The laser radiation production in an end-pumped laser requires taking into consideration the following: (a) the optical pumping system, (b) the thermal and spectroscopic characteristics of the gain medium, (c) the mode overlap, and (d) the interaction with the optical resonator. The correlation between the previous four factors is needed to guide the design and evaluation of such a laser system. This suggestion is a better methodology than focusing the discussion on only one factor of the system ignoring interactions. Here, we use these arguments to supervise the complete process with a one-watt pump-diode laser largely astigmatic and a Cr:LiSAF gain medium highlighting the importance between interactions.