Why Leaders Need to Focus on Process, NOT Results

When you’re running a business or leading a team, it’s easy to get super-focused on results, results, results.

I’ve seen this happen with lots of clients, and the outcome is usually burnout or quitting when the going gets tough.

The reason is that when you are only focused on your end-goal, and let’s say that’s profitability for your organization, you can run yourself ragged trying to get there. And, when you have rough months — which all organizations do — you’re already exhausted so it’s tempting to just throw in the towel.

BUT the organizations that are successful, the leaders who are successful, don’t experience this.

Why?

Because they realize that it’s not all about the end-goal and results. Yes, of course, they want to make money and grow their organization, but they don’t spend their days just focusing on that. Instead, they focus on their process.

And, here’s the really important part: they ENJOY the process.

It’s like one of my mentors used to tell me: your business is a process, not an event.

Or, in a more global way of thinking, it’s not about the destination, but the journey.

If you’re not enjoying the journey, or you’re not even noticing that it is a journey, because you’re so caught up with making the quarter-end sales, I’m gonna go out on a limb and say that you’re probably not that happy in your work.

Plus, let’s not forget, as the leader, you set the tone for your team. If you’re only focused on results and not appreciating the processes that will get you there, chances are your team is experiencing that, too.

So, what to do?

Well, first, let me be clear that I’m not suggesting that shouldn’t have an end-goal or want results. Of course, you should. In fact, check out this article if you want to know how to set, achieve, and even exceed goals of pure excellence.

So, yes, I am an advocate for setting destination end-goals.

I’m just saying that to get there and to enjoy the journey of getting there, we need to appreciate process.