Eyes on the Target
It was a top-secret mission. I was put in charge of leading eight aircraft with hundreds of elite special operations forces into another country. We were going to cross an enemy border that was “non-permissive” – meaning the host country not only didn’t want us there, but they would fight to keep us out. The intelligence officers were projecting we would lose up to 35% of the aircraft, and people, as we crossed the heavily fortified border.
But the orders were given: our mission was crucial – we were going in despite the risk to aircraft and personnel.
We had a few months to plan for this, which was good in many ways. It gave us time to rehearse over and over again, to think of the plethora of contingencies that could arise if something happened before the border crossing, on the border, or deep inside enemy territory. We talked and practiced for just about every curveball one could think up.
The downside to having two months to plan? We had a lot of time to dwell on the reality that we probably weren’t going to execute this mission perfectly – and, therefore, somebody wasn’t going to come home.
Night after night, I would go lay in my cot in the tent, relentlessly ruminating on a barrage of different thoughts: “What is going to happen?”; or “Have we trained hard enough?”; or “Are the intel guys spot-on with their assessment that we are going to lose over 30% of our force due to enemy reprisals?”
Honestly, what I thought of more than anything?
What if I screw up (and people die)?
Can you imagine the stress?
Thankfully I could concentrate during our work hours and remain diligently focused on our training and rehearsals. I only allowed allow my mind to significantly drift into all of the “what if” scenarios during the night when it was all quiet.
The day (actually, the night) of the mission came.
Anyone who has participated or watched something like this before realizes the complexity involved when you have that much machinery and people. It was a highly synchronized event to get eight assault helicopters, hundreds of troops, and three C130’s doing what they needed to be doing – even before crossing the enemy border.
A lot went wrong before we even got near the enemy. Aircraft started going down because of maintenance, and some helicopters could not refuel behind the C130s. It was a mess.
It was a mess, but it also wasn’t a mess; we made it work. We had trained for two months, as I said earlier, for a plethora of contingencies. As each problem popped up, we had a contingency plan that had already been briefed that would dictate, “what do we do now?” And we did it. And it worked.
And then, we were at the border.
This was it. This is where the intel people had said we would lose “35% of our aircraft”.
I don’t know if I had ever been more focused in my life.
We had trained, spoken, thought, prayed, dreamt, and planned for this moment for two months.
I was focused. Laser-focused. Single-minded focused.
We made it across the border, and we didn’t lose one aircraft. We didn’t lose one trooper or aviator.
I couldn’t believe it.
I was flooded with different emotions: Shock, relief, pride, and gratitude.
I was flooded with different thoughts, too: “Why wasn’t the enemy more ready?”; or “We still have to come back across the border in a few hours; will they be ready then?”
Even though there was a lot of good that just happened and a lot to celebrate, something was brewing that I couldn’t put my finger on in the moment.
I was distracted. I lost focus.
We still had a few hundred miles to fly, at night, in enemy territory – and we had a mission to complete. But I wasn’t focused on that. I was thinking about how we “had made it” cleaner, safer, and farther than we had expected.
I wasn’t keeping the main thing the main thing: To get a few hundred commandos onto a target to complete a high-level mission. Instead, I was making a part of the strategy (i.e., crossing the border, the enroute flight) the bigger thing and making the target assault the lesser thing. I wasn’t doing this intentionally, but if I’m being honest, the former (the ingress route to the target) was dominating my thoughts more than the more important latter (hitting the target with stealth, safety, and precision).
My focus was off.
We approached the target, and I fouled up the approach and landing.
At the most important part of the mission, the part where I should be more focused than any other part of the mission profile, I wasn’t. I had lost my edge that quickly. I wasn’t single-minded in my attentiveness.
I failed to keep the main thing the main thing.
Let’s highlight a recent example that the entire world is aware of where the person got it right.
Lionel Messi is in the running for the Greatest of All Time (the GOAT) in the most popular sport on the planet. But, until this Sunday, he hadn’t won the World Cup – which, in the world of soccer (or futbol), is the most prestigious and respected competition in the entire sport.
Throw on top of this that he’s thirty-five, potentially near the end of his career.
Another thing, he has been living in the shadow of a previous GOAT, Diego Maradona, who happens to be a fellow countryman. Every soccer journalist – and probably most Argentines – have been comparing Messi to Maradona, almost always with a jibe, “well, since he can’t bring home the World Cup Trophy like Maradona did, I guess Lionel is no Diego?”
But then, the Argentina National Futbol Team makes it into the World Cup Final. Against France, the reigning world champions. With one of the best young players in the world – Kylian Mbappe.
And ninety minutes of official game time, and thirty minutes of extra time, we find France and Argentina tied, 3-3.
What do you think Messi was thinking as they were getting geared up to have the World Cup decided by penalty kicks? With that stress on his shoulders, I probably would have had these varying thoughts race through my mind:
“We were up 2-0 for most of the game. How could this happen?”
“We blew it and let them tie us 2-2, but then we got ahead and made it 3-2. What went wrong? How could I let this happen? How could we let them score another goal and let them tie us with seconds left in official overtime?”
“What does this mean for Argentina if we lose?”
“What if I screw up?”
Can you imagine the stress? It’s beyond palpable.
Maybe Lionel thought all of these things? Maybe he didn’t think of them at all and just focused. My guess (and it’s just a guess) is that he had those random, unhelpful, and unfocused thoughts go through his mind, but then he dug down deep, blocked those thoughts out, made the main thing the main thing, and single-mindedly focused on making his penalty shot.
And he focused.
And he made the shot. Beautifully. With precision and skill.
And he set the stage to create an example for the rest of his team to make their shots with precision and skill.
And Argentina won. Argentina is the World Champion.
And Lionel Messi? He’s the GOAT.
It’s not because he’s the fastest. Nor the strongest. Nor the biggest.
If there is one word to hone in on, it’s FOCUS. Messi kept the main thing the main thing, and had focus like no other to help him accomplish the main mission.
By the way, getting supreme focus is teachable and learnable.
We teach our clients this in great detail, but let me give you the high-level roadmap for creating an insatiable focus for you and your team.
Have clarity around your mission, vision, and values. Have 100% clarity. And then talk about it all the time. Talk about it to the point where it feels ad nauseum to your people that are working for you.
Have clarity around your strategy. Then talk about it, all the time. Yes, again, ad nauseum.
Have clarity around role responsibilities. 100% clarity. For everyone. And then revisit this, frequently. How frequently? As frequently as your market, business, or organization changes. Which, if I had to place a bet, happens a lot in your ecosystem.
Have clarity around your most important tasks. This means that you have prioritized your most important tasks. You have done this, your team has done this, and your direct reports have done it.
Have ridiculously intentional accountability around planning towards, training for, and executing these most important tasks.
As much as we all respect Messi, we can do this too. No, we can’t win a World Cup; but we can have the supreme focus to do what our job and responsibilities require. We can have a diligent focus, keep the main thing the main thing, and be a winner in our “world cup,” whatever that may be.