How do you make a movement or lead a successful company? In this day and age, it’s easy and encouraging to take part in numerous different charities, hobbies, and organizations. While this ability is awesome and creates well-rounded individuals, involving yourself in too many different areas of interest might hinder your business ambitions, especially if you are the CEO of a company. A diverse array of interests consumes time. When you spread yourself thin, your company suffers from the lack of attention. That might seem counter-intuitive, especially if you were raised with the mindset of the more organizations your are involved with, the better it looks on your resume. But there’s an issue with that. Conjure up images of college clubs. Who was more likely to become the president of the journal club, someone who devotes every day to promoting the school paper or someone who can only spend a couple hours a week invested in the paper because they are tied up with 5 other clubs? The same is true for a successful business person. An effective CEO devotes the majority of time to his or her company.
“But there’s so many interests and issues that my company could become involved with,” you might be thinking. True, but if you don’t spend the appropriate energy on your own company, you might find your business struggling just to meet its own objectives. Focus on the main goal of your company and don’t let it out of your sight. Burnout is a very real risk for CEOs. If you can keep yourself zoned in on the main efforts of your company, then you’ll find that your energy and enthusiasm will last for many more years than if you were trying to be involved in a whole spread of interests. While the temptation to take part in everything can be very strong, resist the urge. Your company will thank you for it.