Why “Focus” is Your Most Strategic Move in the AI Era

“Sometimes, we don’t need someone to give us answers. We need someone to challenge our thinking so we can find the clarity that is already within us.”

Atip Muangsuwan
CEO Coach and Coach Supervisor

As an executive, your mind is your primary asset. But in today’s world, that mind is under constant siege. We are bombarded with headlines about AI displacing jobs, the rise of the gig economy, and a relentless pressure to upskill, reskill or be left behind. This often leads to a paralyzing question: “What do I need to learn next to survive?”

I recently sat down with an executive, let’s call him Robert, to tackle this exact dilemma. Robert is a high-achiever in the finance niche, with a clear aspiration to become a CFO. But he was feeling the weight of the future. His mind was buzzing with anxiety: Should he diversify? Should he start learning a trade like plumbing or coding to hedge his bets? Should he become a jack-of-all-trades to weather the coming storm?

His session goal was simple, yet profound: “I want to explore what I need to learn next—or how to stop worrying about what I need to learn next.”

Our conversation led to a powerful clarity that I want to share with you. It boils down to two transformative principles: The One Thing and Ikigai.

The Trap of Diversification

Robert’s fear is one I hear from leaders every day. The fear of irrelevance. It sparks a frantic desire to diversify, to collect skills like insurance policies. But this scattergun approach often leads to burnout and mediocrity. It pulls you away from the very thing that makes you valuable: your depth.

We explored this using the IKIGAI Principle. Ikigai, a Japanese concept, is the intersection of:

1. What you love (Joy & Pleasure)
2. What you are good at (Pride & Achievement)
3. What the world needs (Satisfaction & Purpose)
4. What you can be paid for (Financial Reward)

I asked Robert a crucial question: “Is finance your Ikigai?” The answer was a resounding yes. It gives him joy, pride, satisfaction, and financial security. The realization was immediate: he didn’t need to flee his niche; he needed to deepen it.

The Power of “The One Thing”

This is where the The One Thing Principle came into play, a concept masterfully explored in the book by Gary Keller and Jay Papasan, which we discussed as a key resource.

The principle is simple: What’s the ONE thing you can do, such that by doing it, everything else becomes easier or unnecessary?

For Robert, the answer became crystal clear. His “One Thing” is not just “finance.” It is leveraging his finance expertise to move into senior leadership roles. He realized that AI, for all its power, cannot replicate the strategic thinking, stakeholder management, and leadership required of a CFO or CEO.

So, we didn’t add more to his plate. We refined his focus. Instead of learning plumbing or coding, he identified the two critical skills that would create the most impact on his desired path:

1. Leadership Skills: To lead teams and navigate organizational complexity.
2. Sales Skills: To manage external stakeholders, communicate vision, and drive business growth.

His action plan became about depth, not breadth. He would stop worrying about a thousand possible futures and start mastering the one future he wanted to create.

Your Path to Clarity

Robert’s key insight was profound: “I get clarity and clear direction from this coaching session. I should stop worrying about what else I need to learn and continue doing what I do best, which is ‘Finance.’”

His homework wasn’t a long list of courses. It was a commitment to focus:

1. Stop worrying and start living.
2. Focus on what you do best and keep mastering it.
3. Learn leadership and sales skills on the job.
4. Move up the career ladder by doing what you do best.

The Leadership Takeaway

If you are an executive feeling the pressure to diversify in the face of change, I invite you to pause. Do not let fear dictate your learning path. Instead, ask yourself:

• What is my Ikigai? What is the one professional domain that truly fuels me?
• What is my “One Thing”—the skill or role I want to dominate?
• What are the 2-3 adjacent skills I need to master to move to that next level (like CFO or CEO)?

Sometimes, we don’t need someone to give us answers. We need someone to challenge our thinking so we can find the clarity that is already within us. For Robert, that clarity was to stop diversifying and start dominating.

Focus on your One Thing. It is the most powerful strategy you have.

Ready to become a thriving leader in the AI Era? This is what I do best to support leaders. Book your discovery session with me now to transform how you lead in the AI Era.

About Atip Muangsuwan: Atip is an executive leadership coach who specializes in helping high-achieving leaders overcome internal barriers to unlock their full potential and drive organizational success. Through a blend of strategic frameworks and profound personal insights, he empowers leaders in transforming their mindsets, emotional states, and behaviors for lasting impact.