Concentrate all your thoughts upon the work at hand. The sun’s rays do not burn until brought to a focus.
– Alexander Graham Bell
Line umpires are accustomed to being watched and monitored across the tennis tournaments, with a mark out of seven given on their calling accuracy and how strong their ‘alert position’ is.
Without a doubt, their focus and concentration have to be second to none. In fact, concentration is one of the three key qualities that are checked at their assessment days, along with eye sight and voice.
It is usual for a line umpire to be so in the zone, concentrating on their line, that they won’t even know it’s match point.
One of the benefits of being so focused is that you miss nothing. However, it is certainly a skill that is not always as prevalent in the workplace.
What could you be missing?
Think about meetings, presentations or one-on-ones you attend or run. How focused are you on what’s going on there and then? Are you really listening, observing, concentrating to the point that you are not missing anything critical? Are you noticing how people are feeling, in tune with the flow of the conversation, aware of the energy and the thinking in the room?
Or, are you on your phone? Perhaps you’re answering emails, doing some other work or checking you diary to see what’s coming up next?
The latter is an easy habit to get into, but it does come with longer term, high risk consequences. You may have missed a clue to a key player in your team struggling, a key idea for innovation or growth, or the fact that some people aren’t speaking up when they should be.
Next time you’re running a meeting or are in conversation, imagine you were being assessed out of seven for your ‘alert position.’ What score would you get? The good news is that like in line umpire land, it’s a skill that can be, and in fact needs to be, improved.
If a line umpire misses something, it’s critical to the game. What could you be missing that’s critical in your world?