Why Rising Leaders Lose Focus (and How to Get It Back)

Reader,

Many rising leaders start off strong—only to melt into a swirl of uncertainty and waning confidence.

The meeting begins and you’re ready to go…but your good intentions fade in the wake of conversations you didn’t plan.

You meet with your team member determined to have that tough conversation…but you end up reacting to their frustrated response.

Why is staying the course so hard for rising leaders?

Responding is the job.

Early in your career, success comes from responding to needs—doing what needs to be done, flexing, adapting.

But when you become a leader, though all these things remain essential, something more is required: unrelenting focus on what matters most.

Suddenly you’re conflicted. You still want to respond to what your boss, team, and organization need—but your team doesn’t respond well to flexible leadership that ebbs and flows with whatever comes up next.

To be a leader, you must reorient your entire way of working around a new way to think, act, and respond.

The role of focus.

Leadership focus is like a lighthouse on a dark shoreline, guiding your team toward the destination. Without that one clear light in the distance, the team is easily tossed and turned by shifting needs, deadlines, challenges, and demands.

To lead well, you must work hard to become crystal clear about what matters most—and why it matters—so you can unleash your team’s potential toward those priorities.

The fewer the priorities, the greater your team’s power to act.

What does it take to become crystal clear?

Not action. Not urgency. But quiet, thoughtful, mindful thinking.

Most rising leaders spend nearly all their time with their boss discussing lists of tasks, deadlines, and metrics. Yet something more is needed: time spent understanding the priorities, why they matter, how your boss thinks about them, and what success looks like.

When you’re in a boat in the middle of a storm, that’s not the time to figure out where you’re going. You have to know before the storm comes.

Likewise, when work is urgent and everything’s moving fast, that’s not the time to clarify what matters most and why.

That’s why you can’t afford to waste the moments when there is time.

Ask every question you must to know what to do and why it matters, so you can maintain steady, clear focus—even at a running pace.

The role of being responsive.

As a leader, your responsiveness shifts. You’re no longer responding to every need that arises. You’re responding to:

Challenges that put priorities at risk, and resolving them.
Barriers your team is facing, and removing them.
New information that reshapes your approach to the priorities.
Bigger shifts that require you to adapt or refine your focus.
Responsiveness at the leadership level isn’t about dropping what you’re doing to pick up something new—it’s about maintaining focus while you respond.

Your priorities guide what you respond to and how you respond.

The challenge.

What makes the balance between focus and responsiveness so hard for rising leaders is the lack of time to get clear in the first place.

How can you maintain a focus you don’t fully have? In the best circumstances, this is hard.

In urgent, stress-filled moments, it’s even harder. That’s when it’s easiest to revert to old habits: checking boxes, chasing tasks, and doing instead of leading.

And when you stop focusing like a leader, your boss starts to wonder if you’re ready.

Can you see the vicious cycle?

Without clarity, confidence fades and focus slips...again.

If you’re in the middle of a crazy season, sometimes you just have to ride it out. But when the sea calms and the sun returns, that’s your moment to look to the horizon—to find strong, clear focus on what matters most and why.