Some Leadership Advice From Lee Thayer: Take Your Eye Off the Bottom Line

That must look like some whack-o advice. It is advice, however, not much heeded in our world. We're "bottom line" people. But you'd be surprised by how valuable this simple bit of advice can be. Here's why.

The conventional bottom line numbers may tell you a little bit about the current and most recent financial history of the company. They may tell you where you are relative to where your forecasts were. But they won't tell you what to do about what's wrong. They won't tell you what the situation might be if you had prepared differently. They won't tell you how to get from "here" to "there, or even where "there" is. The numbers may tell you something, but they won't tell you what you did right, or wrong.

The point is that taking your eye off the bottom line, sets you free to put your eye on what drives the bottom line. Things like towering competence, intensity, zeal, and focus. Like preparedness for whatever happens (or doesn't). Like reserve energy and acumen. Like the kind of intelligence that matters. Like being committed to a level of performance that forever pulls the bottom line along in its irresistible wake.

Put your eye on what drives the bottom line. Then develop those capabilities - and the numbers will always meet or exceed your expectations.

Comments

[Jim Stroup]

Excellent point, Lee.

My vote for best line: ". . . taking your eye off the bottom line sets you free to put your eye on what drives the bottom line." Bingo.

It's surprisingly easy, isn't it, to mistake the measurement for the thing measured. Or, to get closer to your point, even the thing measured for the capabilities and behaviors that enable - or drive - that thing.

Great post, great point - thanks!

[Shaun Kieran]

Awhile back I worked with a client who’d be nodding his head vigorously in agreement with what you wrote in your post. The problem for him was that he worked in a place where “bottom line” thinking permeated the culture, and could then be used to bludgeon anyone seeming distracted by other matters like feedback, planning, re-focusing, etc.

I had trouble believing it at first - it seemed like a parody, or a screenplay. He’s obviously not there any more.