CHAPTER 4

How to Keep Your People Focused on Results

“Gentlemen, what are your intentions?”

–CAPTAIN JIM LOVELL, APOLLO 13

We begin our discussion on results by offering specific techniques to increase your team’s focus on what matters most, to recover from distractions, and to hold your team accountable.

• • •

The Apollo 13 mission suffered a major setback when an explosion damaged the spacecraft en route to the moon. The world watched as the astronauts tried to survive and return to Earth. If you’ve seen the eponymous 1995 film by Ron Howard, you might remember the scene where Captain Jim Lovell, played by Tom Hanks, asks the other astronauts, “Gentlemen, what are your intentions? Mine are to go home.”

Lovell actually said this line, though ...

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