Do you expand or narrow?

Leaders who chase expansion at all costs may be missing something better.

THINK ON IT: Do you expand or narrow?

As the leader of your business, you must delicately balance a number of tensions: Invest or harvest? Collaborate or compete? And, how about this one: expand or narrow?

There are times in your business when you must narrow your options and focus on executing on a few — or even just one — very well conceived strategies. And, there are times when you need to open the aperture and consider new options.

Which is best for your business right now? Do you need to hunker down and focus resources on a specific path, or do you need to step back and evaluate the landscape of what might be available to you? Both are appropriate at different times, and it takes a discerning leader to figure out which is right for this season. 

The trouble is that we may get so used to one method, we don't consider the other. We may spend so much time executing on the business that we haven't stopped to ask if we're still heading in the right direction. Alternatively, we may continually evaluate options and quickly abandon a chosen strategy in favor of the next bright shiny object.

Which mode are you in today? Is it time to pause and ask if you’re ready for an alternate approach?

“The key question to keep asking is, Are you spending your time on the right things? Because time is all you have." — Randy Pausch

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