Fight fear with focus

Many thanks to Terry Seamon for inviting me to contribute to his series “Leading in the Crisis” at Here We Are. Now What?

I found myself struggling to decide what to write about — with so much stress on all of us these days, what can I offer that can make a difference right now? I had a thousand ideas, and they all seemed useful in some way — but Terry didn’t ask for a book, he asked for a post. So how to decide which idea would be best?

And then I understood the real lesson. The fact that I couldn’t choose an article topic — that I wanted to write about everything — was a powerful reminder for me of how losing focus makes even everyday decisions difficult. Imagine that lack of focus playing out throughout businesses worldwide… that’s the stuff of nightmares. And it’s very easy to lose focus in times of fear. So now, more than ever, focus matters.

The article begins:

These are hard and frightening times — hard because of the financial crisis, frightening because so many of us feel powerless to do anything except watch the world slide away around us.

If this were simply a question of managing money troubles – cutting costs, revamping strategies, becoming more innovative – we’d know what to do without hesitation. But the real challenge we face today as leaders is helping people manage fear.

I hope you’ll head over and read the rest of the article at Terry’s blog, where you’ll also find the thoughts of others on how we can all keep on course during these difficult times. Let Terry know what you think of these posts, or come back here for more conversation on staying focused and managing fear.