December 2025 | The Gift of Focus | A Holiday Message on "The Main Thing"
- Mister Mike
- 4 days ago
- 3 min read
December 2025
“If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”
Sir Isaac Newton 1643-1727
Recently I was talking with an acquaintance near the top of the leadership-management team in a particular company who told me that the “top” team members met every Monday morning at eight a.m. to get the week rolling. Their meetings went on for three hours or more, and there was always a nice selection of pastries and fresh coffee. All the attendees sat around a long table, with about twenty attendees in total. In time, the CEO retired, and a new CEO was hired. At the first Monday morning meeting, the new CEO sat quietly and allowed someone else to run the meeting so that she could just observe. The meeting went on as usual, and after about three hours the meeting broke up with everyone going their own way. At the next meeting, the first to be conducted by the new CEO, the attendees entered the room and were surprised to find no table, no chairs, no coffee, and no pastries. The new CEO began the meeting and went around the room as usual, with each member having an opportunity to present the direction their group was headed and an opportunity for the others to comment and ask questions. That meeting ended in thirty minutes, and again everyone went their own way.
The questions here are obvious. Did the new CEO cut corners? Did she just leave things out? Did she not grasp the importance of these Monday sessions with their traditions, or was there something else? I am guessing that she was simply keeping “the main thing the main thing.” Too often meetings simply fill the time allotted. Knowing that they have three hours available, they possibly bring up items that are really “side bars” for discussion and allow the group to discuss things that are not the “main thing.” Side bars are usually a distraction and do little or nothing to address “the main thing.” They often just fill up three hours.
Meetings, with or without a table, coffee, pasties, etc., need to focus on the “main thing.” This requires sustainable leadership if the company or organization is to maximize its potential. Sustainable leadership will provide solutions for social and economic challenges we all face in today’s world. They will influence the process and work collaboratively to change and ultimately transform the company and/or group. If this is to work, however, they must make every effort to “keep the main thing the main thing” and reduce the side bars.
Research has shown that a very small percentage of family-owned businesses survive beyond the third generation. However, I know a company that is in its fifth generation and is doing very well. They have signage that celebrates the family history, the value of the company and the family’s vision. Their vision has always been team and customer focused. For five generations they have kept the “main thing the main thing!”
What is your “main thing?” Does everyone sitting around “the table” know what the “main thing” is, or are you just assuming so? Why not ask them, “What is our “main thing?” Are we really focused on the main thing, or are we allowing our teams to be “side-barred” over topics and efforts that are not the “main thing?” Have them write it down and then go around the room, presenting their “main things”. I bet you’ll learn something, and I bet some of your team will also pick up something that they had not previously even thought of. And….. I bet it doesn’t take three hours to do it! (smile)
“If everyone is moving forward together, then success takes care of itself.”
Henry Ford
“Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is
to be on God's side, for God is always right.”
Abraham Lincoln
Merry Christmas to All
Michael M. Carney mr.mikecarney@gmail.com
A special thank you to my support team!
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