Focus On The Best, Be Prepared For The Worst

I have visited with a few business leaders recently that have reminded me of an important mindset I maintain that is so integral my team’s job/life satisfaction. Leaders must focus on the best case and be prepared for the worst case. Most people naturally conjure up the worst case scenario or dwell on the bad that’s happened already. It’s easier to be negative, to think, “pitiful me,” and give up because there is no chance of success. True leaders don’t settle for that. They have a constant drive to do more, to try something new, and to motivate their team continuously with the vision of something special that will be created in the future.

When you focus on the best case it allows you to: sustain high morale, maintain high standards, and show strength when people need to see it most. In most situations, your team’s morale is a result of what just occurred. The danger in morale looking backwards is that failure is a part of every team’s journey. Failure can be disruptive if not celebrated and used to motivate people on how the future will be better because of the lessons learned. Being focused on the future best casewill allow you to celebrate failures and keep morale high. When you expect the best, talk about being the best, and surround yourself with the best people, the best case usually shows up. Tom Brady and Bill Belichick are the best example of this approach. The two of them don’t expect to see anything except perfection out on the field and their team usually is close to perfect. It is impossible to talk about high standards when your focus is on what’s going wrong or how bad things can get.

To create and maintain high standards, you must focus on the best case. Picture an army on the field of combat staring at another army of highly capable soldiers. In front of the soldiers is the army’s commander, leader, and most fierce warrior. Now picture that leader not expecting the best case. What does that look like in your mind? No one wants their leader to show that they are afraid to move forward. The team might as well give up. Leaders must focus on the best case so their strength and confidence will spread throughout their team and create a sense of opportunity even in the most direr situations.

In the military, leaders start all mission planning with the enemy’s most probable and most dangerous courses of action. Making this part of my planning routine was a valuable lesson for me because it taught me that my competition will always counter my moves, and I must be prepared for it. Nothing will go exactly as planned and leaders must reflect on that. What will my competition do after I start this initiative? What would be the most dangerous reaction from my competition after I start this initiative? What should my company do when I experience this reaction? Thinking through these questions during your planning process allows you to be even more confident that the best case will occur.

Leaders all choose to focus on something. Do you want to be known as the leader that worries about something that may never happen? How about being known as the leader who dwells on past failures in a negative way? Neither of those work, and true leaders don’t think that way. Be the leader that focuses on the best case, is prepared for the worst case, and uses this mindset and planning to make their team better.