Stanford Graduate School of Business instructor Nir Eyal believes that being indistractable is the most important business skill for the 21^st century.

The ability to focus in a world of distractions is an increasingly coveted skill.

People who allow their attention to be controlled by other people and other things are ill-equipped to lead in a world where creativity, problem-solving, and innovation are mandatory. In fact, some business experts are beginning to talk about attention quotient (AQ) as being just as important as IQ in success at work.

Being able to remain “present” and focused when surrounded by distractions keeps you from wasting your intellect and skills. This is not to say you should dispense with all your tech tools and lock yourself in a windowless room to work. But you have to learn how to manage distractions (and their many sources) rather than letting them manage you.

I cover this topic in-depth in my new book The Intelligent Leader, and I firmly believe that presence and focus are essential skills that should be emphasized in leadership development programs.

Why Focus Matters So Much

Focus matters because, as a leader, the more present you are and the more vigilant you are about your responsibilities, the fewer mistakes you’ll make. You’ll also make better decisions because you’re basing them not on fragments of incomplete information that bombard you from all sides, but from carefully chosen, high-quality sources of information and insight.

Moving slowly right now often means moving more quickly later on. Here’s an analogy. When you pour a concrete foundation for a house, you have to wait until the curing process is at least 50% completed before you can begin building on it. If you don’t wait for the foundation to cure, the building process will be plagued by problems. Wait now, and you can move faster later.

Fighting the Distraction Tsunami

But how can you stay focused and present when distractions bombard us everywhere and all the time? It takes commitment and practice. At first, you may have to take deliberate steps, like setting a timer for a period in which you won’t check your phone or email. With practice, it gets easier to set aside distractions, knowing you will ultimately accomplish more.

Taking deliberate steps for blocking out distractions helps you improve focus skills.

Multitasking is a major enemy of cognitive control, but you can unlearn your tendency to multitask. Likewise, open offices can be the enemy of environmental control, but designated “focus rooms” and accessories like noise-blocking headphones can help you take some of that environmental control back. In short, you have to identify your distractions, develop a plan to contain them, and practice that plan diligently.

The Courage of Doing Nothing

Taoism incorporates the concept of wuwei, or “non-doing,” which sounds like it goes completely against the reality of the 21^st century. The concept of “action without action” is a paradox, but strategic non-action actually makes a lot of sense. There are times when we need to stop trying to force action because stillness helps preserve us for times when action is needed.

As I discuss in my new book The Intelligent Leader, Bill Gates carves out time every year to fully disconnect from the world, except for books and innovation proposals. These weeks of “non-doing” have ended up being remarkably productive in the long run for Microsoft. Clearing your mind allows new ideas to take hold and flourish. It takes courage to “do nothing” in a world that is always on and always connected, but like courage in other situations, it pays off long term.

Our focus and attention face demands unlike any faced by previous generations. Technology has done amazing and wonderful things, but it has not supplanted the necessity of prioritizing, simplifying, and distilling our efforts to where they will do the most good.

We’ve all heard the aphorism, “When all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.” Today, technology is our “hammer,” and while it can solve many important problems, everything is not a metaphorical nail. Being an Intelligent Leader requires that we know which tools to use when and that we are skilled in using the most important tool of all: our mind. I hope you will check out my new book The Intelligent Leader, which is available starting October 15.

Leading in crisis requires drawing upon just about every leadership skill.

Natural or human-made: disasters have the potential to cripple businesses.

The leaders who are most effective in crisis are the ones who make sure everyone is prepared, even when there is no crisis on the horizon. Some preparation is administrative, like ensuring that you have adequate insurance coverage. But other types of crisis preparation are less straightforward. After all, the nature of a crisis is that it’s unpredictable.

The greatest leaders prepare for a crisis to the best of their ability, and they help their teams prepare for crises as well. It’s not easy, and it’s not convenient. But should the worst happen, you and your teams will be grateful for having gone through preparatory steps.

You Must Consider the Worst-Case Scenario

Whether it’s a hurricane, blizzard, or major cybersecurity incident, you must plan for the worst, and you can’t take for granted that disasters will be balanced out by periods of crisis-free time. The Roman emperor Titus only reigned for two years, but during that time Mt. Vesuvius erupted, a large part of Rome burned, and there was an outbreak of plague. Don’t assume that crises will be rare or spread out.

In other words, if your business is in a state that has a history of being hit by hurricanes, plan as if you’ll get multiple direct hits from Category 5 storms. This will prevent everyone from being placed into “reaction mode” during a crisis, causing them to make mistakes that worsen the situation. As much as possible, you want your response to a crisis to be a procedure rather than a series of reactions.

Education, Training, and Practice

You must educate leadership about crisis preparation. In fact, I believe that leadership development programs should spend time on the type of leadership required during crises, including crisis preparation. Every employee should receive training on what they can expect in the event of a disaster and the resources that may be made available to them (such as alternate forms of transportation).

And yes, you should practice crisis response. It will never be convenient to do this, but there is no substitute for practice. Coordinated, supervised activities help you gain familiarity with your response plan, identify flaws in it, and help you correct them. Furthermore, if a disaster plan requires the use of special equipment, you have the opportunity to make sure it works as expected. For example, the mock “snow day” where personnel must work remotely by logging into the company network gives everyone the chance to see how it plays out and address problems in a “safe” scenario.

Practicing for a crisis will never be convenient, but it is the best way to measure your level of readiness.

Additional Tips for Coping During a Crisis

• Redundant systems and redundant skills are necessary for adequate crisis management. More than one person should be trained for every crisis response role.
• Appoint a spokesperson well before disaster strikes. Having an official “face” of the company to handle media will prevent distractions and help your company deliver a unified message.
• Avoid the temptation to use a major crisis as a platform for self-promotion. Not only does grandstanding distract from the important tasks at hand, but it’s also simply unprofessional.
• Always conduct a postmortem after a crisis has been addressed. Ask your crisis team what they learned from the incident and what unexpected problems arose. This helps you be better prepared next time.

Nobody wants to be the leader who was caught unprepared when disaster strikes. At the same time, crisis preparedness can be dull and tedious, yet it is just as necessary as managing your finances and your employees. Practicing your plans by holding mock disasters can throw a wrench into ordinary operations, but it can make the difference between successfully handling a crisis and being completely overwhelmed by it.

Executive leadership isn’t always about ensuring maximum productivity and meeting milestones. Sometimes it is about preparing for problems that are difficult to anticipate and that pose serious threats. It takes an outstanding leader to seriously address crisis preparation and response and to risk the groans from teams when you carry out a disaster drill.

But it only takes one disaster to show the immeasurable value of executive leadership that is fully prepared. If you’re interested in learning more about leadership, I invite you to check out my books. I also hope you will be on the lookout for my latest book, The Intelligent Leader, available today October 15.

Talent is a good and wonderful thing. But talent means little unless it is put to use.

Great leaders, like great artists, are known by the fruits of their labor.

The people who make a real difference are the ones who are willing to act, even under pressure. In fact, someone who makes a real difference may or may not have the most talent associated with their action. But they show up, suit up, and do the work, and that’s better than outstanding talent that just stands around.

Action isn’t easy. In what can often be a high-stakes world of business, taking action requires courage, and courage is something that takes time to develop and that takes practice to develop fully. But committing to using talent by acting courageously is a hallmark of a great leader.

In my new book The Intelligent Leader, I discuss shifting from strategy to action in Chapter 6, “Having the Courage to Execute with Pride, Passion, and Precision.” Courageous action is defined by earned pride in what you do, tapping into passion, and using focus to act with precision.

Taking Rightful Pride in What You Do

Some artists are so great that you can recognize their work instantly. An Eames chair or a Zaha Hadid building is instantly recognizable even without someone mentioning their names. Great accomplishments are the result of people who take pride in their work by being absolutely obligated to quality and holding themselves to the highest standards.

There’s another type of pride too, of course. Arrogant pride tends to be unearned and based on the desire for recognition, and it ultimately alienates people and gets in the way of real success. Earned pride, however, can’t be faked, and it comes from taking courageous action and having a standard of excellence.

Passion: Being in “The Zone” and Overcoming Obstacles

Focusing and becoming absorbed in your work motivates you to overcome obstacles.

Do you sometimes become so absorbed in what you’re doing that you completely lose track of time and of the outside world? That comes from passion. Passion is a key driver of all great human endeavors, and it is an element of outstanding leadership.

Passion in your work not only helps you get into “The Zone” where you are completely absorbed and lose track of time, but it also helps you to overcome obstacles. Passion has no choice but to stand up to resistance, and you tap into your passion by knowing and understanding your core purpose. Passion – and the actions that come from it – connect you to your reason for being. Understand your core purpose and you can bring more passion to your work as a leader.

Precision: “Chop Wood, Carry Water”

There is a Zen saying that goes, “Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.” We sometimes become enraptured with the end results of our actions to the point where we neglect the actual hard work that gets us there. We have to give our best efforts to simple tasks in order to conquer the big tasks and to do that we must focus on the present.

By being in the present moment and focusing on acting with precision, we make fewer mistakes and leave less to chance. We’re not just going through the motions but bringing awareness to every step. And what about after we’ve accomplished something big? We still “chop wood and carry water.” Because our actions deserve our attention and commitment, and great leaders know that.

Making the shift from perspective to action is just one of the dimensions of leadership I explore in-depth in The Intelligent Leader. All dimensions of leadership deserve exploration and attention because each and everyone is necessary for great leadership. The Intelligent Leader comes out on October 15, and I hope you’ll check it out. Whether or not you have a “leadership” job title, developing your inner leadership qualities and outer leadership capabilities will serve you well in life and help make the world better.

Not all leadership transitions are planned. Sometimes circumstances conspire to put a person in a leadership role before they have had time to prepare.

Sometimes people are thrust into leadership roles and must adapt quickly.

This can be overwhelming for even highly qualified individuals who expected to eventually take leadership roles. Growing into a new leadership role takes time and effort, but there are steps anyone can take to help the process move forward. Here are six ways you can help yourself grow into a new leadership role.

1. Identify and Articulate Your “Why”

Identifying what motivates you in your new role is essential. What is the underlying reason behind your drive to excel? Once you know this, you will have a greater ability to face and overcome the obstacles that every leader must face. There may be days when you have to repeatedly remind yourself of your “why,” but doing so can give you the extra courage you need to push forward when you face challenges.

2. Think Beyond the Tactical to the Strategic

There is value in identifying and attending to immediate needs – the tasks that are at hand and apparent. But you should allow strategy to guide your decisions as well. As a leader, you are asked to take a bigger picture view than you were before. That means you must allow what will benefit the team and the company to guide your decisions and priorities.

3. Ask for, listen to, and Act on Feedback

It’s not easy to ask for feedback, but it is the most direct way to get from where you are to where you want to be. Feedback may come from people with more experience who are in senior positions to you, or it may come from colleagues or even from team members you now lead. Feedback helps you learn what your strengths are and where there are opportunities for improvement.

4. Invest in Personal Development

You may be a leader now, but you’re still a multidimensional human. Don’t forget what makes you “you”.

Leaders are human, and humans have multiple dimensions. Don’t neglect yourself as a person. Yes, your leadership role may require that you take classes or learn specific skills, but as a well-rounded, well-informed human, you must invest in yourself. Read great books. Practice the instrument you play. Give your community basketball team your best efforts. You’ll feel better about yourself and be better prepared to succeed as a leader.

5. Accept and Understand Your Flaws

Can you think of someone who appears to have no flaws? They do. And if they have gone anywhere in life worth going, they have had to accept and work on them. Knowing your flaws allows you to work on them and has the paradoxical effect of making it harder for others to use them against you. Being honest with yourself is a crucial ingredient in self-awareness, and self-awareness is a trait of every outstanding leader.

6. Don’t Settle for “Good Enough”

When you’re a leader, mediocrity isn’t good enough. What may have been acceptable as a front-line employee isn’t good enough for a leader. This does not mean you have to do things for which you’re not trained or take on tasks for which you are unqualified. It does mean, however, that everything you do, you must commit to giving it the time and attention it deserves. By not settling for “good enough,” you set an example for yourself and for your team members.

If you have access to leadership development programs, you should take advantage. Leadership development programs are designed to help current and future leaders elevate their skills and think strategically. And if you are offered leadership coaching, you can be confident that your organization has immense confidence in your ability to be an outstanding leader.

Leadership coaching isn’t designed to teach you how to lead, but to help you understand yourself (flaws, best characteristics, and all) and make the most of your gifts and talents, for the betterment of yourself and your organization. If you want to explore leadership further, I invite you to check out my books. And I also hope you will be on the lookout for my latest book, The Intelligent Leader, which comes out on October 15.

Remember being in school and completing an exam for which you studied and prepared? Putting your pencil down and turning in your exam paper felt good, like you had met a milestone.

It’s not always easy to know when something is complete and done.

On the other hand, you may have experienced exams where time ran out before you could finish everything. You had to turn in your exam, and it probably felt terrible to know you weren’t finished.

Knowing what “done” looks and feels like is important. In fact, you should consider it a skill worthy of any leadership development program. The definition must be specific to the task, of course. The definition of “done” for a software bug fix is different from the definition for a quarterly report or publication of a blog post, for example. But being able to define “done” will help you lead better and will help your teams be more productive too.

What Happens When You Don’t Define “Done?”

When you and your team don’t have a definition of what “done” looks like, everyone will naturally apply their own assumptions to the definition. One person may consider the quarterly report to be done when it has been drafted and submitted for approval. Another may consider it done when approval is granted. Still, another team member may consider it done only when it’s been revised two or three times, submitted for approval, and archived.

This can lead to misunderstandings and potential conflicts. It can also increase the likelihood of the project or deliverable needing revision and rework. In other words, when everyone has their own idea of what it means to be done, wasted time is often a byproduct.

It’s a Definition That Requires Specifics

A definition of “done” must be specific. It shouldn’t include vague past-tense verbs like “completed” or “finished.” Rather, it should have specific verbs, such as “approved,” “delivered,” “deployed,” or “archived.”

The more specific the action words you use when defining the completion of an activity, the less room there is for confusion. Team members are more likely to stay on the same metaphorical page because the actions can only be interpreted in specific ways.

Ask Yourself This Question

If you disappeared after handing over a deliverable, would the recipient be able to take it and run with it without needing you?

Here’s one way to know when you are done with a project. Ask yourself, “If I declared this project over right this minute and had the team move onto their next project, would everything be OK?” In other words, if you handed in your deliverable and moved on to the next thing, would the recipient need anything further from you?

Naturally, there will sometimes be occasions when the recipient does need something further from you, but when you’re really “done” with your project or deliverable, that “something further” will typically be small and easily taken care of.

Benefits of Everyone Knowing What “Done” Looks Like

When you have defined “done” clearly for your team, everyone is more aligned toward the same goal. While people may have different personal definitions for “finished,” it’s much harder to misinterpret “delivered to Doris, with three copies for department heads and a fourth for archival.” With less room for misunderstanding, everyone is actually freer to do their best work, because they all know precisely what it is that they are working toward.

As a leader, your name will be associated with the projects you lead, and you want to be certain that those projects are ones you can take pride in. Defining upfront what “done” looks like for all phases of a project as well as for the project overall gives your team something more solid to bite into. It allows you to lead by using your leadership talents of communication and delegation and helps prevent slipping into unproductive practices like micromanaging.

Sometimes my leadership coaching clients have to understand that their teams can’t read their minds and that their teams don’t always see projects and completion in the same terms that they do. Working with leadership clients on communication can help tremendously with this. Helping them visualize, articulate, and define what “done” looks like helps them lead better and helps their teams perform better.

If you are interested in leadership development, I encourage you to check out my latest book, The Intelligent Leader, which will be available on October 15.

Physical maps almost seem quaint in a world where a voice on Google Maps can dictate your every turn.

The map of your own strengths and gaps helps you plot your course toward Intelligent Leadership.

But one of the most important “maps” you can have is metaphorical, and the ultimate voice that guides your path is your own. This is the map of yourself – where you are now, and where you want to end up in life. And you can’t create such a map unless you know where you are starting from. This requires that you identify and understand your strengths and weaknesses. It’s simple, but not necessarily easy.

Maybe you’re already a leader, or maybe you want to be. Maybe you’re about to pursue a leadership development course. No matter. Creating a “map” of yourself opens up a new dimension of leadership. I talk about this in Chapter 5 of my upcoming book The Intelligent Leader. Here are some thoughts on assessing your strengths and weaknesses.

Assess Your Strengths with an Abundance Mindset

When I work with leaders in a coaching capacity, we spend a lot of time identifying strengths and weaknesses using several assessment tools. In my experience, people are more interested in their weaknesses because they want to know what they need to work on. But this is like putting the cart before the horse. Knowing your strengths and knowing what you do well offers you the tremendous opportunity to learn how to make the most of them.

What are your five biggest strengths as a human and a leader? What do you believe that others admire most in you? Be honest. You will have time to work on your weaknesses. In fact, people often do make time to work on their weaknesses, but they may neglect to work on their strengths. Identify your strengths and view them as the gifts that they are. Commit to making the most of them.

Identify Your Gaps Objectively

There are assessment tools that are great at helping people identify aspects of themselves where there is room for improvement, and I use them with my coaching clients. But most of us know deep down what some of our weaknesses are. And most of us have several people in our lives who we can ask for feedback. Honest feedback about where we could improve isn’t easy to ask for, and it isn’t always easy to give, either. But this feedback is remarkably valuable.

People willing to give you compassionate, constructive feedback are real gifts in life.

Most of us know some of our weaknesses, but we may have opportunities for improvement that we never even thought of. Honest colleagues and friends, as well as assessment tools, can help us identify where we fall short. Knowing our weaknesses helps us identify not only where we want to go, but the first steps toward getting there.

The Importance of Building on Your Strengths

Some people think that leadership coaching is all about identifying weaknesses or performance gaps and making a plan to address them. But that’s only part of what leadership coaching and leadership development are about. Helping people build on their strengths and put their strengths to work in ways that they may never have considered is one of the most rewarding aspects of the coaching relationship.

Think about it. Roger Federer may have the greatest forehand in the sport of tennis, but do you think he takes it for granted? Absolutely not. Maximizing your strengths and knowing where they apply is one of the most important things you can do as a professional and as a human being. Celebrate your strengths. Continue to work on them. Learn where they can serve you as a leader.

Overcoming Your Weaknesses: Don’t Tackle Everything at Once

Looking at the map of yourself and seeing the distance you may have to go before you overcome a major gap or flaw can be discouraging. The route may appear long and winding, and you may encounter unexpected detours along the way. It’s important that you don’t try to “fix” everything at once. Your flaws may limit your growth and progress, but you don’t need to overcome them 100% before you can see and feel a real, positive difference in your performance. Every one of us is a work in progress, so pay attention to the progress.

My latest book The Intelligent Leader comes out on October 15. In it, I go into significant depth on the topics of strengths and weaknesses in leadership. I hope that you will check it out! In the meantime, I invite you to check out my other books.

Courage comes from the heart. The word itself derives from the Old French term “corage,” which refers to a person’s “heart, innermost feelings; temper.”

Courage can’t be topically applied. It must originate from within.

While there are mental exercises one can do to help build courage, ultimately, it must be drawn out from within. Some people think of courage as a lack of fear, but it isn’t. Courage is about accepting fear and the vulnerability that goes along with it, yet acting based on one’s beliefs, even in challenging or frightening situations.

It’s not always easy to recognize courage in leadership, particularly during mundane or unchallenging times. Courage tends to become apparent when times are tougher. Lack of courage in leadership, however, is easier to recognize, in good times and in bad.

What Lack of Courage in Leadership Looks Like

Leaders who lack courage avoid difficult conversations. Teams led by non-courageous leaders tend to be fearful and unsure of what decisions to make. It can be difficult to solve problems when working with uncourageous leadership. Teams led without courage are often less inclusive and more prone to be cliquish, because people tend to take on a “circle the wagons” mentality. And mistakes are often “handled” through blame and shame rather than in constructive ways.

In short, leadership without courage produces teams without courage or direction. It’s bad for business, and it’s bad for the corporate culture.

Questions to Ask and Actions to Take to Build Your Courage

When we come to those crossroads that require courage to traverse, we can draw on our courage by asking ourselves key questions, like:

• Why am I so afraid to make the wrong decision?
• Have I honestly considered the risks I face and how to mitigate them?
• What is the worst that could happen if things go wrong?
• What is the best that could happen if things go right?
• Will I regret not moving forward with courage?
• How will other people be affected by my decisions and actions?

In general, building courage on a daily basis requires a few key practices and attitudes:

• Don’t run away from conflict.
• Accept failure and learn from it.
• Be accountable.
• Set high standards for yourself and those you lead.
• Be decisive.
• Learn to trust and to delegate where appropriate.

Courage doesn’t shy away from the difficult conversations but digs into this fertile ground for growth.

Consequences of Courageous Leadership

The consequences of courageous leadership are positive and extend well beyond oneself. Leaders who consistently act with courage benefit themselves and their teams in these crucial ways:

• They build influence through trust rather than fear or intimidation.
• They build their own and others’ accountability.
• They improve their own and others’ ability to handle conflict.
• They strengthen their moral core.
• They lay a strong foundation for collaboration and teamwork.
• They build capacity for evaluating and taking risks.
• They vastly improve the workplace culture.

Leadership development programs don’t always spend time discussing and helping people understand what courage is and what it isn’t. But intelligent leadership always understands courage and its role in meeting and exceeding goals.

The road to success is never straight and smoothly paved. It encounters corners, potholes, the “traffic” of day-to-day challenges, and sometimes long stretches of darkness where faith is the only thing that keeps you moving forward. The intelligent leader knows that it is courage that delivers the wherewithal to round those corners, choreograph around the potholes, and follow that narrow beam of light when things are dark, and the path is not obvious.

My approach to leadership development starts from within. Because my experience – both personally and as a leadership coach – tells me that it is what’s deep inside a person’s inner core that informs how leadership can best grow and develop. Examining our innermost beliefs, convictions, and fears isn’t easy, but it’s necessary in order to become the kind of intelligent leaders that this world so desperately needs. Examining our inner core is an excellent place to start when it comes to using the courage we have and developing the courage we need.

If you’re interested in learning more about leadership development, I invite you to check out my books. And I hope you will be on the lookout for my latest book, The Intelligent Leader, which comes out in October.