The Underrated Superpower of Leadership: Patient Attention
- Keith Power
- 6 days ago
- 2 min read
“If I have ever made any valuable discoveries, it has been due more to patient attention, than to any other talent.”
We live in a world that rewards speed, celebrates instant answers, and glorifies multitasking. But when Sir Isaac Newton – one of history’s greatest thinkers – credited his breakthroughs not to genius, but to patient attention, he gave us a timeless reminder.
In executive coaching, I see this lesson play out every day. High performers often seek coaching because something’s not quite clicking. They’re busy, brilliant, capable. Yet they feel stuck. Why? Because somewhere along the way, attention became fragmented. Listening turned into replying. Learning became execution. Reflection was replaced by reaction.
And this is where real coaching begins:
In slowing down.
In noticing.
In paying patient attention.
Not just to performance metrics or external demands, but to the things beneath the surface - questions I then ask myself are:
What stories are shaping this leader’s mindset?
What assumptions are going unchallenged?
What potential is being missed – not for lack of talent, but for lack of focus?
Patient attention is not passive. It’s one of the most active and intentional forms of presence there is. Its the kind of listening that doesn’t rush to solutions. The kind of questioning that sits with discomfort. The kind of space that allows new insights to emerge, not because they’re forced, but because they’re discovered.
As coaches, we’re not there to provide all the answers. We’re there to help leaders learn how to see more clearly; themselves, their context, their impact. And that begins with attention.
If Newton had lived today, he might’ve been interrupted mid-discovery by a calendar alert or a Slack ping. Instead, he had the freedom and the discipline to focus deeply. In that space, greatness emerged.
What would happen if more leaders reclaimed that kind of space? Not just for themselves, but for their teams? In a world moving at breakneck speed, patient attention is a leadership superpower.
If you’re a leader who suspects that the next breakthrough won’t come from working harder, but from seeing more clearly – let’s talk. Coaching might just be the space you need to rediscover your own valuable discoveries.
Comments