“You can do it all, just not at the same time”. — Stephen Covey
You can only work on so many things at once.
In Squirrels, Boats, and Thoroughbreds: Lessons for Leading Change in Traditional Businesses, Jamie Gerdsen shares a story about just that.
A friend of his had recently retired and decided to take up golf.
Here’s what happened …
Gerdsen writes:
“He found a club pro he liked and had the pro critique his swing. After a morning together, the pro told him, ‘Here are the five things I want you to work on with your swing. Go play five rounds and come back and we’ll see how you’re doing.’
My friend was a little surprised that after an entire morning together, the pro only had five things to tell him. So he questioned him about that.
The pro’s response was illuminating . He told my friend there was a lot he could point out, but a golfer could only work on so many things at once. If he told the golfer a whole bunch of things to fix, it was overwhelming, and nothing got accomplished. He even had a term for it. He called it over-coaching.”
Whether you’re coaching yourself, or coaching, managing, or leading others, less is often more.
Image by Javier.