a big service and lots of different programs and projects, that's such a shift. So that was something that I actually really valued. And like you, when you apply that discipline and you have that kind of quality conversation with great listening, great attention, so much more rich insights, you know you've done a great job, and they benefit.

Beth Almes:                        

Absolutely. And it was such a great lesson in prioritization of, what mattered to me most was I want to create a great podcast. And yet it still niggles at you a little bit when you're like, "Oh but I could just answer that email really quick while this person's giving that answer." And I know it makes for a worse listening experience for everyone else, so you try not to do it. But there's always still that pull of...

Julia Wolfendale:             

There is.

Beth Almes:                        

... it would be great to just answer something or do this one other thing. But really a nice move towards prioritization as you focus on more important things. And one thing I wanted to dive down a little bit more too on the prioritization side of things. You talked a little bit about in your book too of where procrastination comes in with prioritization. 

So, I think this is a challenge I think for a lot of leaders too of where they really want to, there's something they have on their list either that they don't want to do or that they really want to do, but it feels so big that they don't end up ever giving it time. This is super important, but it's so big and I have all these little tasks to take care of first, that they never end up getting to that important thing. So how do you find that prioritization helps with the procrastination and really moves people towards action?

Julia Wolfendale:             

I suppose it goes back to that core of the book which is focusing on what matters. Well, is it really a priority? I suppose that is still a question that needs to be applied and maybe applied quite regularly. There's often shifting priorities in organizations. So, what seemed like a priority that has been on your list for three weeks, maybe it isn't. 

So, having that conversation with yourself or discussing that with the senior managers or whoever in the organization to say, "Is this still a priority? Because other stuff has been happening that seems to have kind of gotten in the way or has been needed to be done." So, I think really questioning whether or not it needs to be done. Does it need to be done to the same scale and in the same way and at the same pace that was originally understood?

Sometimes the things that we put off doing, the longer they kind of hang around, the bigger they seem to be. I've certainly noticed this. Something I thought was going to take me a couple of hours, I put to one side because I don't have a couple of hours free, it's probably only taken about half an hour or something when I actually focus. So, it's knowing how much energy you've got for the thing. Can you properly focus on it when you do make it a priority? How long will it really take? 

So, sometimes our feelings about how something is going to go is different. And again, is it still your priority or is it somebody else's priority now because you've got other ones? But holding it on your to-do list is kind of, well it might disadvantage somebody else who gets it two weeks later when they could have worked on it two weeks earlier. So, I think the prioritization and delegation really stick well together.

Beth Almes:                        

You're describing half my projects right now, so I'm going to go after this podcast and go work on that. But the other piece I thought of these five things here as you're looking to find focus is on the delegation side. And you had an interesting perspective too here about how so often we don't delegate because we feel bad about putting more work on somebody else's shoulders. Or we feel like, "Hey I'm the leader, I'm the one, I'm getting paid more and it's my position to take on this extra stuff." But sometimes you mentioned that really feels to your team like you're selling them short, that you don't think that they could help or learn some of these other things.

Julia Wolfendale:             

So, I always say one of the most uncomfortable positions someone can find themselves in an organization is working for a busy person. And the stress of a busy manager can easily be felt by the people who work to them. And it sets the tone. And what quite often happens is people who are very busy have an assumption that other people are too busy too to help them. 

So, I think there's a good way to reframe it, which is yes, if you are too busy and perhaps, you're resisting the idea of somebody else helping you out with that, maybe you're like to hold it all, maybe you're a kind of be-strong, you like to win through in the end. Even if it takes you all day and all night and all week, you'll get it done. So, you might have an overinflated idea of your own personal capacity. So, you need to check in and just go, have I even got the time to be able to do this?

But I think the helpful challenge that also comes in is could this be a developmental opportunity for somebody else? And if you are a leader, that's a really important part of the role. Not to just manage people, but also to develop people and give them opportunities to grow and to bring their talents forward. And I do remember that myself when asking somebody could they help me out to edit a blog that I was writing, and I thought it was written, I thought this isn't going to get around to pressing published because I just need someone else to have her eyes on it. 

And then when I realized that I just need to ask somebody even though I thought they're probably really busy. And then recognizing that this person actually was really skilled in there, and it just took her 20 minutes, whereas I was thinking it's going to take me an hour and a quarter or something. And then had a whole conversation about it and she had an English degree and a future plan to be a freelance copywriter. And it's just like, oh okay, this person is really skilled at this. And I got to know more about her strengths and more about opportunities that I could give her within the team where she would be able to go on and do that.

And that person actually ended up being an editor on my first blog because she has a true talent for this. And perhaps if I've not asked her that day, could you help me just edit this blog? Seeing her capabilities and what she's really able to do. 

So, I think it's an important part of a manager to be able to delegate things that could be opportunities for other people to develop and either show their strengths or develop and learn something new they've not had a chance to do or to be exposed to something in the organization. Asking someone to come and step in for your meeting gives you that time back that you might need but also might give somebody else an opportunity to learn something or to contribute.

Beth Almes:                        

Absolutely. And once you start getting down this path of focus, so you've kind of committed yourself of we're going to limit the number of things we're focusing on for myself as a leader, for what our team is going to do. The things you choose to focus on are going to take a level of commitment and making it the mission for yourself and your team. How do you suggest leaders start to lay out what they're committed to and focus on the personal impact of those few projects that they are going to focus on?

Julia Wolfendale:             

I think they have to be that golden thread. What's the strategy of the organization? What are the values of the organization? How do we go about our business? And then what are the team objectives, and then individually, what are their task objectives? And if there is that alignment, I think it just makes work so much easier to focus on because people know that they're working on the stuff that really counts. They're working on the stuff that really is going to make a difference ultimately. 

They can see that connection to the team priorities, the organizational priorities and the end result for the consumer or the service users that they're working to. So, I think that's important for people that helping them to focus on the things that actually matter to the organization. But I think the values are important too because helping them focus on them working in a way that is aligned to how they feel is good or is right and is also what the organization wants to see.

Beth Almes:                        

And I think that's so important right now, I think too of we're seeing so much in the news of people wanting to find that value at work of seeing the impact of their work and wanting to feel like they're contributing to something good beyond just, I do X, Y, Z tasks, then I get paid. They want to really see their impact. 

So, let's say I do this with my team, and we're all agreed this is what we're going to focus on and get done, but I'm worried that my boss doesn't care about my focus list. I'm afraid to disappoint them or that they're going to think that I'm not a hard worker. So how can you use these focus techniques to build a better relationship with your boss?

Julia Wolfendale:            

I think then it is more of that personal conversation around what matters to the person. And like you talked about there, about people wanting to feel that they're making a difference, that they're feeling fulfilled, that their work has meaning. I think that matters more than ever seeing as people are giving so much to their work right now, it's like does it matter? So, I think flipping that around and finding out what actually matters to the peoples that you've employed, the people that are in your team. 

So, for leaders to be able to ask these five things really can make a difference in terms of understanding how people feel connected to the organization and where they're making a difference. So, I would say get somebody to reflect on these five things. What are they proud of, what are they excited about, what are they concerned about? What are they ready to do and what do they need help with? And this is a great team exercise, or it could even be used as part of supervision or appraisal PDR.

So, asking somebody what are they proud of really connects with their intrinsic motivation, the stuff that matters to them inside, the stuff that drives them, what are they proud of? And managers are quite often surprised what the individual is proud of. It might be different to the thing that the manager's been counting, and thinking was important. What are they excited about? What helps this person come to work and feel that they want to do, and they have energy around? What are they concerned about? So, what are the blocks, what are the difficulties, and are they at work or are they at home? What are the things that they're dealing with in their life right now that the manager may not be aware of? So, what are they concerned about?

And then asking what are they ready to do? Tapping that sense of readiness, that sense of that I can do this now so that momentum isn't lost. So, what are they ready to do? Tapping into that. And what does the manager need to do to help them to make sure they do that? And that's the need help with. "Is there anything you need from me here? Is there something you need some help with?" 

And the conversation that might then go into, yeah, there's some development or there's some training or there's actually, if you could just escalate this. So, it's a really great way for a leader to check in on the things that matter to the person they're managing so that they can understand how to motivate them and how to value them and how to support them, how to encourage them, how to help them stay on the path towards the things that the organization thinks are important as well.

Beth Almes:                        

So, when you have your team engaged like that, what about the flip side of, of your own boss? So, say I'm a manager and I report to, I don't know, a director or VP, how do you communicate back to them of here's what we're going to do without the assumption that your own boss is going to say, "Hey I know I need you to do all this other stuff too and aren't you a hard worker?" There's a lot of fear around your own boss isn't going to accept what your team has decided to focus on. So how do you help your bosses see how focus on your team is going to be beneficial?

Julia Wolfendale:             

Well, I think it's a good point and there's a good chance that the boss may not have read Five Ways to Focus. So, you might need to manage upwards. So, for a senior manager or a team manager to be able to ask their boss what they would like them to focus on can be a very empowering thing to do. And might make the boss realize that perhaps they haven't been so clear in what they've been briefing. Perhaps they have thrown a load of work in their direction but not been clear about what it was that needed to be done right now or actually what could be stopped being done now.

So, I think when you do manage upwards in that way and ask your boss, "What would you like me to focus on? What are my priorities here? What impact would you like me to have? What difference are you looking for me to make here?" Then you've got your brief. And I always say to be fair to people, people are only as good as their brief. If you're giving a really shoddy brief to people, you're not going to necessarily get great quality results. 

But if you give them a brief where you're clear about what you want them to do, you're clear about how those fit into the wider priorities, you're going to hold them to accounts, they're going to be able to demonstrate their impact because you've expressed what that is. So, I think it's a very much a two-way thing, but I think the managers themselves can ask those more senior leaders, those directors, "What are you looking for me to achieve here?"

Beth Almes:                        

And there's so much you can document on that side too, right?

Julia Wolfendale:             

Yeah.

Beth Almes:                        

Can be helpful from a performance management perspective, the quarterly plans that you have for your team, what they're being held accountable for, what you're telling your boss, what you're being held accountable for. And saying, "Hey, we agreed I'm going to do these things, if I take on this additional project that's going to threaten objective number three," or something along those lines.

Julia Wolfendale:             

Yeah. And not be afraid about offering or working on some solutions around, okay, what's the interim need then if all this new work is coming? So, we're going to need an interim resource to do this or not do this. It's simple math sometimes. You just can't take on more without refocusing the priorities.

Beth Almes:                        

Yes. And I think we want to think about the impact on your team if you don't manage that well. It is so tempting to always say, "Yes, we can do that additional thing." And it makes you look good and feel good that you can help your boss out. But when you lack focus, what does that impact the people on your own team?

Julia Wolfendale:             

So, that's when people become very disengaged. If they're unclear, if they see you as being unclear as the manager and not able to give them a clear brief, then they're probably going to feel quite disengaged as well. Because they're not getting that sense of assurance from you. They're not getting that sense of direction. And they might feel that they're working really hard, they're being busy, but they're not sure whether or not those things are things that really do make a difference. 

So, I think being able to give them clear direction, being able to tell them these are the things that are going to make a difference, but not being so prescriptive that you tell them how to do it. I think people do quite enjoy finding their own way. But having enough structures so that you feel that people have got a way of going about it that plays to their strengths.

And I think teams, they might struggle with managers who are constantly changing directions. So be clear around how sure you are of something when you are saying, "This is what I want done." If you don't know how you want it done, then say, "I can be flexible on how you get this done, but this is what I am going to measure. This is what I am looking for as a result." So, I think rather than keep changing directions and giving them a different brief, give them one brief initially, but check in often enough that they feel supported but not too often that they feel micromanaged. So, I think those conversations are what matter, just checking in regularly enough.

Beth Almes:                        

And I think when you don't do that, it can feel so much to the team like they're just treading water. "I want you to focus on this, focus on that, focus on this other thing," and they're working so hard without progress and you're just exhausted.

Julia Wolfendale:             

Yeah. And then people just kind of show up and they do the job and then they're not emotionally engaged in the job. Whereas if you value people's results because they're the results that you were looking for and you've been clear about them being the results you were looking for, you can value people, you can reward people when you see that happen. You can have conversations about how they did that. What strengths have they used or what strengths have you seen them use and what impact you've seen that they've had as a result. So that really helps around the employee engagement side of things.

I've done a lot of work on that. And we know that the more emotionally engaged people are in their work, rather than just being busy and just doing stuff like you've described, the more discretionary effort they give. So, they are the people that you can go to and ask to try out a new way of working. Run a pilot of some new project, test out something new, share their experience with another department. They are the people that tend to be the enthusiast, the champions, the people that know their work well enough and know it was valued enough that they also then want to kind of do more.

Beth Almes:                        

And circling back a little bit to the concepts around procrastination as well as the busyness that we get bogged down in. A lot of us want to find focus and we want to achieve these big picture things. And as leaders we're actually on the hook for the bigger picture items. But it's hard sometimes to not get so bogged down in the right now, the things that are filling your inbox today. For leaders, especially as you get higher up in the organization and are more responsible for that big picture thinking. How do you start to think about moving the needle on those big items knowing that they're going to take you a year or things like that while still making sure that progress is happening today?

Julia Wolfendale:             

Yeah. So, I think that's it. And so, a lot of leaders find, and I do a lot of work in the public as well as the private sector, and public sector feel a lot of pressure, a lot of challenge at the moment as I'm sure, right? But when leaders are finding themselves firefighting, just dealing with what's showing up today, even if they have the big strategic plan, the stuff that they know they need to be working on to take them further and further in the organization and with the broader plans, the things that show up on a minute by minute, hour by hour, day by day basis are the things that leaders often find themselves responding or kind of reacting emotionally to. 

So, this approach that I've got helps people intelligently respond rather than just emotionally react to things that are showing up. So, it's a mental discipline, it's a kind of mental model that is in the Five Ways to Focus.

So, this particular five ways to focus, what can I do that will move me forward? So, five ways are here. What can I do in the next two hours? What can I do in the next week? What can I do in the next month, the next three months and the next six to 12 months? And that keeps you anchored in, yes, I've got things, big priorities in the next six to 12 months that I need to achieve. I mustn't lose sight of those. But there's some things that are showing up now in the next two hours that I know need to give my focus and my attention, but I'm prioritizing that. I am intentionally focusing on those things. I'm giving myself that capacity to do that.

I'm also thinking about the next week that's coming up. So, I'm taking responsibility for looking ahead for my next week and I'm thinking, where do I need to put my attention? Where am I going to get my joy from? What are the things that I've got to do? What are the things that I would like to do? Start to think about how's the next week shaping up? How much control have you got over planning that? And then the next month thinking a little bit further ahead, and then the next three months, and building it up like that. But doing that all in one go really helps leaders manage and get a sense of what they're dealing with at this moment.

And I think particularly middle managers, they get the pressure from above and they get the pressure from below. So, the stuff that needs doing right now and then the stuff that they know they need to be delivering in three months. And that can be very conflicting for them. So, I think just taking that exercise that's in the book, sitting down with the questions and just getting clear, just having that level of focus by reflecting on the things that need your attention the most.

Beth Almes:                        

And I love the flip side of that exercise where when you look at not only what you want to accomplish, but if I don't do this now, what's going to happen to that goal? So, say my goal in one year is to achieve something larger, I want to be up for promotion or whatever it is you want to achieve. If I don't do this today, I will never be ready in 12 months. 

Or, if I don't focus on this in the next quarter, there's no way we're going to reach our goals by the end of the year. It's the scary side of focus of if I don't, then what happens? And the nice thing about that is there may be some things too that are on your plate you'd like to do now where they could come up and you say, "If I don't do this now, what happens in 12 months?" And if the answer's nothing, you might be okay.

Julia Wolfendale:             

Exactly. Yeah. It's a balancing perspective. That's what it does. It does help you shift the thinking around the stuff that's looming large and looming to be quite daunting to, okay, some stuff I can actively do right now that gets me into a good head space. So, this is having that balance through that focus.

Beth Almes:                        

So, this has been such a great conversation. And as we zoom out into the big picture, this can be a little bit scary in the short term of I've got to say no to some things. I've got to take time to figure out my priorities, which when it feels like I'm too busy to even sit down and do that. But looking at that big picture, what do we accomplish when we find focus? Why is this such an important direction?

Julia Wolfendale:             

So, I think what we talked about at the top of the call, this risk of burnout is so real. And what people have been though the pandemic, I think people are reevaluating their lives. They've recognized what it is like to have certain things not available to them, not be able to go to work, not be in the office with people, but then not having to commute. What they knew to be true about work has really shifted. 

So, I think people now have a real opportunity to reevaluate their lives and think about what do I want more of and what do I want less of? And how do I create that? And we know that there's been a great shift in people changing career. And I help people a lot with that around how to know when to make their move and what are they really looking for.

So, I think that there's never been a better time really for people to start to think about those things that really do matter to them. And think about what is it that they want to be actually doing more on a day-to-day basis and how much importance do they give to that? What do they need to learn and develop more in order to get to the level they want to be performing at? And who do they want to be surrounded with? What is the kind of people that they're looking for to make up their work life? And recognizing that some of these things are active choices. Especially when you start to bring them into focus, you start to realize those things matter. And when you start to realize those things matter, you can then start to think about what are the actions that could take to achieve that?

But if we don't give our attention to that thing being even important to us, we don't start to express it as an idea. We don't think about the actions that could take us there. We don't engage with other people that could help us get there. So, being reflective and asking ourselves some of the questions that come up in the book gives us our own insights to start to have control over the way we want to have our work lives and our home lives. Especially at a time when the world feels very uncertain and very unsteady. So, if you can create some certainty for yourself and some way of creating the kind of work life that you think matters and helps you be your best, then that one feels like a gift to people if they're ready to kind of engage with that.

Beth Almes:                        

What a wonderful way to tie this together, how focus really helps you develop an intentional style of leadership of we're doing so much with purpose, both for what we're going to deliver to the company as well as to ourselves and our teams as we find satisfaction in our work that supports the lives we want. So last, I'll ask you the question that I ask all of our guests on the show. Can you share with me a moment of leadership that changed your life? Maybe for good, maybe it was something that made you say, "Gosh, I will never ever do that, and I will go in a different direction." Some moment of leadership that impacted you.

Julia Wolfendale:             

This was such a hard question because this a question that you gave me in advance. I've had lots of different leadership roles in lots of different types of organization. I was Marketing Director at Helly Hansen, a global sports brand for the UK. I've worked in leadership roles in public sector organizations, and all very, very different. So, I find it quite hard to kind of pinpoint one leadership moment. But I think what I now know to be true for me as the leader is that I have definitely been at my best when I have worked for somebody, when my more senior leader was clear about what they wanted. And gave me enough freedom to find a way to make that happen. And trusted me enough to put those things in place. 

But also held me to account in a way that I could see this made a difference, this had an impact, and then we can do more of this now as a result. So, I think that was a really big kind of leadership learning lesson for me that as I also then went on and set up my own organization is how much do I tell people about what it is that I'm looking for from them. And how much freedom do I also give them to experiment with that and find a way of making that happen.

Beth Almes:                        

Fantastic. Thank you, Julia, for all of your time and insights today. I hope that everyone listening will feel like I do and feel like, okay, I've got to go make my list of priorities and some focus and share some key few things with folks about what we're going to do and what we're not going to do next. So, thank you so much for being on the Leadership 480 podcast with us today.

Julia Wolfendale:             

You're so welcome. Thank you Beth.

Beth Almes:                        

And thank you to all of our listeners who took part of their 480 minutes to be with us. And remember to make every moment of leadership count.