This Leadership Expert's 4-Question 'Brutal Focus' Method Beats Burnout and Boosts Productivity — Here's How It Works Dr. Carla Fowler, a physician-scientist turned founder of executive coaching firm THAXA, reveals how to get the best work done.
By Amanda Breen Edited by Jessica Thomas
Key Takeaways
- Not engaged or actively disengaged employees contributed to roughly $1.9 trillion in lost productivity in 2023.
- Fowler says that disengagement occurs when a work environment fails to motivate and grow its employees.
Just 33% of U.S. full- and part-time employees were engaged in their work and workplace in 2023, and not engaged or actively disengaged employees contributed to roughly $1.9 trillion in lost productivity in the U.S. last year, according to a Gallup survey.
Oftentimes, a workplace's leadership and culture play a significant role in the corporate slump.
Disengagement takes root when a work environment fails to motivate, grow and connect employees to the organizational goals, Dr. Carla Fowler, a physician-scientist turned founder of executive coaching firm THAXA, tells Entrepreneur.
Related: How to Develop the Best Leadership Mindset to Execute Your Strategy
Image Credit: Courtesy of THAXA. Dr. Carla Fowler.
Although "quiet quitting" is, of course, quiet, the situational elements that increase the risk of disengagement are not, Fowler says: a lack of understanding about a team's goals, stagnancy in a role, rigidity about how work must be done and a culture where employee contributions go unrecognized.
"As human beings, it is highly motivating to be part of a team where we are clear on the team's goal, why that goal matters, where we should spend our time and why our contributions matter," Fowler explains. "These elements are critical to feeling like we can win individually and as part of the team."
Fowler developed a trademarked framework to help leaders reach their potential by eliminating what doesn't matter. Brutal Focus® is the first principle and encourages leaders to understand that not all the work they do is equally important.
"A vital leadership tool is to be highly selective in directing your team's efforts," Fowler says. "When you set out to 'do it all' indiscriminately, you dilute the most impactful parts of the work. This leads to overwork and underwhelming results, which is a recipe for burnout."
Fowler recommends leaders consider four questions every week to cultivate an engaged team and create "potent" work:
- What are my team's main objectives this year?
- What are our most important priorities for achieving this?
- What elements of the work are extraneous, distracting or less impactful than these priorities?
- How could we eliminate, delay or dramatically reduce the time we spend on these [extraneous] elements?
"Universal engagement is not always possible, but I don't believe that needs to be the goal," Fowler says. "Some employees are in the wrong role, company or industry, and no amount of effort toward engagement will be successful. [But] in an engaged environment, even a wrong-fit situation can be worked through in clear and functional ways."
