Being focused is about intensity.

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A good example of focus is the focus of an outstanding Salesperson - which is often presented as the ABC Rule- Always Be Closing. This means that the SalesPerson has the only goal to sell and will find a way to close no matter what. It starts at the beginning of the sales funnel by having the ability to generate opportunity at scale, sourcing potential prospects and screening fast to define with whom you should focus. It continues in the proposal phase where the salesperson has to build in a shorter amount of time a proposal adapted to the need of the prospects respecting the rule of profit for the company. It ends with the negotiations where the Salesperson needs to follow up, sometimes more than 10 times. The Salesperson should know what he/she is ready to give up to close. Sales is an intense process and this is why it requests focus.

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Proactivity:

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Being proactive is about taking responsibility for what you can have control of. There are different forces around us on which you can’t have control (climat, economics, politics) and there are others that are in your circle of influence, meaning that you can control them (attitude, what you want to learn, habits you have, etc). Proactive people will focus only on the forces they can influence. They know they can not do anything about the other forces but complaining. They understand complaining will not lead them anywhere new.

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Proactive People don’t complain about what they can’t control, instead they take action about things they can impact.

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Priority :

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According to Oussama Amar, Partner at The Family , as an entrepreneur you should separate your task in two categories: Growth or Not Growth. The founders should focus (be intense and put the highest level of energy) in things that help them grow. The priority for startup is the growth (or eventually at early beginning reaching Product/Market fit). In next class, we will get more into some tactics to prioritize.

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Making Decisions:

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Making decisions requires focus. The flow of information, data, opinion from your team, advice from your mentors will help you make decisions but at the same time add complexity to the decision process, considering you will have to consider and analyze different information and perspective. Keep in mind: it is ultimately up to the entrepreneur to make the decision and move on! It is your responsibility.

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Great entrepreneurs know how to synthesize data/information, make a decision fast about the path to follow, and execute. They have the respect and trust from their team and therefore the authority to enhance their decision. Also, Authority gain is important for top leaders and leaders down to the CEOs, if team leaders have the decision power but no authority toward their team, Then it will not bring efficiency.

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Honesty:

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You will have to make many decisions and fast, therefore you will make many mistakes. It is extremely important to be able to say and accept that sometimes “I was wrong”. It Is critical that you scale this mindset of honesty and integrity toward failures within your team. Being wrong is perfectly fine! You will learn out of it. The important step is to admit it fast, to iterate fast.

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Stress Management

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You are leading an organization in a chaotic environment. Dynamic markets, reduced team, limited capital, no brand recognition, different ideas of product improvement in your heads, stakeholders expectation - are examples of the complexity gravitating around your startup. Your role is to find the right balance in the chaos and move fast. The goal is to do things faster, in less time at less cost, so you can survive. As we said Focus is a question of intensity. Therefore, you will have to have a “solid” mentally to lead in this context.

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The first step to manage stress and pressure is to know yourself and be honest with yourself. Ask yourself these questions:

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What is your