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Thursday, September 4, 2025

Basketball - Focus Empowers Us and Others

The first price we pay in most endeavors is "paying attention" or focus. Daniel Goleman literally wrote the book, Focus.

It's painfully obvious yet overlooked. The most painful losses many of us have endured occurred from mental mistakes, where players forgot or failed their assignments. We never forget. 

What are the benefits of focus?

1) Attention enhances performance.

2) Don't live on autopilot.

3) Focus increases creativity. 

4) Willpower limits distraction.

5) Increased empathy, see how others feel.

Focus and Leadership

  • See the big picture.
  • Leaders need followers.
  • Leaders help others succeed - "unempathic leaders are unable to see their impact on others"
  • Understand the larger context 
  • Meditation enhances leadership and positivity

ChatGPT shares five highlights from Goleman's book, Focus. 

Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence by Daniel Goleman explores attention as a crucial yet often overlooked component of success. Here are five key highlights:

  1. Three Types of Focus – Goleman breaks attention into inner, other, and outer focus. Inner focus relates to self-awareness and self-management, other focus concerns empathy and social intelligence, and outer focus involves understanding larger systems and patterns. High achievers balance all three.

  2. The Science of Attention – Attention functions like a muscle; it strengthens with use and weakens with distraction. Goleman highlights neuroscience research showing that deep focus enhances cognitive control, learning, and emotional regulation.

  3. The Cost of Distraction – Our increasingly digital world fragments attention, reducing deep work capacity. Goleman argues that constant task-switching erodes focus and productivity, making mindfulness and intentional attention management critical.

  4. Flow and Peak Performance – The best performers enter a state of flow, where attention is fully absorbed in a task. Goleman ties this to emotional intelligence and the ability to manage distractions, regulate emotions, and sustain motivation.

  5. Leadership and Empathy – Great leaders excel in other focus, tuning into others' emotions and perspectives. Goleman emphasizes the importance of cognitive empathy (understanding thoughts), emotional empathy (feeling what others feel), and empathic concern (acting to help).

Lagniappe. "Nose on the chest." I also like "crawl up into them." 

Lagniappe 2. Everyone wants to win. Decide how much emphasis to place on development versus winning. They're not mutually exclusive.  

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