Leadership: Keep Your Eye on the Ball

or Lessons Squash Strategies can teach Business Leaders.

Hashim Khan won the British Open squash championship 7 times between 1951 & 1958, and is considered one of the greatest squash players ever. He was asked the secret of his winning ways and he needed only 67 words to explain them! His English was a little basic, but the points he made can teach modern business leaders a great deal!

He is talking about Focus, Agility, Readiness, Boldness, Competitive Advantage, Planning & Intelligence… almost the core curriculum of an MBA course really.

Take 10 minutes from your busy day today to ask yourself these questions and tomorrow you will probably be much more effective because it:-

• What are you concentrating on? Is it big picture, how-to-win stuff, or the minutiae? We tend to get more of the things we focus on, so focus on something positive, relevant and worthwhile. Remember… don't sweat the small stuff!
• Where can you best control the 'game'? Are you stuck in your office, or out amongst the troops, or out with your clients and / or prospects?
• Are you ready to act? If all your resources are fully committed, you need to be able to switch them quickly or have some surplus capacity or the opportunity may disappear before you can respond. [By resources, I don't just mean just staff, but also your own time and energy.]
• Are you daring to act boldly? What would that look like for you in your business? Can you take direct steps, and cut out all the things that ultimately just waste time? Does each step add value?
• Are you able to avoid conflict? Both within the business (where it is often the result of either politics or poor communication) and in the outside world. How can you take steps to seize the competitive advantage?
• Are you a one-shot wonder? Do you and your business only have a single response (such as cutting price) or have you multiple ways of winning?
• What is the next key thing for you to focus on? As a leader you have to be thinking ahead of what you are asking people to do today. Even before the current initiative is achieved, you have to be sowing seeds for the next one; ensuring that your messages are consistent, that people have realistic expectations. This helps the business to pace itself
• What are your competitors planning? And not just today's competitors, but tomorrow's; business changes and people who weren't in the game yesterday are winning it tomorrow. Think about the Chinese and their impact on many businesses!
• Think before you act… do you have a clear idea of how your strategy holds together? Just as importantly, do the troops know why they are doing what they are doing, or are they just doing what they always do? If they don't understand the linkages, then how can they really contribute?

Good Luck and remember, as Vince Lombardi, the famous American football coach, said " if winning isn't everything, why do we keep score?"

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Few will have the greatness to bend history itself; but each of us can work to change a small portion of events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the history of this generation. - Robert F. Kennedy