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One of the greatest obstacles to managerial effectiveness is the inevitable challenge posed by multitasking. For an individual contributor, job-focus comes more easily. Managers often have multiple functions of nearly equal weight... and then reality intervenes and distracts you from all of them.
This fragmented working environment places a premium on focus.
Ever notice how the most effective managers seem to have an unerring instinct about what needs to be done - plus for a knack for doing it? I'd call it focus.
Accordingly, I believe a powerful, useful question for all managers to ask themselves is:
What's the single element of my job this year where real focus can add most value to my career?
In short, what's in it for you? Where above all do you want to concentrate your energies? If you're like most managers, you'll probably have (or at least should have) a list of key job objectives, key deliverables - whatever you want to call them - by which your performance will hopefully rationally be measured. Adding this personal layer of scrutiny will help you separate the managerial wheat from the chaff. At the end of the day, for the good of your career, what really matters most to you?
What do I have in mind here? It may or may not (as we'll see in a moment) show up on your formal job description... though in some form it probably should. More importantly, it can help you make decisions about how you prioritize your own time, a subtle but critical management function.
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Let me provide a couple of examples from my own career.
One year our company was rebranding itself and I was responsible for developing and rolling out a new national advertising campaign. It was potentially a career-making or -breaking assignment, and I knew I had to nail it. It absolutely deserved extra attention (and was at the top of my formal objectives).
At another period we, like many large organizations in flux, were churning through senior management like a revolving door. The executives I were reporting to were constantly changing. Then things settled a bit and finally it looked like we'd chosen someone who'd be around for a while. That year I decided my core area of focus was building a productive working relationship with my new boss. (On job objectives? Don't think this one was.)
Everyone's needs will be unique to his or her own circumstances, of course. Just to stimulate thinking, here are some common sorts of possibilities.
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