Intention or Tools to Make Intention Real – Which is More Important?

I’m not going answer this tough question by saying “BOTH! BOTH ARE IMPORTANT!” because the question asks, “which one is MORE important” in leadership… and of course, if I can give both or get both, I’d want to have both.

By asking the question as an “either/or”, however, we’re in a way asking, “which comes first?”

When the intention is aligned, the execution may be a matter of coordinating the resources to see it through. Chief executive officers (CEOs) therefore need (chief operating officers) COOs in big organizations to make sure the intention (vision) is supported by execution (action).

As a microbusiness entrepreneur, I don’t get to choose one or the other if my businesses were to survive and thrive. This is because I must play the role of both CEO and COO (and company secretary and mail clerk… but I draw the line at plumbing)!

As a microbusiness coach, I prefer to focus on intention if I can only pick one. At least I know that my client will walk away with clarity that is needed for optimal distribution of resources toward manifesting that intention. If I focus on execution – I am making a gamble that my client’s intention is clear and aligned with his or her (you name it: values, essence, purpose, passion)… – one or two scenarios can happen:

If the intention is aligned, the client will return to me with focused results and a high probability of experiencing positive movement forward.

If the intention is not aligned, the client will return to me with focused results and a high probability of experiencing confusion and additional questions that the client feels need to be explored because somehow, the results however stellar, don’t seem to “hit the spot”.

That spot?

Intention. Specifically, Intention aligned with (you name it: values, essence, purpose, passion).

Indeed, some of us focus on intention to the point of “analysis by paralysis”, and frankly, as a method of procrastination. I’m not talking about that. We do need to conduct the necessarily mental gymnastics of identifying what exactly we are looking to do through our businesses or our careers, and how our intent relates to our approach to life as a whole. Giving tools is important, but if one doesn’t know which tool to choose for what intent, then it’s akin to giving a surgical course on the ways of handling each surgical tool without knowing what surgical cases I should use which tool.

Image by Ilker