Catalytic Leadership – Focus

Focus, usually is a very elusive thing. Leaders get pulled out in fifty different directions and sometimes they are spread too thin to have a better attention span and focus. Yet good leaders cultivate the ability to focus.

In the olden days, there were Gurukulams – a sort of a residential school – run usually by a Guru, a teacher. The students stay there with the guru for years together, say 10-15 years to complete their education.

In one such Gurukulam, there was a Guru with his pupils. Usually the pupils were provided food and accommodation in the Gurukulam itself.

One day, the pupils were having lunch. The lunch was being served by the Guru’s wife. While serving, ghee is usually served along with the food to add more flavour and taste, it also has certain health benefits too.

When she was serving the lunch, one of the students, who had been there for some 7-8 years in the gurukulam, noticed that it was not ghee but some other edible oil. He told her, “Maa, it seems you have poured, edible oil instead of ghee”

She did not respond to the student, instead she called-out for the Guru. The student got afraid as the lady called the Guru in.

He said, “Maa, Sorry for the trouble, it’s ok. I’ll eat it. Please don’t call Guruji”

The Guru came in and asked, “What’s the matter?”

The lady replied, “The boy is telling something…”

The Guru looked at the boy and the boy spoke. “Guruji, it seems Maa, has poured oil instead of ghee. It’s ok Guruji, I’ll eat. Sorry for the trouble”

The Guru responded, “Meet me, after you are done with your meal”

Panic-stricken, the boy finished his lunch quickly and went to meet his Guru.

The Guru said to the student, “Your education is over and you may go home…”

The student literally started crying and pleaded, “Guruji, my apologies for pointing out the mistake. Please don’t punish me by expelling me out of the Gurukulam. Going forward, I’ll eat without complaining. Forgive me Guruji!”

Guru replied, “My dear shishya (student). You have been here in this Gurukulam for about 8 years. In all these years, I’ve instructed to pour only edible oil in the food and not ghee”

The Guru continued, “You came here for education. When education was your focus, food was a trivial aspect to you and you did not worry about it. Now, your attention has turned towards food and education has become trivial to you. Hence there is no use in continuing at the Gurukulam and you may leave”.

The “bike shed theory” also resonates the same thought. People without focus tend to concentrate on trivial matters rather than the main purpose of business. For example, in a multi-million dollar project that is complex and technical, a decision is made by the executives within 15 minutes, but they spend hours discussing the items to be made available in the pantry like flavours of tea/coffee, snacks etc.

Good leaders focus mainly on what is important for the business. They don’t get distracted easily and they provide only the required amount of attention needed for non-critical things.

Image Credits: Pixabay