The Discipline of Focus: Lessons from a Former NFL Quarterback

When Travis Brown took the Customer Response Summit (CRS) San Diego mainstage, the room shifted. This former NFL quarterback, now a pastor and leadership coach, was here to discuss something elemental: focus.

And in today’s attention economy, that’s not a soft skill. It’s survival.

The Cost of Distraction

Brown opened with a staggering statistic: the average employee context-switches 1,200 times a day, bleeding nearly 40 minutes of productivity—over three hours a week—into the cracks of distraction.

“The world is vying for your attention,” he said, “but your world needs it.”

The message landed because every leader in the room knew the truth of it. More dashboards, more alerts, more meetings. The question isn’t whether information is available; it’s whether the right information is cutting through the noise at the right altitude.

The Discipline of Focus

Today, as Senior Director of Campus Teams at Christ’s Church of the Valley (CCV) in Phoenix, he oversees 18 campuses, 400 employees, and a weekly footprint of 60,000 people. His conviction is clear: focus isn’t innate, it’s trainable.

Brown challenged leaders to ask themselves a deceptively simple question: Am I giving my attention to the right thing, at the right time?

That reframing sparked a ripple in the audience. It’s not about doing everything, everywhere, all at once. It’s about intentionality. In his words: “In light of where I want to go and who I want to be, is the information I’m consuming beneficial? Are the voices I’m listening to beneficial?”

For CX leaders wrestling with competing dashboards and conflicting advice, this was a gut check.

Curating the Voices That Matter

Brown shared that clarity comes not from having all the answers, but from tuning into the right voices. Leaders often confuse noise for knowledge. But great leaders, he suggested, curate their inputs: listening to peers, mentors, and, yes, their customers, who can offer perspectives that translate into action.

In an age of artificial intelligence (AI), shifting employee expectations, and nonstop data streams, clarity is a competitive advantage.

Altitude Matters

One of the most powerful moments came when Brown urged leaders to consider their “altitude.” At what level are you currently operating? Are you buried in weeds, scanning the horizon, or lost in the clouds? Leaders must develop the agility to shift altitude, zooming in when details matter and out when teams need vision.

The Leadership Challenge

As he closed, Brown left attendees with a challenge: In a world of constant distraction, clarity is no accident; it’s a choice. The discipline of focus—on the right thing, at the right time, at the right altitude—is what frees leaders to guide their teams with confidence.

A special thank you to Travis for sharing his insights and leadership with us at the Customer Response Summit. Your dedication to innovation, service, and human connection continues to set the standard for the CX industry. We appreciate your time, expertise, and the inspiration you brought to the stage!

Keep an eye on your inbox. We’ll be sharing more of Travis’s story and the lessons CX leaders can take from it in the October 2025 issue of CX Insight.