In this edition of Life Well Led, I’d like to take you behind the curtain of our consulting practice and share a question our clients have found helpful.

For those who may not be aware, our firm is called Untapt. We help humble, hungry leaders get healthier so their teams can reach their full potential. One of the ways we do this is by asking questions that create clarity around where our clients are going and how they’re going to get there. 

I’ll be the first to admit there’s nothing terribly complex or sophisticated about these questions. But when answered with specificity and applied with intentionality, the results are often exponential. Today, I’d like to share with you one such question:

“What’s most important right now?”

In our experience, a great answer to this question has three traits:

First, and perhaps most importantly, the answer should be narrow. As human beings, we have a bad habit of “prioritizing” too many different things at once. I’ve seen it (and done it) time and again. So anytime a client wants to have two or more priorities for a given time period, my answer is always the same: “If everything’s important, nothing’s important.”

Second, the answer should be strategic.  Because you only get to pick one, you want to make sure you get your money’s worth. Ideally, it should be the kind of objective that—if accomplished—has the power to make a bunch of other objectives much easier or unnecessary (check out Gary Keller’s excellent book “The One Thing” for more on this concept). 

Third, the answer should be timely. We’re not looking for an area of focus that is always important to your family, team or business. We’re looking for a rally cry that is uniquely important for a particular season (usually in the neighborhood of 6-12 months). 

If you’re anything like me, it’s helpful to see an example, so here’s one from the early years of Untapt:

What’s most important right now? 

• “Build the Foundation”

How will we get there?

• Design professional website

• Outfit physical office space

• Optimize external-facing processes 

• Set up internal accounting system

• Recruit two new team members

It takes longer than you might expect to answer this question in a way that is clear, compelling, and actionable. But for those who put in the effort to get there, it’s amazing to see the focus and energy that gets unleashed. I’ve seen it time and time again, both on teams I’ve led and those we’ve consulted. 

If you’re interested in taking this question for a test drive, pick an area of life and consider the following three questions:

1. What’s the “one thing” you’d most like to accomplish over the next 6-12 months?

2. What steps would this involve?

3. What would be the benefits of achieving this objective?

Should you go through the exercise, I’d love to hear your answers and offer some encouragement. Also, if you’re interested in taking your team through this exercise, let me know, and I will send you a pdf that provides additional guidance.

Carry on fellow travelers, we’ll talk soon.