Keep your eye on the ball

“The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing.”
—Dr. Stephen R. Covey

Simple, yet profound in its implication; Covey’s quote expresses a concept that every person, business, government organization, and unified body of people should strive to achieve.

If you’ve ever played baseball, you were probably told to keep your eye on the ball. Taking your eye off the ball will cause you to lose focus, miss the pitch and strike out. By eliminating distractions and staying focused on the ball, you have a better chance of hitting it and getting on base. Even for those not up to bat, everyone’s attention has to be focused on where the ball is at any given moment so they can fully participate. Distractions that cause a player to lose focus for even a few seconds can cause a team to lose the game.

Life is full of countless distractions that place your focus on many bouncing balls. It is often difficult to even know which one is the main “ball” that requires your focus. However, your ultimate success in any endeavor is dependent upon your ability to stay focused on the main thing. The key question, though, is what is your main thing?

Your personal main thing will be different from others, but your ability to discover it and then live your life in alignment with the main thing will make all the difference in the game of life. Your main thing is that which allows you to derive the most value and long-term satisfaction. When you are engaged in your main thing, you feel fully alive and engaged. You could summarize your main thing under the categories of three Rs: Relationships, Results, and Relative uniqueness.

Unfortunately, those relationships that you hold most dear are sometimes sacrificed on the alter of minor things that provide transitory pleasure. Taking action on the main thing will give you the results that you’re after, and could establish your uniqueness amongst a lineup of mediocre people, places, and things.

As a business owner, your main thing is the unique value created by your organization and desired most by your customers. The more unique and desirable the main thing is to the customer, the greater the competitive advantage will be for your organization.

The main thing help you build stronger relationships with your most valuable clients, produce the results both you and your clients desire, and establish you as relatively unique among the competition.

Your main thing could also be defined as your business’ values or beliefs that you share with your customers and employees. Thomas J. Watson, Jr., former CEO of IBM stated: “I firmly believe that any organization, in order to survive and achieve success, must have a sound set of beliefs on which it premises all its policies and actions. I believe that the most important single factor in corporate success is faithful adherence to those beliefs… Beliefs must always come before policies, practices and goals. The latter must always be altered if they are seen to violate fundamental beliefs.”

Shared values are just as important for a small company as they are for larger ones. An organization’s values are the collective principles and ideals that guide an organization’s thoughts and actions as a team, and they allow the team to stay focused on the “ball.”

Values are critical because they define the collective character of the firm and serve as decision guidelines. They not only let a company know what they should do, but just as importantly, values help determine what a firm stands for and what it will not stand for under any circumstance.

Your values will act as a filter where ideas and decisions can be run through, and in turn this will allow you to stay focused on the main thing. When this happens, you will notice some remarkable things occurring. Your customers will notice that something is remarkable about your business and will start making a remark about it to others. Your products and services will be more marketable, and this will lead to higher sales and lower returns.

As you stay focused on your main thing, you will be able to dominate your niche and position your business as the preeminent player in its field. Keep your eye on the ball, and you will notice that the game gets easier to play, and a lot more fun.

If you would like to get a worksheet that allows you and your team to keep their eye on the ball and stay focused on the main thing, then email us at biz_results@yahoo.com.