Jun
18
Have you ever ridden a motorbike? For those that have, this article will have you nodding your head in agreement. For those who haven’t, you’ll pick up the idea and have your own examples.
I have just got my open class motorbike license here in Australia. Nothing special about that except for two things:
- I have never ridden a motorbike before
- I’m 44 years old!
It was born out of rising fuel prices (necessity) but soon became a passion. Riding a motorbike is not being able to ride fast, its being ably to fly low!
I wish I had learnt to ‘fly’ earlier.
There is always a few things to know when you’re learning a new skill and, while there’s many new skills in learning to ride a bike, the one thing that always amazes me (so far) is how just a slight shift in where I’m pointing my eyes makes the ride a whole lot smoother, more enjoyable and safer.
One thing a bike rider has to learn is how to lean the bike into a turn. It looks good, feels great and, well it feels GREAT … when it’s done well.
But when it’s not down well there are times when your heart can almost stop as you feel yourself leaning over, the bike slows down to take the corner and you feel that awful wobble. You’re going too slow and you’re looking in all the wrong places - primarily straight down!
The thing I’ve noticed is that when I find myself in this position, the only thing I have to do to correct it is to look to where I’m going. Look beyond the front of the bike. Sometimes it’s a move of the head, sometimes it’s just a move of the eyes.
So how’s business?
Are you streaking ahead? Are you “flying low?” Where’s your vision? At your feet or off into the distance where it should be?
Begin to look up and begin to define where you need to be in order to be successful.
This applies across all levels of business:
- the business plan
- the factors of leadership
- managing your team
- dealing with customers and suppliers
Where do you really want to go with each of these key areas of your business? That is where you should be looking.
So what causes us to lose focus?
One thing for sure is ‘busyness’. We get caught up in the operational side of business and lose focus on driving the vehicle.
In motorbike terms it might be:
- looking for the indicator switch - when you already know where it is
- it’s over-worrying about a piece of stone on the road - when you know how to avoid it
In business terms it might be:
- worrying if you lose a key staff member - rather than working on ways to ensure they’ll stay
- looking at the sales figures - more than developing the staff
- lying awake at night thinking why you don’t have more customers - rather than getting out and meeting people - and defining the right people to meet in the first place
In the end, we all do know that it’s what we focus on that we’ll achieve. As Covey said: “begin with the end in mind.”So, what are you focusing on? That’s what you’ll end up with.
But remember the good news …
… you don’t have to change focus completely in most cases.
It’s generally a small adjustment that will bring your vision into view with more clarity and then you’ll feel in more control.
You’ll see where you’re going and have more confidence. Where, just a few seconds ago you felt that horrible business wobble, you’ll feel a new sense of strength and all you’ll want to do is rush ahead to the goals that await you.
There are a myriad of things to focus on but focus on them with the view of where you want to go, not just where you are.
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