Work Ethic that Includes Focus (Concentration) is Effective Indeed – Insight from Daniel Goleman’s Focus

Your focus is your reality.
Wisdom from Yoda
(quoted by Daniel Goleman, in Focus:  The Hidden Driver of Excellence)

——————–

As I began this now 15+ year journey of serious attention to business books, I would have told you for quite some time that work ethic may trump almost anything and everything else.  But the more I read, the more I realize that “work ethic” is “not that simple.”  There are people who work very hard, but not all that effectively.  And there are others who work equally hard, but with far more effectiveness.

{And, yes, there are some people who do not work hard at all – and they are still wildly successful.  At times, the universe simply is not quite fair, is it?}

The new book by Daniel Goleman, Focus:  The Hidden Driver of Excellence, adds important elements to our understanding of some of the “insides” of work ethic – how focus plays a major role in turning “work ethic” into a more effective strategy for long-lasting excellence.

In other words, a good work ethic that does not include intense focus and concentration may not produce the same results as a good work ethic that does include intense focus and concentration.

I’m just getting into the book, but I’m pretty hooked.  Here is a key excerpt:

Attention works much like a muscle – use it poorly and it can wither; work it well and it grows.  …smart practice can further develop and refine the muscle of our attention, even rehab focus-starved brains.
For leaders to get results they need all three kinds of focus.  Inner focus attunes us to our intuitions, guiding values, and better decisions.  Other focus smooths our connections to the people in our lives.  And outer focus lets us navigate in the larger world.  A leader tuned out of his internal world will be rudderless; one blind to the world of others will be clueless; those indifferent to the larger systems within which they operate will be blindsided.

Here’s what I know.  Most of my problems with effectiveness (and I do have a few – what about you?) can be traced back to a lack of focus and concentration.  I’m primarily reading this book for…  me.

——————–

(I suspect that I will write more about this book soon.  Especially about what Mr. Goleman has to say about “empathy”…).

Click on image for full view