Have you ever seen the movie Up?  In the movie there is a talking dog that chatters away until he sees a squirrel. Instantly all other conversations and thoughts cease and he yelps “Squirrel” and turns his head to watch the squirrel.

[Tweet “Have you ever been distracted by a squirrel? “]

Several years ago I attended a live auction to raise funds for a charity.  One of the items on the auction was unique piece of jewelry that mot of us ladies were imagining as our own before the auction started.

When the bidding started I sat up and paid more attention, wondering who would walk away with that piece.

Like with most auctions, there were several people willing to make opening bids, but the number of active participants quickly narrowed.

Soon there were just two men, each seated by their beautiful wives, on the opposite sides of the room in a bidding contest.

As the bidding grew more intense, I became fascinated with the body language of both men and their wives.

• Couple A: The wife appeared to be encouraging her husband to keep bidding and obviously wanted her man to put some heart into getting that item for her.
• Couple B:  The wife was looking more and more uncomfortable with each bid.

As the price climbed, Husband A looked like he was struggling to stay “in the game,” and Husband B was so focused on winning he was like a dog with a bone.

Both men were so absorbed in their own thoughts that they had forgotten who they were trying to purchase the gift for.

Eventually Husband A stopped bidding.  And Husband B triumphed.

• Wife A looked really disappointed.
• Wife B looked really embarrassed.

And neither man noticed.

Although both men started bidding for their wives, both had lost their focus.  One appeared to be more focused on honoring his wallet while the other one was more focused on honoring his own ego.

Leadership can be just like that.

We can start out with good intentions deeply desiring to serve God, our families, our employees and/or our cause…

But it does not take much to become so distracted by our challenges, or our dreams of success that our focus changes from others to ourselves.

[Tweet “Have you ever lost your leadership focus? “]

I ‘m not pointing fingers, because I’ve done it…  more than once. 

I have become so consumed by a challenge I was trying to figure out that I didn’t listen intently when my husband, sisters, parents, friends or team members shared a story.

• So instead of communicating my love for them, I was communicating that my challenge was more important they were.

I have become so distracted by successes that I started to believe all the positive press and thought I deserved it.

• And when pride moves in, humility moves out.  …Making it impossible to serve the people or the cause with my whole heart.

Both situations erode trust with those you love and are called to serve; and make you less effective.

Have you ever made those mistakes?

What did you learn?

What do you do today to protect your leadership from those distractions now?

If this post reminds you of yourself, and you’re wondering what to do…  Check out this link.

Image Credit:  iStock