Scott Couey

Anything can be a distraction for a leader.

I love being an uncle. My nieces and nephews are constantly teaching me new things through their innocent, child-like eyes. The other day I called my parents to ask them something and my two year old nephew was at their house. My mother put me on speaker phone so my nephew could talk to me. He said “Hey Uncle Scott!” and then I asked him how he was doing…absolute silence. It turned out he was distracted by pretzels. At the end of my call, I told my parents that I would talk to them later, suddenly my nephew came back to the phone and said “Hey!” again. The little tyke then proceeded to go back to the pretzels.

There are so many things in life that can distract us, much like my nephew’s pretzels. These distractions may ordinarily be something good, but they can take us away from doing what we need to do or doing it to the best of our ability. Your distraction may not be pretzels – it may be a person, circumstances, money, or any number of things. As a leader, it can be difficult at times because you are not only trying to take care of yourself and grow personally and professionally, but you are also responsible for doing the same for others. When you find yourself going through times of distraction, find a trusted friend or mentor with whom you can share these struggles. Having someone who knows what you are going through makes it easier to focus on the right things.

How do you combat distractions as a leader?

Photo Credit: By Dottie Mae