This video was sent to me by my colleague and friend Noah Fleming. Noah was vacationing on beautiful Kiawah Island Resort in South Carolina a few weeks ago. He knows I’m an avid golfer and sent me this video via text. Take a look, it’s only one minute long…
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPdNgO0sKh4]
I viewed it for the first time on my mobile phone. What do you think my focus was on? You would be correct if you said the tee shot. I was looking at the lush green fairway, the clear blue sky, and the danger on either side of the fairway. As a golfer that hits the ball right to left, I was wondering, “How the heck would I play this hole?”
My myopic view completely missed the alligator strolling right in front of me. It wasn’t until later that I watched it on a larger screen that my focus changed to the reason Noah sent it me to begin with.
Do you have a myopic view of your business, your company, and your career? Are you not seeing the gator in the grass?
In my consulting practice, I hear constantly from people that are so focused on increasing sales that they miss the peril that might actually put them out of business that is right smack dab in front of them. An example is the cyber liability peril that goes along with their mounting technology exposure.
In my coaching and mentoring practice, I talk to consultants and other professionals about increasing their peripheral vision. Many become so laser focused on their methodology and what they do, rather than how they are actually improving the condition of their client. The peril in this is that you miss the mark on engaging new prospects so they never engage with you!
Here’s the deal…
It’s easy for all of us to miss the gator in the grass. It’s human nature to become so overly focused on what we like to do and what we are good at doing, that we forget the perils lurking waiting for the unsuspecting. You have exposures to all sorts of crises just becasue you are in business – economic, physical, and reputation – and that’s part of the risk and reward of your craft. However, you can avoid a lot of gators if you slow down enough to identify your perils, assess how you can best prevent and mitigate them, and then go out and do what you do best.
For me, if I could only hit a nice easy fade like Jack Nicklaus…
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