Focus on the Critical Few

Summary

Embrace the “80/20 rule” to focus on the critical few, not the trivial many:

Focus on the Critical Few, Not the Trivial Many

My favorite mantra in business—and the inspiration for my site, “The Trivial Few”—is to focus on the critical few, not the trivial many. This principle shaped my 20-year journey from selling phones in a mall kiosk at age 19 to overseeing a national team of 450 solutions experts as an Associate VP. I won our company’s highest sales honor, President’s Cabinet, four years in a row—without sacrificing my nights and weekends.

Below are the core strategies I learned and refined along the way:

1. Let Go of the Handlebars (Trust Your People)

Remember the first time you took your hands off your bike’s handlebars as a kid? It felt risky at first, but it became liberating once you trusted your balance. I learned the same principle in leadership: your “bike frame” is your team. If you trust them to handle tasks—even when it feels uncomfortable—you’ll free yourself to tackle what truly counts. Once I let go of micromanaging 80% of the details, I could focus on the 20% of initiatives that actually delivered results.

2. Apply the 80/20 Rule Relentlessly

The “Pareto Principle” says 80% of results come from 20% of efforts. Over time, I realized this rule applies to just about everything in business: sales metrics, customer interactions, and product offerings. Leaders who chase every initiative end up exhausted with nothing to show for it. Instead, I made sure my team excelled at the most important 20%. Because of that, we consistently topped national leaderboards—and did it in fewer hours than our peers.

3. Simplify Your Communication

Early in my career, a mentor named Holly dropped by my desk and asked, “What are all those words?” I was typing a massive email, believing more detail was always better. He told me to cut that message in half, then cut it in half again. That challenge changed my life. In a world of busy executives and overwhelmed customers, brevity boosts clarity—and respect for people’s time.

4. “Carry the Bag” to Build Credibility

One of my greatest mentors, Kelly, told me I needed frontline sales experience if I wanted to earn a leadership role. I’d worked on countless technical sales appointments as a Solutions Architect, so I initially thought carrying a sales quota was a sideways move. But going into the trenches taught me how tough it is to hit quota month after month. When I finally led large sales teams, those reps knew I “got it.” They trusted me because I had done their job and respected their grind.

5. Delegate or Die

I once nearly lost my job for missing quota three months in a row. Panicked, I called my father. He discovered I was sinking my schedule into customer service tasks for my biggest clients. That’s when I learned the power of delegating to those who handle support day in and day out. I began directing customers to our 1-800 number. Surprisingly, they loved the faster service—and I had 80% of my calendar back for what truly mattered: selling. My results skyrocketed from there.

6. Empower the Quiet Ones

When I first became a Senior Director, I gathered my managers for important discussions. I noticed the same few outspoken folks did most of the talking. Others sat quietly, sometimes holding onto game-changing ideas. So I implemented a rule: Everyone speaks once, before anyone speaks twice. This leveled the playing field, drew out hidden innovations, and unified the team.

7. Listen to the Front Lines

In each new territory I led, I didn’t just hold “town halls” from a fancy boardroom—I sat in the bullpen with my sales reps. Their honest, unfiltered opinions told me where the real roadblocks were. By addressing frontline needs first, we avoided spinning our wheels on useless metrics. That’s how we consistently broke records—we solved problems that truly mattered.

8. Build a Culture of Collaboration

Carrots and sticks—money and fear—only go so far. You’ll get quicker, more sustainable success by creating a winning culture. I set weekly leadership calls where each manager reported on highlights and challenges, and then we did a quick round-robin: “Which idea from your peers will you implement?” Suddenly, everyone listened to each other rather than staring at their phones waiting for their turn to speak.

One of my bosses later said, “You not only delivered record results, you got leaders who hated each other to work like a real team.” That’s the power of a collaborative culture.

9. Protect Your Nights and Weekends

Finally, this approach gave me something most leaders think is unattainable: my nights and weekends back. My teams and I hit higher targets and had full personal lives. By focusing relentlessly on the few metrics that mattered, ignoring the rest, and trusting my people to handle their domains, I maintained a healthy work-life balance.

Conclusion: Believe and Let Go

Embracing these strategies can feel as scary as riding a bike with no hands. But when you focus on the critical few and trust a well-balanced “bike,” you can unlock extraordinary success—without sacrificing everything else you value. My hope is that by sharing my journey, you’ll see that working smarter, not harder, is both possible and sustainable. After all, if you focus on the critical few, you’ll never get lost in the trivial many.