As this chapter’s title states, we review literature on three related forms of cognition: arousal, attention, and executive functioning. These can be understood hierarchically. Physiological arousal, or alertness, is a basic precondition for attention, while attention is a precondition for executive functioning, which entails the allocation and deployment of attention. More than simple arousal, which is a requirement of any productive activity, and attention, which is a requirement of any cognitive demanding activity, we focus on executive functioning because executive functioning is specifically important to managerial and executive responsibilities. Arousal and attention are necessary for an employee to accomplish a task, but high-level executive functioning is necessary for a manager to place employees in congruent roles, monitor performance, switch course based on outcomes, decide where to allocate resources, and outline goals. We review psychological and neurological data marking age-induced decline across these three interrelated cognitive abilities.