Entrepreneurs-Journey.com

Today I have a treat for you - Rich Schefren, my coach and mentor who helped me to restructure my business model to focus on what I really want to do and create significant freedoms in my life, has provided an original article for EJ readers covering the topic of the moment - attention.

This is an area that Rich has studied recently to a very significant degree and with the release of his Attention Age Doctrine Part 2 you can take advantage of his knowledge and foresight. No business owner should ignore this or you risk being ignored in your own marketplace.

You can download the Attention Age Doctrine by clicking here.

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Pour Yourself an Attention Cocktail

Some people call it the “cocktail party effect.” Others just call it rude.

We’re all familiar with the scenario. You’re at a party or business function and you are introduced to someone you truly admire.

Immediately following the introduction, as you say something remarkably intelligent that you had prepared precisely for this moment, you notice that the other person is not making eye contact.

Instead, she is looking over your shoulder at the next person she would like to meet. She is not giving you full attention. In fact, you’re lucky if she’s paying attention to you at all.

Rather than focus on you and your story, that person you really admire is just looking for a way out of the conversation so she can move on to the next, presumably more interesting, conversation partner.

And she may not even realize she is doing it.

This happens more often than you think. Attention is fleeting. So is cocktail party conversation.

To pay attention to any particular person, you must reorder your mind to the thoughts of that person. You must think her thoughts, feel her feelings and want what she wants, or you are not paying attention.

Fast forward to your home life and your own bad habits acquired in the “attention age.”

Your child is telling you a funny story about what happened today in fourth-grade science class, and as you are “listening,” you reflexively glance down at your Blackberry. Not once. Not twice. But constantly throughout the conversation. Your child notices the distraction. Worse yet, he now feels that you are more interested in the Blackberry than you are in him.

So much for winning “parent of the year.”

Whether at an office party or at home with your family, it’s apparent that we are not paying enough attention to what is most important in our lives. Our attention is divided and subdivided in so many ways, by so many different distractions, that we are left wondering about the last time we really gave full attention to anything at all.

Think about it: When was the last time you truly gave full attention to anything?

Was it during your drive to the bank? Bet you didn’t fiddle with the radio or talk on your cell phone at all on that trip.

How about during your early morning fitness run? You were completely focused on the path you were following, right? No outside distractions from the iPod, the cyclists sharing the same path, your thoughts about what you need to put on the “to do” list for business.

Or when you visit a blog. You come with one purpose alone, not with the idea of reading a few lines and then bouncing to the next post … right?
You get the point …

We are constantly distracted. Each day, each moment presents itself as another obstacle to our focus. There never seems to be a straight path to anything anymore. Every vision has some sort of “obstructed view” that alters what we really see.

We “get by” in all of these situations by rationalizing about our amazing abilities to “multitask,” but deep down, we know that is just false bravado.

You’re not really multitasking. You’re simply not paying attention.

So, what are you going to do about it?

Our attention is scarce. So is the attention we shower upon others. Sometimes that shower has a very weak stream, or is so diffused as to seem merely as “mind mist” – tiny, barely perceptible droplets of attention.

We owe it to ourselves, and certainly to others, to strengthen our attention and use is as a force to improve our relationships and business interests.

Understanding a person’s emotional needs and desires is the key to success in personal and professional relationships. The kind of “emotional branding”
we now witness in advertising comes from the need to connect with people on a level deeper than the superficial.

Our attention toward a person or idea transcends material satisfaction and helps us experience emotional fulfillment.

Isn’t this why Oprah Winfrey strikes such a chord with so many? Beyond her bubbly personality and business smarts, Oprah realizes that people have an emotional need for attention. The winners in Oprah’s world are those who give attention appropriately while not asking as much in return. The reward comes with the surprise that the more attention we give, in many cases, the more attention we receive.

If Oprah can do it, so can you.

Successful entrepreneurs and companies develop a culture of connection that catapults them past their competitors and into the minds and hearts of their consumers. Apple does it. Hallmark does it. Starbucks does it with an added jolt of caffeinated confidence.

These companies succeed because they pay attention to consumers and how they feel about their products.

What are you doing to develop this kind of connection culture among your customers?

As Starbucks founder Howard Shultz says: “The best way to build a brand is one person at a time.”

So, what’s your story? How are you really connecting your story, your products, your business with your customers?

Are you giving your customers full attention? If so, how?

Is your attention cup half-full or half-empty?

Rich Schefren