Step 6: Discern — What Is God Directing You to Focus On?

Do what you love to do. Take others along. Demonstrate your faith.

This is Step 6 of a seven-part series on finishing well.

To finish well, every founder/CEO has to move from dreaming about their victory lap season to making some actual decisions.

Discernment, refinement, and cultivation really come into play here. 

Step 6 is about asking a simple question that is not always simple to answer:

What is God directing me to focus on now?

The hard part is that, focus always requires pruning. Not just cutting away things that are obviously bad, but sometimes cutting away good things that are no longer yours to carry.

This may be one of the hardest parts of finishing well.

For years, the business needed you to carry the load. You made the calls, solved the problems, signed the checks, intimately knew the customers. You were responsible for the whole thing. But if the next generation is going to lead, and you are going to enter your next season with any real freedom, deciding what you will NOT do anymore becomes a priority.

This rarely easy, but always necessary.

The Story of Pa Joe

We can learned a lot about this from my father, “Pa Joe.”

At 66, he decided it was time to turn the business over to the next generation. I was 30 at the time. He had spent years steeping us in the values that made the business work. He didn’t just walk away, he gradually allowed us to “sip” from the wells of responsibility and decision making until we were drinking like adults. 

He especially loved and excelled at the buying side of the business. He used to say:

“Bought right is half sold.”

What did he mean? Pa Joe was smart. He was keen to make us understand that in the business of fresh food distribution, half your money was made on the buy and the other half was made on the sale. He was a great trader, and we wanted him to keep that seat at the buying desk.

So that is what he did.

He gave up a lot of the responsibilities that had been his for years: personnel issues, check signing, carrying the bank guarantees, being the one everybody came to first. But, still receiving the financial statements, he stayed close enough to provide counsel, and know what was going so he could step in if needed. 

And he used that buying desk to train the next generation of merchants. This was his lane and area of expertise.

And then he started creating space. First, he started playing golf on Tuesday afternoons. Then he graduated to days long hunting trips until eventually he took off every summer and went to the mountains.

His absence forced us to grow up. We made mistakes and then we had to fix them. That was part of the learning process. Pa Joe’s absence, with the right preparation, built trust. It showed us he believed we could lead. It also showed him he did not have to hold everything quite so tightly.

This is what I mean by discernment. Pa Joe didn’t start with a dramatic announcement or a perfect plan. Just a series of faithful decisions about what to keep, what to release, and where to stay useful without staying in the way.

Existing Platform or New Platform?

Now, Pa Joe’s victory lap platform was his existing business. But, whether you will use your existing business for your victory lap career or create another one is a major consideration.

For some founders, the answer is to stay connected to their company, but in a much clearer and narrower role. This may mean becoming chairman, mentor, buyer, coach, encourager or backup.

Warning. We are not talking about being the bottleneck operator or shadow CEO! There is a big difference between staying available and staying in control.

You want to be available.

For others, the next season may require a new platform altogether. That could mean a new business, a nonprofit, mentoring younger entrepreneurs, investing in Kingdom-minded founders, or serving in a part of the world you never expected.

I think of a friend who sold his business and now helps entrepreneurs in the Middle East build impactful businesses in difficult places. He shows up to serve, sleeping on sofas in leaders’ homes.

These leaders feel seen, heard, and loved. He has created his own platform. But it didn’t happen by accident. It required discernment, letting go of what used to define his success to start something new. 

No small thing.

Finding the Right Battle

One question that is great to ask:

Is there a battle where I see Jesus fighting, and where I can stand beside Him on the field?

The temptation in this season is to look for a place where we can still win, still be important, still be needed, and still prove we have something left in the tank. But maybe a better starting place it to look for where God is already at work? Is there some beauty you should be paying attention to? Is there some brokenness that occupies your thinking? Where do your gifts, experience, relationships and joy seem to meet a real need?

Remember, discernment is not just choosing something to do. It is learning what to stop doing so you can give yourself more fully to the right thing.

A Practical Exercise This Week

Here is a simple place to start. Ask yourself:

What are two things I am doing right now that someone else could do better?

Not things someone else could do adequately. Things someone else could actually do better. Then begin giving those things away.

Sounds simple, right? But for some founders and leaders it can feel like surgery with no anesthesia! Remember, when you delegate, you are elevating others. Often it means letting them learn by living the results of their decisions. 

One founder I know realized it would take at least two people to succeed him. So he began delegating basic tasks to his team and then encouraged them to do the same. In no time, they were preparing to open a new location — and he had not even seen the facility. For him, this was a huge new level of trust!

This is the kind of trust that creates room for a new generation of leadership to flourish.

Start Pruning Before You Have To

We’re talking about moving from the known to the unknown, and it is hard. You will not drift into a meaningful finish, you must choose it. Deadlines help. Decisions help. Community helps. Honest questions help. But at some point, discernment has to become action.

Start with one branch, one responsibility, one decision, one afternoon away, one task delegated to someone who needs the opportunity. You don’t have to disappear. Pa Joe didn’t disappear. He stayed in tune, useful, and most of all, available. But he also got out of the way enough for the next generation to spread its wings. This is the work of Step 6 in finishing well: Discern what God is directing you to focus on now and release what is no longer yours to carry.

So let me ask you:

What is one good thing you may need to prune because it is keeping you from the better thing God is calling you to?

And what are two things you are doing today that someone else could do better?