Don't let distractions drive you batty

Normally, going to church is a source of comfort for me. I relish the chance to find peace in the secure place I know so well. This weekend proved to be very different then what was expected and I think it provides insight for business leaders.

It started simply enough. “Let’s go to 8am mass so we have the full day ahead of us.” We arrived and sat in our typical place and the priest processed in. So far, so good. Then the priest announces that if we hadn’t noticed yet there was a bat flying around. He also went as far to say that in his experience, bats usually stay up high and should not cause any issues. Well, this bat decided to be different.

The priest began the mass and the bat began to swoop low around the parishioners’ heads and all around the altar. People ducked, people yelped, people waved their missals so as to shoo the bat. The congregation was losing it but the priest steadfastly continued his work. He was undeterred by this distraction and kept focus even as small pockets of chaos erupted.

Mass was going to continue as usual from his perspective but the same could not be said of some of the parishioners, myself included. Since I am quite tall, I could not get the image of being an easy target for the bat out of my head. The more it swooped, the more distracted I became – especially every time it came within a few feet of my head! As far as I could tell, most people stayed for the service. My personal instinct was to get out of there but I yet I stayed. After mass though, I nearly ran the whole way to our car! As we were driving home though, I started to reflect on the incident.

There were positives and negatives to both aspects of the situation. The priest had a job to do and he executed it flawlessly. However, he didn’t acknowledge the risk that was present, as the bat could have had rabies and someone could have gotten hurt. The congregation was committed to follow their leader but at times the distraction proved to be too much which led to a lack of confidence.

The more I reflected, the more I realized that there were business lessons to be learned from this situation. As business leaders we constantly have outside distractions swooping in to take our focus. The distractions are uncontrollable and you don’t know what direction they are going to come from. Focus becomes paramount to success. In staying focused though, know when to acknowledge and address those distractions that could prove to be dangerous.

Most of all you have to remember that through this, your employees and peers might be committed to you but you must stay connected to them. Try to alleviate their responses to the distractions and reinforce their confidence in your ability to lead. Just as there is no way to predict the path of a bat, you don’t know what distractions will surface in your business life. Finding a balance between maintaining focus and knowing when to address the distractions are keys to achieving business acumen.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I have not received any compensation for writing this post. I have no material connection to the brands, products, or services that I have mentioned. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”