Prioritizing to Our Purpose

Once we’ve developed systems that tie back to how we’re wired and ensure we’re effective in keeping our purpose top of mind, there’s still a high likelihood that we’ll still have to juggle more tasks than we can ever get done on a given day. And while that can often be said for anyone who’s remotely productive, it’s something we’ll be faced with daily once we accept the first bit of leadership responsibility - and it will increase (usually exponentially) as our scope of leadership grows. If we’re going to make sure, even with the best systems in place, that we’re working within that purpose that fulfills us and keeps our energy tank fed, we’ll need to get just as good at prioritizing the tasks we do as we are at building systems to support us through the process.

In chapter seventeen of The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, The Law of Priorities, John Maxwell details his version of the three R’s. At first glance, I thought there was a chance I had learned something useful in elementary school but as I read on I realized he wasn’t referring to readin’, ritin’, & ‘rithmetic…

As John explained the importance of determining what we’re actually Required to do personally, as opposed to all the things we’re required to make sure get done. From there, he tied the idea of Return to the Pareto Principle, suggesting that of all tasks we’re required to do - and cannot delegate to anyone else - the top twenty percent are generally what produces eighty percent of our overall results. His third R was Reward and he stressed how critical it is, especially for leaders, to work in areas that are fulfilling; one might even take that as working in areas of a clear purpose!

When we have clarity around our purpose and we’ve built systems that help keep that purpose in front of us, prioritizing that top twenty percent of those Required tasks will play a huge part in giving us the energy we’ll need to work through everything else. Here’s where we’ll need to exhibit some will power though, because there will inevitably be a temptation to ditch the last eighty percent that only yields twenty percent of our results! Since everything truly does rise and fall on how we lead, this will not be a luxury we’ll be able to choose…

As long as we’re dialed in on each of the three R’s and we’ve tied it to our clear purpose for leading, it will be an easier battle to fight. Simply put, nearly every battle is easier to fight when our tank is full and we’ll tie all this together by looking at that next time!