The Power of Focus
Focus is unnecessary unless you actually hope to arrive at a specific destination. This would be an unnecessary statement were it not for the impressive number of leaders and churches that navigate without significant focus. Each year I ask each North Central District Senior Pastor to complete a Personal Ministry Plan before our annual meeting. I know that many of you consider this unusual and unnecessary cruelty, and you may even say mean things about me under your breath as you fill it out. You might even be tempted to complete the PMP just for our meeting and then tuck it back on your shelf for the rest of the year. Whatever your feelings about the PMP, you should know that I only ask you to take time with this document because I know that (if you take it seriously) it can provide a level of focus and discipline that will completely change the trajectory of your ministry. After three years of being your District Superintendent I consider each of you to be friends and I long to see you succeed in the calling God has given you.
What is Focus and Why Do We Need It?
Encarta Dictionary suggests that focus is, “concentrated effort or attention on a particular thing.”(Soukhanov, 2006) Peter Drucker in his book “The Effective Executive” suggests to us that focus is vital because, “There are always more important contributions to be made than there is time available to make them.” (Drucker, 1993)
Why Do Leaders Struggle With Focus?
The truth is that all of us, with sufficient motivation, have the capacity for focus. This is a skill that we all must learn and apply in daily life if we hope to get anything done. Leadership focus, however, is a different and more complex skill. Why? Because a leader must be able to not only focus on one thing at a time but he/she must be able to manage a series of foci in the right order. Leadership often consists of managing multiple focus points effectively for impact. Both the points of focus and the order on which they are focused upon are important. Additionally, it is critical that leaders learn to manage distant points of focus (final destination or vision) with proximate points of focus (the next 100 yards of road). Since it requires a great deal more discipline and effort to focus on distant points of reference and balance them with what is immediately in front of us, many settle for short term focus as the only point of reference for leadership. This short term focus is devastating to our ministries. Friends, I want to invite you to cultivate the discipline of focus. Don’t mistake activity for impact. In the absence of focus you will be busy but not impactful. Focus is not an optional leadership skill if you intend to make a Kingdom impact with your life.
Potential Reading that Might be Helpful:
Canoeing the Mountains – Tod Bolsinger (focus and impact in changing times)
Collins, J. C. (2001). Good to great : why some companies make the leap--and others don't (1st ed.). New York, NY: HarperBusiness.
Drucker, P. F. (1993). The effective executive (1st HarperBusiness ed.). New York: HarperBusiness.
George, B., & Sims, P. (2007). True north : discover your authentic leadership (1st. ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2012). The leadership challenge : how to make extraordinary things happen in organizations (5th ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Dan Scarrow
District Superintendent
North Central District of The C&MA