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Brain Circuits
Focus: Be mindful to reduce distractions
Concentration has never been more important at work. Can you exercise attentional control? Play this two-minute game to find out.
Click here to play the Mind Balance game.
Focus on the middle letter of five to get the answer right.
How did it go? The Mind Balance game is a test of one of the most foundational leadership skills – attentional control. Attentional control is the ability to resist distractors and ignore interference to concentrate on what’s important. It regulates cognitive, emotional, and behavioral choices.
Attentional control has become increasingly important for leaders bombarded by a wealth of information from the digital world. “A wealth of information creates a poverty of attention,” decision-making expert Herbert Simon pointed out in 1971.
At the same time, information abounds, and our jobs are becoming more diverse and heterogeneous. As leaders, we need to switch focus more often which may distract us from deep thought. On top of that, we need to navigate complexity as today’s business environment increasingly involves ambiguous and novel problems with no clear solution.
Without attentional control, we as leaders may be prone to letting our emotions take over and making rash decisions. We may also fail to fully appreciate the key issues in a situation which can also result in poor choices. Attentional control not only helps us perform better but research suggests it also helps us feel better.
“Concentration and mental toughness are the margins of victory.”
What you may have experienced in the Mind Balance game was how susceptible you are to distraction. The accuracy and speed of your choices may have been influenced by the letters on either side of the target. According to Daniel Goleman, improving attentional control can pay dividends across almost every aspect of the leadership role. Goleman (2019) says the key is “diligence – a willingness to exercise the attention circuits of the brain just as we exercise our analytic skills and other systems of the body.”
So how can leaders improve attentional control? Research suggests that one of the most effective methods is through mindfulness. This is a type of mental training to focus attention on experiences in the present moment, which is thought to increase the ability to concentrate effectively (Bishop 2002). Some simple mindfulness techniques include:
- Switching your attention to focus intensely on what you are sensing and feeling right now. What can you smell? What other details do you observe? Notice what is happening around you without interpreting or judging.
- Focus on your breathing. Put your entire attention on your in-breath and out-breath, without seeking to change anything. See how long you can stay focused on your breath.
- Close your eyes and focus on what you can hear. What is the furthest sound that you can make out? What other sounds become apparent when you tune in to the world around you?
Simple steps to improve our ability to focus can help us thrive in dynamic, challenging, and information-rich environments.
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