The Fallacy of The Daily Stock Price (And Other Corporate Distractions)

Many days the first thing a corporate employee does is check the daily stock price of his or her employer. Far too often, this seemingly trivial event sends the employee on an emotional roller coaster. They either get very excited about where their company is at or they begin to worry about what is going wrong.

The problem is that the time and energy they waste on worrying about something that is largely outside of their control cannot be retrieved. Consequently, they have less time and energy to generate better business results. Ironically, by using up time and energy worrying about results they actually hurt future results. Every person has a finite amount of time, talent and energy. Any time these resources are poured into something (like worrying or being frustrated) that does not contribute to improved results than the resources are wasted.

Other corporate distractions include worrying about performance reviews and numerical goals. An employee can waste so much time and energy worrying about or getting frustrated by an upcoming or recently completed performance review that they negate their contribution to improving results. The employee also might get so caught up in worrying about hitting a certain sales goal (or some other type of quota) that before they realize it an hour, day, week or month has gone by without doing anything to improve the result.

Here are some other analogies to make my point:

• A baseball player worries so much about his upcoming contract that he loses focus on his performance on the field.

• A musician worries whether or not the audience will applaud and ends up making several mistakes during their performance.

• A student worries so much about their grades that he or she runs out of time to prepare for the test.

• An actor worries so much about the critic's review that they forget their lines.

• A politician worries so much about winning votes that (well I'll just let you figure this one out.)

Then the question becomes, "If an executive shouldn't focus on daily stock prices, performance reviews and numerical goals, then what should he or she focus on?" I suggest there are four keys for the executive to clarify and keep top of mind: values, beliefs, strategies and tactics.

Values are what are considered important in the organization. Beliefs are what are considered the right thing to do in the organization. Strategies are what need to be done in order to improve the most important results. Tactics are how to execute the strategies.

Here is where I suggest you should invest your time, talent and energy:

1. Clarify your own values and beliefs and see if they match the real values and beliefs that are espoused on a regular basis at your organization. (Many times the values/beliefs stated in a corporate mission statement are not the ones that actually determine decisions on a regular basis.) If they don't, you may need to move on to another organization. (You know the old saying about winning the world but losing your self. It applies here.)

2. Clarify your strategy for improving results (that is, "what to do") and the tactics that support each strategy (that is, "how to do it").

3. Throughout the course of your working day, answer these questions, "Is what I'm doing right now important? Is it the right thing to do? Does it fit within the predetermined strategy for improving results?" If your answer is "yes" to all of these questions, then ask yourself, "Is there a better way that I can execute it?" Then make the course adjustments in your execution.

By pouring your time, talent and energy into these three areas, I think you will find that you will have a much greater impact on generating better results than by using up these perishable resources on worry and frustration.

QUESTION FOR THE MONTH

How about you?

Regarding your work, what do you think is important in order to generate better results?
What do you think is the right thing to do?
What will you do to improve results in your organization's highest priority outcomes?
How will you do it?
Are the tactics you are doing right now supporting your strategy?
If so, how can you execute these tactics even better than you are doing right now?

RECOMMENDED RESOURCE FOR TOP PERFORMERS:

Take a vacation. I mean it. Take 10 days and get away from your responsibilities at work. Let your mind rest. Invariably, you will come back and be far more effective. From May 1 - 10 my family and I went to North Carolina and Gatlinburg, Tennessee. We drove 2400 miles together. (Keep in mind that our daughter is a three-year-old and our son is a one-year-old.) They cried and screamed and laughed and watched movies. We had to stop every two to three hours. And you know what? It was perfect. After being with her cousins, my daughter kept calling me, "Uncle Snort, baby, pig, oink." We laughed every time she said it. It's not very often that you get to spend 10 whole days being called "Uncle Snort, baby, pig, oink." During the trip I got a call to do a two-day strategic planning retreat for a national not-for-profit board in Williamsburg, Virginia in July. I love to do those kinds of retreats because if an organization can clarify its strategy it can quickly become far more effective. I really, really wanted to do this. However, we have another vacation planned for July and so I turned them down. I can always do a strategic planning retreat, but I can't always be called, "Uncle Snort, baby, pig, oink."

Back to The Enhancing Effectiveness Page

P.O. Box 1245 Fenton, Missouri 63026
Phone 636.825.6611 Fax 636.825.9831
E-mail info@thecoughlincompany.com