Remember that famous scene in Glengarry Glen Ross when Alec Baldwin says, “Put that Coffee down. Coffee is for closers”? Baldwin introduces his talk to the subordinate salesmen by saying, “Let’s talk about something important.” The clip has some offensive parts so view at your own risk.
Listen. Listen to what you, your organization and boss talk about. Time and attention span are limited resources.
Let’s talk about something important.
Catch your boss talking about something that doesn’t drive understanding and action across the force and tell him, “Let’s talk about something important.”
People within and outside your organization will sometimes lack focus.
They’ll be looking at shiny, irrelevant things or problems you cannot influence or solve or be fixated on numbers or facts which really don’t matter.
They have forgotten about “why.” They forgot about the purpose of the organization and the purpose of communication. We should only communicate to drive understanding and action toward your organizational purpose.
Let’s talk about something important.
What supports your priorities is important.
What you can do something about is important.
What tells your story is important.
The rest is noise and trivia. Trivia means trivial.
Don’t focus on the trivial. You’re better than that. Talk about something important, your nation needs you to.
Now go and do likewise.
Photo by Capt. Briana McFarland
