#654 balls

"You'll always be juggling 30 balls.  The key is figuring out which are glass and which are rubber."*  

I think the ability to do so is one of the key traits of a leader.  Things are thrown your way every day, and sometimes you need to focus on the new or urgent instead of doing the work on the long-term project as you planned.  And sometimes that is fine, because you know which balls are rubber.

I see people everyday who are challenged in trying to hold on to all balls, instead of handing some over to someone else or in letting the right ones drop.  Their hands become so full of balls that they have a hard time being effective with any of them.  

It is an art to know when you can let some things go.  Rubber balls bounce so you can pick them up again later.  Assess the balls you are juggling and focus on the glass ones -- even if just for today.

-- beth triplett
leadershipdots.blogspot.com

@leadershipdots
leadershipdots@gmail.com

*Source:  @jbobbysyb, 7/25/13