Leadership Thought #419 – The Problem of Attention Deficit Leadership
I spend a significant amount of time with CEOs and business owners. I may be one of the few people who will spend a whole day with them regularly. It’s always fascinating to observe how they manage a long meeting. For some, it can be challenging to stay in one place and focus on a single issue for an extended period. They become jittery, shift in their seats, continually check their cell phones or laptops, and quickly jump into action whenever there is a break. They suffer from some attention deficit syndrome. While I understand this is how many of them are naturally wired, I also notice the most successful of my clients and colleagues tend to be able to hold their focus the longest. The best leaders can be fully in the moment of whatever they are doing. When they commit their time and energy to something, they commit fully.
Leaders have far too many tools to distract them these days. It’s easy to default to hyperactivity mode, where action and movement trump everything else. For instance, if you’re constantly distracted, you can’t listen to someone or fully grasp a situation. It worries me that as business and life become increasingly complex, our leaders are losing their capacity to focus and think critically. Often, there isn’t a simple answer or quick fix to issues that end up at the desk of the chief decision-maker. While it has become popular these days to espouse the benefits of learning from failure, some failures are tough to recover from and completely unnecessary. You can’t just plow forward and believe that courage, confidence, speed, and resilience are the primary secrets to success. Your judgment, experience, effort, and thinking quality are all equally important.
I don’t claim to understand all the psychosocial factors that have led us to this point. There is a significant issue in our society, as there is hardly a day that goes by when I don’t hear from someone who has been diagnosed with ADHD. You all see evidence in Washington and on Wall Street that leaders struggle to grasp the significant critical issues and, instead, become distracted by short-term thinking and political competitiveness. Leaders focus on the next news cycle or quarterly report instead of addressing complex challenges and considering the potential long-term consequences of their actions for the greater good. Moreover, watching the news has become increasingly frustrating as broadcasters jump from topic to topic in a disconnected manner, with little depth of coverage or understanding of the issues they present. It often feels like we are drinking from an informational firehose at full blast in the hope of quenching our thirst, which never works.
I recommend slowing down, paying attention, and immersing yourself fully in the present moment of whatever activity you are engaged in. Additionally, take the time to fully understand an issue before rushing to judgment. Let strategy drive tactics, not the other way around. Listen more intentionally and talk less. Prioritize your activities and focus on what is most important. Take your commitments seriously and lead by example in this regard. The world needs more attentive leaders and focused thinkers, not just doers. As a society, we must address the issue of attention-deficit leadership, as the pace of change and the depth of challenges continue to increase.
Related articles
- Small Business Leadership is About Listening (bizsugar.com)
- Leadership is a State of Mind – Michelle Ray (lugenfamilyoffice.com)
- 6 Leadership Mistakes to Avoid. (oddstuffmagazine.com)
- Leading in Times of Crisis | Sherry Clayton Works (csuitementor.wordpress.com)
- 7 Leadership Lessons from 2012 (garyrunn.com)
