Attention and focus shape leadership behaviour — how the stories leaders tell themselves (and each other) influence decision-making, energy, and outcomes. There is a powerful neurological reason why leaders who remain locked on problems feel depleted, while those who clarify what they are moving toward lead with greater steadiness and effectiveness.

It’s easy to believe that the world is unraveling because there is so much conflict. Everywhere we look, there are opposing sides, hardened positions, and conversations that seem to collapse before they even begin. Conflict spills forward, feeding more conflict, until it feels as though tension itself has become the dominant language of our time.

And yet, in the natural world, difference is not something to eliminate—it is something to tend.