The most undervalued skill in business

From Inside Delta Force:

Eric Haney was a special ops warrior boarding an extraction plane. Once boarded, he had no action to take — so he was trained to sleep. The plane was hit and he awoke amidst a burst of flames with no parachute. He had to make a split-second decision — so he leapt out of the plane, went into a full skydiving arch, and quickly hit the runway below. The plane had never taken off. Later, his friend joked with him: "If you were at 30K feet with no parachute, what the hell were you going to do?" Eric replied simply: "One problem at a time, Sergeant."

His ability to act decisively saved his life. Eric was demonstrating command of the most undervalued skill in business — focus. There was a problem that needed to be solved immediately, and everything else could wait. This happens to be a cornerstone of special ops training, but it applies to personal and business contexts just as well. Here are four specific ways that learning to focus will greatly improve your career.

Boost your charisma

Improving your focus directly increases your charisma. Think about a strong, charismatic leader you know. Did they check their phone during conversations? Write emails while pretending to listen, or nod and say "mm hmm" while their eyes drifted elsewhere? Or were they dialed in — 100% focused on the conversation? The people who can do the latter exude a much stronger sense of charisma and become more effective leaders.

Solve the most important problems

You have a hundred things you could spend your time on today. Focus enables you to keep your eye on the three that will have the biggest impact on your goals — everything else is a distraction. Truly focusing your energy makes the difference between participating and dominating. Before his keynotes, Steve Jobs was famous for spending entire days rehearsing. He was ridiculously busy and had thousands of emails waiting for him. Yet he turned it all off and focused on the single most important thing in front of him — and he delivered.

Conquer the details

Conquering the details is what made the difference between Friendster and Facebook. Anyone can get the idea right, but a maniacal attention to detail paves the way to greatness. You cannot conquer the details unless you minimize distractions as much as humanly possible. First, filter out the noise. Then focus on what's important.

Close things out

Neuroscientists have shown that the human brain is incapable of true multitasking. Your mind simply performs task-switching. Flipping back and forth between tasks is like an athlete training without nutrition — lots of input, terrible output. Too many people live their lives this way. Tackling one problem at a time lets you close things out instead of piling them up in your head. It not only generates better outcomes — it lets you enjoy your life more. My advice is simple: "One problem at a time, Sergeant."