Critical Reading Review: The Focused Leader by Daniel Goleman

Critical Reading Review: The Focused Leader by Daniel Goleman.

     “The Focused Leader” emphasizes the importance of mastering attention, a primary task of leadership. Through the article, Daniel Goleman highlights how individuals should direct attention, “leaders must learn to focus their own attention” in order to achieve emotional intelligence. He groups these modes of attention into three approaches: focusing on yourself, focusing on others, and focusing on the wider world.

     “Focusing on yourself” refers to self-awareness, getting in touch with your inner voice and the ability of leaders connecting with their authentic selves. “Focusing on others” invokes the leader’s ability to gain positive and effective relationships with others by understanding another person’s perspectives, feels and needs. And finally, “focusing on the wider world” points out leaders that are visionaries with the ability of “open awareness to recognize new possibilities”. The author states that leaders can learn and improve how to focus, “attention is a mental muscle” and it could be strengthened through the right kind of exercises.

     The basic exercise for attention is at the root of virtually any kind of meditation. Stanford University, at is Calming Technology Lab is currently developing relaxing devices to calm the individual and build deliberate attention. Constantly throughout the article, Goleman supports his ideas with medical research. Many case studies, publications, data and statistical analysis are cited in the article with the intention to confirm the author’s perspective. Giving him a high level of convincement.

     The article touches concepts that are frequently mentioned in class’ discussions and book readings. Specifically, chapter sixth: “The Seven Ages of the Leader” at the age of “The Lover”. When leaders are escalating through the ranks gaining power, they tend to suffer maintaining personal connections with the persons in lower ranks. The author warns the top executives; since, in this fast changing world, leaders need all possible inputs and ideas including those in the lower ranks in order to survive all the competencies. Successful leaders need to understand people (others), need to understand their selves (yourself) in order to become authentic by developing their own personality and character. They must focus on current realities while envisioning future possibilities (the wider world) with self-confidence and strategies.