Great leaders never get so caught up in the current crisis that they forget about the Bigger Picture.

The Bigger Picture is your calling. What were you put on this planet to do? The greatest consequence of crisis is that it takes our focus away from our primary pursuit and puts in on another path.

Great leaders know that they’ve got to keep their eyes focused on the goal. That’s not to say that we should ignore crisis. As a leader, it’s part of the job to deal with issues swiftly and directly. But once we’ve dealt with the issue, get back to work on that Bigger Picture.

Whenever I’m in a time of crisis, I like to ask myself three questions:

1. What’s the Bigger Picture? Sometimes, I need to pause and remind myself what I was pursuing before this time of crisis.
2. How will this particular crisis take me away from my pursuit of the Bigger Picture? Dealing with crisis takes time and energy. Thinking through the impact of that time and energy is necessary to move on after the crisis has been dealt with.
3. What will I do to get back on track as quickly as possible? Having a strategy for getting back to work is key to successfully navigating, and overcoming times of crisis and getting us back to the Bigger Picture.

So what’s your Bigger Picture?