Focus & Energy Key Executive Capabilities Date:   Wednesday , August 11, 2010 In the last column, we witnessed that deep domain ability is critical to success and this has to be acquired outside of the MBA degree. MBA programs broaden your horizons, widen your perspectives and equip you with tools and techniques. Deep domain expertise should be acquired by reading journals, working on products and projects and with mentoring support. In this column, let me focus on two key ingredients for executives’ success: Focus & Energy. According to Dr.Sumantra Ghoshal, nothing gets executed without focus and energy. Ghoshal also observed from his research in this area that no more than 10 percent of corporate executives demonstrate the requisite amount of focus and energy. And that perhaps explains why so many executives fall short of success and career progress. End of the day organizations reward for what you do and delivery and not what you know. And research by Dr. Jeffrey Pfeffer (of Stanford University) has again documented the widening gap between knowing and doing in the corporate leading to dismal performance as executives and collectively as corporations. Focus and energy can be sharpened with practice like any other behavior. It is as much a result of nurture as it may appear as nature. Framework on Focus and Energy: Dr Ghoshal’s seminal work (‘A Bias for Action’ by Dr Sumantra Ghoshal) in the area of delivering results provides a framework which is reproduced below. You will observe that those of us with neither focus nor energy end up being procrastinators. A good 30% of corporate executives can be categorized as procrastinators, according to Ghoshal. Besides, there are 40% of executives who have enormous energy, but lack focus. They suffer from what is now well known as “activity trap.” They probably do not understand the difference between “business” and “busyness!” Being busy without a focused goal does not take the executive anywhere. The third category is those who are very focused, but lack energy. Ghoshal calls them as “detached managers.” Nearly 20% of the corporate executives will fit this description. That leaves only 10% of managers who seem to have both focus and energy. They produce results and advance in their careers. Energy: Jack Welch raised energy as a key managerial attribute in General Electric for success, besides ability to energize others, showing edge in people decisions and an ability to execute on commitments. Energy is the vigor fueled by intense personal commitment and involvement. Managers put maximum energy into doing things that are personally meaningful to them. Energy also implies that managers take proactive action and show initiative. It is energy that keeps people moving even in the face of doubts and misgivings. How can we enhance our energy and become action-oriented? Well, we can do many things as under: *Setting a clear and ambitious goal. Stephen Covey of 7 Habits fame speaks of setting WIGs as a prerequisite for effective execution. WIGs stand for Wildly Important Goals. * Learning to manage emotions well towards performing the goal-oriented activities. Emotions we have can be either a dampener or an energizer. It is important to be aware of the emotions and mobilize them towards engaging in activities that move us towards the goals we have set. * Taking full responsibility for the intention or the goals. * Crafting a mental image or model for action is equally important. Think of Stephen Covey again who very vividly commented:” nothing is achieved just once. Before you achieve anything in the physical world, you will have to achieve it in your mental world”. So much for the energy. Focus: This is essentially energy channeled towards a specific outcome or goal. Focused managers can concentrate on their goals despite daily distractions that are plenty at work. Some of the key ways by which we can achieve focus are as follow: * Being aware of distractions and choosing clearly what we want to do and what we do not want to do. *Develop a personal discipline of pressing ahead with planned actions *Being clear about where focus ends and stubbornness begins! When discussing focus, it pays well to keep in mind the Chinese proverb: “if you chase two rabbits, you will likely get none!” Motivation & Will power: Successful managers learn to differentiate between motivation and willpower. Motivation is a very loosely used word to describe that someone is prepared to do something. Willpower is much more. Willpower enables managers to act in a disciplined way even when their motivation may be low. Willpower scores over motivation in 3 different ways. Firstly, it makes it easy to focus on our goals. Willpower does not crave for external stimuli. Secondly, we become selective in processing information. We ignore distracting or opposing information and stay focused on our goal. Thirdly, we will respond in new ways to obstacles as they may present themselves. Our resolve to achieve the goals gets stronger particularly in the light of lack of support from others. And giving up simply does not become an option, with willpower! Execution is key: Tom Peters said it in his own style: “Ideas do not move mountains; bulldozers do! Ideas help you find where bulldozers are!” Therefore, armed with an MBA, but devoid of any energy and focus, there is very little chance of success. Reflecting continuously on one’s focus and energy should become a habit so we have a good chance to improve these attributes and behaviors associated with them. The author is Executive Vice President & Chief People Officer, Symphony Services.