Are You Paying Attention?

The following is a guest post by Kevin Eikenberry. Kevin is an author, speaker, trainer, consultant, and the Chief Potential Officer of The Kevin Eikenberry Group.  His latest book, ” From Bud to Boss – Secrets to a Successful Transition to Remarkable Leadership“, was co-authored with Guy Harris and will be available online and in bookstores starting tomorrow.  Recently, his team created the Bud to Boss Community, a free online resource to help people who are new to the role of leadership.

President Mubarak has been the President of Egypt for 30 years. He’s an experienced leader, so you would think he would have known better. It seems he wasn’t listening to what was really happening in his country. He should have known about the issues. By all reports the concerns of the people aren’t new. The experiences of his neighbors in Tunisia should have been a sign. But, apparently not.

Because his inactivity, his lack of awareness and perhaps hubris, he was driven out last Friday from his role as the leader of his country.

You don’t lead a country and the consequences of your actions (or inactions) as a leader likely won’t be as dire or as widespread. But the lesson is right there in front of you. Are you paying attention?

In part, President Mubarak wasn’t paying attention. It is easy to do. It is easy to sit in our offices, thinking about the seemingly urgent matters, pondering our next big project, and thinking big things. When we do these things we may not be focusing on what is happening with our team, department, or organization.

Or maybe we focus on our organization too much – and we don’t see the trends, shifts, new technologies or other outside factors that will be impacting our businesses. What is your Tunisia?

The solution is simple. You need to get out of your office and listen. Listen to your team. Listen to Customers. Listen to suppliers. Don’t create a new PowerPoint – shut up and listen. You may remember the United Airlines commercial a number of years ago –

The leader of an organization has all his troops in a conference room and he was talking about how bad business was and how the relationships with their customers had deteriorated. The punchline was handing everyone airline tickets (before e-tickets, so you know it is old) to go out and talk to Customers.

To pay attention.

To listen.

While paying attention internally, you must look externally beyond your business/organization and industry. You must broaden your inputs and the perspectives you consider.

Are you only reading the journals and newsletters of your industry? Are you thinking about the implications to your business or industry when you watch the news or read the popular press or business magazines? Are you consciously looking for new inputs from a broader range of industries and parts of the world? Are you paying attention to the messages that will matter? Do you know where your Tunisia is, and are you watching and noticing?

The images of Egypt may never be replicated on your shop floor, but that doesn’t give us a pass from the lessons available to us.

Are you paying attention inside and out?