Leadership has always demanded attention, but today it demands something more difficult: the ability to protect it. Leaders operate in an environment of relentless distraction where emails appear during meetings, messages appear while we are on calls and calendars are crowded. The irony is that the more connected we become through our phones and laptops, the easier it is to become disconnected from the people directly in front of us.
For the much of corporate career my days were spent moving at speed. As a senior executive and CEO, I travelled constantly, managed the constant demands of large teams, large client bases, and constant regularity change, all requiring me to move quickly from one priority to the next. Many of my own mistakes, taught me that being busy and operating effectively are not always the same thing. Being physically present doesn’t mean you are mentally present. Presence is a leadership skill.
Distraction comes at a cost
We have become accustomed to switching constantly between conversations, emails, meetings and notifications. We call it multitasking, but much of the time we are simply moving our attention rapidly from one thing to another. Research from the University of California Irvine found that when people were interrupted, they often compensated by working faster, but at a cost: greater stress, frustration, time pressure and effort. Constantly focusing on the next meeting, the next flight, the next decision or problem, this became my MO, until I invited a trusted senior colleague to attend, observe, and give me feedback at a quarterly leadership off-site. His advice has stayed with me ever since: I was “driving the bus too fast.” Instead of leading my team at their pace. I was running everything at my own. Leadership isn’t simply about how quickly you can move. Sometimes you need to slow down so others can come with you.
Your presence affects other people
Being present doesn’t require removing technology from your life. It starts with something simpler: deciding that where you are, and who you are with, deserves your attention. Research from Singapore Management University found that supervisor mindfulness was positively associated with employee wellbeing and performance, including job satisfaction and psychological need satisfaction. Consequently, the simple reminder that I still use today became be where my feet are. If your feet are in a meeting, be in the meeting. If they are beside someone who needs your support, be with that person. If you are having dinner with your family, be at dinner. I’ve learnt through both leadership and ultra-endurance sport that focusing on the moment in front of you is enormously powerful. During a 100-mile ultramarathon, thinking about the entire distance can become overwhelming. You bring your attention back to the next checkpoint, the next hill or simply the next step. Leadership often requires the same discipline.
AI won’t automatically solve the problem
Artificial intelligence promises to remove administrative work, accelerate decisions and give us back time. It can do all those things, but there is also a risk that AI simply becomes another technology we have to check, prompt, review and manage. Microsoft found that employees can be interrupted by a meeting, email or notification on average every two minutes during core working hours. AI may make individual tasks faster, but that doesn’t necessarily make our lives less distracted. If every efficiency creates capacity for another meeting, message or task, we haven’t solved the problem, we’ve accelerated it. Technology should create more space for the things humans do best. For leaders, one of those things is genuine human connection.
Create boundaries around your attention
Presence rarely happens accidentally. Put your phone away in meetings. Close your laptop when you don’t need it. Turn off unnecessary notifications. Before entering a conversation, take a few seconds to mentally leave the previous one behind. Presence requires discipline in the same way physical endurance training does. Every time you resist a notification and remain engaged with the person in front of you, you are training your ability to be present. Most importantly, listen to understand rather than listening to respond. If you constantly check your phone in meetings and respond instantly to every notification, your team notices. Your behaviour tells people what, and, more importantly, who you value.
Give people the gift of your attention
We often think leadership is about what we say, the decisions we make or the strategy we set. Sometimes it is much simpler. It is looking someone in the eye when they speak. It is asking a question and genuinely listening to the answer. It is noticing when someone isn’t themselves and giving them space to tell you why. One lesson I took from my years in leadership is that people may forget many of the decisions you made, but they tend to remember how you made them feel. Giving someone your complete attention tells them that, at that moment, they matter. In a world competing relentlessly for our attention, perhaps one of the most powerful things a leader can give another human being is their undivided presence. Be where your feet are.
