You know one of the things that I am truly obsessed about is helping leaders to truly pay attention to what matters. I was fascinated to hear that, based on a recent study from Scratch on the topic of attention, over 30% of people said community shapes the way they think.
I still found it hard to believe but then considered the whole idea of community attention. Who is in your community? What does your community believe and where are they located? Who are you paying attention to and who has permission to influence you?
It’s fascinating to also read that 50% of the people surveyed said they would give up social media for a week so they didn’t miss the finale of their favorite TV show! Sounds crazy, right! Social media, in fact, has become one of our communities. Consider who you are connected with and ask yourself if they add value to your thoughts and your progress. It’s interesting to me with social media how everyone has an opinion and they share that, but what do those in your social community stand for?
To understand who you should pay attention to and how to build on that community, you must recognize who shapes it. To identify your community and those that have influence in your life, ask yourself these three questions:
- Who do I listen to? Who has permission to speak and has influence in my life, decisions and direction?
- What does my community stand for? What are their values, their beliefs? Do I want to be associated to what they are known for?
- Where does my community hangout? Where can I find more people who think, believe and behave accordingly?
You get 1,440 minutes in a day. How and with whom do you invest yours?
When it comes to community attention, think about where you need to spend more attention and maybe where you need to spend less. I know myself. I could certainly spend less time on social media and the online community.
What do you need to do this week to truly accelerate your attention with the community you’re a part of? I challenge you to find one place where you could give more attention and maybe one place you could give less attention.
What are your ideas for truly managing community attention? Share them in the comments below.
Today as a leader, you really do get a choice to be amazing every time you give someone the gift of your undivided attention, where you’re spending your attention, and in what communities are you part of today.
