Daniel Goleman

An organization’s strategy represents the desired pattern of organizational attention, on which everyone should share a degree of focus, each in their particular way. A given strategy makes choices about what to ignore and what matters: Market share or profit? Current competitors or potential ones? Which new technologies? When leaders choose strategy, they are guiding attention.

The Well-Focused Leader

Directing attention where it needs to go is a primal task of leadership. Below, Daniel Goleman considers how leadership hinges on capturing and directing the collective attention, and argues that new strategy means reorienting from business as usual to a fresh focus.

Reclaiming the Battlefield of Consumer Influence

Today’s marketing messages can be overpowered by input from uncontrolled sources like online customer reviews, social network friends and searchable expert opinions. To regain customer influence, consider developing a case-by-case understanding about whether to “confront and attack,” “retreat and redeploy,” “observe and learn” or “monitor from a distance.”