While recently traveling, I packed a book written by University of Louisville head basketball coach Rick Pitino, ‘The One Day Contract’. Like most improvement books, most of the stuff I read didn’t surprise me, but the farther away from finishing the book, the more I came back to one of Pitino’s topics. Focus.
I have to admit, a few of the examples he chose to put in his book did come across a little cheesy to me but the truth is – the faster the trucking industry moves the more unintended consequences it can have on our focus. Every minute we deal with problems and it takes us away from focusing on where we are actually trying to get. We build a team and give them all the technology in the world to try to solve our company issues and provide quality customer service. But in many cases it is this technology that attributes to our loss of focus, another point in Pitino’s book.
Thankfully, I have used many nights before bed as a time of reflection of the day, reviewing the progress of many of the long term goals we have. I would have to imagine that I am in the minority. We are so busy, that by the time we get home with our family, the last thing we want do is reflect on what many call a ‘rat race’.
In his book, Pitino talks about his one day contracts that he issues himself, a mindset of how he approaches his days. Our drivers do this well, delivering the goods that they need to today and many of our line workers do this quite well making sure that the orders are processed. The real question is do we do this well as their leaders? Do we issue ourselves a daily challenge that serves a bigger goal?
I would like to think so, but I would assume the real answer is within each of us. So the next time you see me, tell me, how is your focus?
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