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[Solocast] Leadership as an Act of Attention
Episode 729th June 2026 • Dig Deeper • Digby Scott
00:00:00 00:11:00

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How much of your day do you actually choose to give your attention to? Not just your time but your attention. Because there's a difference. And most leaders are managing the wrong thing.

This episode cuts through the noise around productivity to explore what's really going on when leaders feel stretched thin and constantly reactive. The answer isn't a better calendar or a tighter to-do list. It's getting deliberate about where your focus actually lands and protecting it like it matters. Because it does.

In this solocast, Digby explores the distinction between time, attention, and intention management, and why most productivity advice stops one layer too shallow. You'll hear about:

  • Why time management alone won't fix a scattered leadership practice
  • The difference between attention and intention, and why intention is where the real leverage lives
  • How notifications and constant availability are quietly eroding your capacity to lead well
  • Why sanctuary time, protected space to think without interruption isn't a luxury, it's a leadership discipline
  • What wisdom has to do with AI, and why it's the distinctly human edge that no tool can replicate
  • The one question worth sitting with at the end of each day

Other references

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