Leadership Development: the Power of Focus
Dear subscribers,
We are so appreciative of the quality and quantity of the feedback you gave us on the first content video in our Experiment in Leadership Development. You guys (and gals) are awesome!
Following is our second in the series of videos.
Where we as managers/leaders focus our attention and energy has a huge impact on the results we get through others - the point of management and leadership. It also impacts our own personal results, as this video will clarify.
Watch the video and give us feedback - please! 
Now give us feedback below and let us know what you would like to see on a video by answering the survey at this link. What would you like to see a survey about?Our best to all,Ed Oakley & the Enlightened Leadership team ELS home website
I liked the examples and “parables” which make the points easier to remember. I have slow DSL so the buffering is distracting. Three points were good. I also took notes but that is the way that I listen.
Excellent companion story regarding the barbed wire fence. We do get what we focus on and in our team meetings, I personally have to remind myself to look toward the goal.
Thanks for sharing.
Most Excellent reminder to move quickly to the positive focus. Here’s a article “http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/anger-in-the-age-entitlement/200804/crimes-the-ego-emotional-pollution-0″ that states why we focus on the negative first - Our brains are hardwired for negative or danger processing first.
“Due to their immediate survival significance, negative emotions enjoy priority processing in the brain. This is one of nature’s peculiar ironies, because positive emotions are actually more important to long-term survival. You have a better chance of living a longer, higher quality life if you experience more positive emotions than negative ones. You are certainly better off in the long run admiring the lovely green of the rolling hills, but you won’t make it to the long run if you don’t notice the snake lurking in the grass in front of you. Thus our brains are hard-wired to scan the immediate environment continuously for threat, which is why it takes so much effort to slow down and smell the roses.
The hard-wired threat-detector embedded in our central nervous systems makes a lot of sense in terms of keeping us safe from physical threats.”
The use cases with visual aides reinforced the concepts through additional memonics. I agree that reinforcing the positive yeilds better results than concentrating on the negative. However, this is a learned trait that needs constant attention.
Story tellingis a great leadership trait!
It is interesting that even though I attended an Enlightened Leadership Workshop over 5 years ago, the one sentence I use to describe that workshop is “You get what you focus on”. This video was a good reminder of that fact and other principles that are very important in accomplishing the positive results we desire - in all aspects of our lives. I really like the stories, as that helps me retain the information. I doubt I will forget the story of the speaker’s parachute experience.
Absolutey great! Thanks!
A very good way to explain in an easy and perfect way how to ‘focus’ our goals. The lesson will not just be useful for my professional career, but even to help my little daughter to focus on what is right rather than saying NO all the time.
Thank you!
You reap what you sow..therefore, sow positive imput and you’ll reap great results. Thanks for the “picture” in your presentation. I think we should start our day asking ourselves, what are my goals, today, and tomorrow? He who shoots at a target, may hit it, but the goal is, hitting the bull’s eye.
Thanks,
John
Another great video. I really enjoyed the use of the story to teach a principle here. People remember stories. I may use this the next time I have an opportunity to work with sales people. You could call it “The Allegory of the Barbed Wire Fence” or something.
The length is great too. I wish I could get some people in the organization to train and provide leadership in such a succinct fashion.
This was an effective reminder on the importance of focus. I really can’t fault it in any way.
Just a suggestion: I always like to see “To read more about it” information at the end of presentations like these. Perhaps a link to an article or an accessible book or two on the topic would be appropriate.
Good topic/refresher. Great presentation and easy to “focus” on.
Very good. Thank you. This was a nice refresher from an Enlightened Leadership seminar I participated in a few years ago with Doug Krug. I still play the words over - you get more of what you focus on.
Valuable, practical, “enlightening”. The story is an excellent tool to demonstrate the principle of focusing on positive outcome/goal. Length of video ideal for the busy professional. Thank you!
Stellar reinforcement on the importance of focus. Works in golf as well, particularly when facing a water hazard. In our very busy lives, helps ensure we get things done — achieve or advance toward our goals. Bravo!!
I’d watch one of these “shot in the arm” videos every day over lunch! At work and life in general, we are often distracted and fail to achieve our priorities. The 3 simple focus factors reviewed are very effective tools. Thanks.
Jonette did a great job of demonstrating her passion on the topic. The video process have a few tweeks needed for the professional look. First, focus on the yellow card as Jonette holds it so it stays in focus and move in and out with her as she moves. This could also be managed by moving back so she stays in focus as she moves. The message and content were great, to the point, with short stories to drive the point being discussed. Great job.
Great job Jonette. The length is just right. I really appreciate the simple straight forward approach. Like someone mentioned earlier. My staff and I could watch one of these almost daily.
Thanks.
Well done. Story telling is a great way to get a point across. The length was good also.
The story is an excellent demonstration about the importance of focus. I enjoyed listening to Jonette.
Very well done and inspiring.
Thank you for sharing these important and informational video presentations. The content is excellent and the length of the video is perfect. I enjoyed the short stories shared by Jonette as they provide a secondary method of learning and remembering for the viewer.
Great presentation! Thank you!
Good way to explain in an easy and perfect way how to ‘focus’ our goals.
Great second video. Jonette did a great job of personalizing the need for focus and its power.
Keep them coming…and watch out for those barbed wire fences.
Ken
Great, how you show these well known principles in such an easy way, so I will remember it for sure.
Unfortunately I missed the first video. Is there any possibility to still watch it?
Florianne
Talk about timely. Thank you. I am preparing a presentation to our facility’s staff managers and I was unsure as to how to effectively communicate my message. Your “little” reminder has given me the direction I need
Thank you again!
Pat
Thank you so much. The video was excellent and clear. The format allows ‘focus’ on one thing and makes your point hit home more strongly. I am enjoying the entire series.
Excellent presentation. Thank you so much for reminding me about this topic. I need to practice more on this so it can become natural to me.
The content for this video is very important information and a good review for those of us who get busy and tend to lose focus. There were few enough points made so that we can easily remember each and the illustration will definitely be remembered. The length of the video was also good, because it can be viewed without a large block of time. From my point of view, this series of leadership videos is terrific!!
I thought it was a great lesson because it was short, it gave me something I can remember, and Jonette demonstrated the practicality of the 3 points of the lesson. Very good.
Great refresher on such an important topic.
Forward Focus was one of my favorite topics from the Englightened Leadership course and the video is a concise and effective way to present it. In this video, versus the first, the easel was closer to the camera and it was a much better use of the prop. I liked the three points and the story to reinforce. Even-betters: Consider using an LCD projector, since the content was pre-produced. Thanks again for the interesting medium…..
Very hard to watch because of significant buffering problems. Please notify me when the buffering problems are fixed so I can re-watch. In the interim, here are initial and partial comments.
Subject matter is valuable.
I endorse the discussion about how the brain does not function on NOT. That said, I’d tweak the language a bit in the parent/child juice example because of the strong words used to blame the parent.
Also, ignoring the no/don’t is not just human nature, it is how the brain works.
Very good information that I can use in my personal, as well as, professional life.
Hi:
Thanks I needed this reminder of the info you shared in Taos. Sorry it took so long to veiw this. My internet conection is very slow so I forwarded it to a friends so I can watch them there.
Thanks as usual Jonette, Very, very helpful
Thanks for a good reminder, and some concrete tips…I will put them to use.
Thanks for sharing, good thoughts and tips
Excellent refresher! Thank you for sharing personal stories. The only thing I would consider moderating is the language of Focus Factor #2. The word “avoid” and/or “don’t” is the focus of the sentence. Great practical applications. Thank you for sharing leadership experience with us!
Great job by Jonette! The timing of the focus was perfect for me.The video length was short enough to be able to watch when I had a few minutes. The subject was well covered and to the point. Thanks for sending this!
Good job. Clear and to the point with real life examples anyone can relate to.
Very good video! The content is great and the simple three points make it easy to “get it”.
One thing I noticed is that the second of the three points does not model what it is trying to teach…
It says, “Avoid doesn’t work” - that is saying what to avoid, which you just told us doesn’t work. So my suggestion is to change that to say “Focus on what you DO want.”
thanks for sharing these. I’ve enjoyed both of the videos so far and love how simple and valuable the lessons are!
Thank you for this excellent presentation. The content was outstanding. My only suggestion is the use of PowerPoint. It would look more professional and be less awkward. She did a super job!
Nice, brief, organized presentation. Makes sense to use this type of focus rather then the ever popular negative!
Very Good presentation
We often forget about the need to focus. With that we ignore the amount of power that can be generated
by focusing. What a great quick reminder!!!
Thanks, I finally got to the second session and found it very helpful. It reminded me of 7 Habits training and especially making focus being positive results/goal oriented.
Thanks for the excellent presentation on the topic of focus, which happens to be one of my favorite subjects. You might be interested in a post I authored a few years back on the same topic which can be read at http://www.n2growth.com/blog/index.php?p=39
Keep up the good work…
I like storytelling ………. Nicely done
The video was refreshing nice job on selecting the presenter. Her delivery and tone were engaging not a run of the mill presentation. The material that was taught is helpful and goes well with my spiritual teaching. “so a man thinks…” The mind holds much power. Thank you, for the refresher and I hope to apply the teachings soon here at work.