Are You Putting Out Fires or Lighting the Way?

Have you ever noticed that the people who are most successful are the ones who have an unshakeable clarity for what is important? I think this is a quality we all recognize in the people we admire. They don't seem to get bogged down in the countless distractions that consume so many others. They know what drives their progress and what is worth giving their attention to, and they act accordingly.

This is what I was getting at in a recent article about assessing the noise in your life. We all have things that pop up and beg for our attention. Too often, we pride ourselves on how many fires we can put out on any given day. But the reality is, people who make consistent strides are the ones who don't allow crisis time (the things that are urgent) to rob from clarity time (the things that are important).

When you spend too much energy on crisis time, you tend to live in survival mode – going from one immediate concern to the other. And that is a very surface-level, reactionary way to live. The pressure of daily life leads you to make snap decisions instead of following a well-thought-out plan. When you don't act from a place of absolute clarity, you tend to hold on to too much and you end up undercutting your value. It might feel like you are doing a lot, but you may not be doing the right things.

The answer then is to know what you really want and target your time wisely. There are a thousand decisions that need to be made every day in a dental practice; however, you need to deal only with the things that require your level of expertise. At the same time, you have to be sure that everything else is being dealt with correctly. Ensure that issues come to you in the right way, through the right channels, and with the right background briefing, so you can use your time and energies most effectively.

Leadership is not about putting out fires. It's about creating a beacon that guides your actions and lights the path for those around you.