What do you do when there's too much to do? How do you cope with information overload? Where do you start when five things should come first?
Facilitator: Roger Lewis
What do you do when there's too much to do? How do you cope with information overload? Where do you start when five things should come first?
These very typical questions are all symptomatic of the daily dilemmas faced by countless people in their daily jobs. And given the speed of change, and the pace of the information age, these problems aren't going away any time soon. Here's the paradox - "A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention" (Herbert A Simon).
The skill that is most needed in this era of 'knowledge work' is not more time management, but much better attention management. In an age of information overwhelm, control of attention is the ultimate individual power, the ability to focus on the one key thing that for the moment transcends all others in importance and relevance. Attention management is an essential skill in order to flourish in an era of 'self-regulated leadership'.
This masterclass sketches out the dynamic process of attention management, and how to establish your own rules to effectively direct your attention every day. It includes some inspiring stories of amazing focus, and the essential ingredients needed to immerse ourselves into the state of 'flow' where time stands still, but our best work gets done.
Key ideas include the following:
- Why attention is the most valuable commodity, and focus the most valuable skill
- Where purpose remains unclear, attention cannot be truly focused
- The secret of strong leadership is linked to 'attention aperture'
This masterclass addresses the leadership behaviours of Results Focus on our Leadership Competencies Framework.
