Be On Purpose

It’s been one of those days … you started with a meeting at 8:30, had back-to-back conference calls until 2; and then get a text from your boss at 2:15 asking to review your team’s latest results. 

There have been some extenuating circumstances, and your numbers don’t look so good. Knowing there’s not enough time to pull together everything you’ll need, you decide to “wing it.”  Afterall, you know your team’s work. 

The meeting starts and you jump right in, explaining the situation. Bouncing from one example to the next, you think you’ve covered the important points. At the end of the meeting, your boss expresses his concern about your team and notes that you seemed to ramble quite a bit – which gives him some pause about your leadership of the team.  

What happened? This wasn’t the outcome you wanted! What could you have done differently? 

Be intentional. Don’t fall into the trap of believing that preparation takes a lot of time and work. Regardless of the amount of prep time, using whatever time there is to be intentional will reap big rewards. 

At LAITHOS, we use a foundational tool that helps our clients quickly break down the components of being intentional in all types of interactions. Regardless of the type – one-on-one conversation, a presentation or even team meeting – the first step is to get connected to the real purpose of that interaction. In other words, what is the desire outcome?  

Some examples of outcomes are: 

• Agreeing on an issue 
• Feeling heard  
• Strengthening a relationship 
• Clearly understanding a situation 
• Identifying next steps and owners 

Yet, simply thinking about the core purpose is only the first step. There’s much more to being intentional.  

Stay tuned … we’ll be covering the other three components over the next few weeks.  Used routinely, this simple process will increase your awareness and ability to show up intentionally in your leadership. 

This Week: Each day, identify an interaction that you’ll be having. Jot down a couple of bullet points that capture the core purpose of that interaction. Afterward, look back and reflect on the actual outcome. If what you desired didn’t happen, what could have been different? What can be different next time?