How are you creating strategic pauses in your day, your week, your month?
When you are racing from one meeting to the next, ticking items off the never-ending to-do list, and firing instructions about looming deadlines, ask yourself “at what cost?”
Modern corporate life has raised “being busy” to a high-status declaration, implying that we are lazy if we are not running at a million miles per hour, yet if we are in a constant state of busy-ness our sympathetic nervous system is activated, which triggers our fight/flight/freeze response. This can be incredibly useful for getting lots of s**t done but ask yourself: Is being busy the same as being effective?
When do you simply STOP and take a breath, lift your head from your computer screen and see the big picture?
From my own experience I know that when I have been under extreme stress at work, I stopped listening to my team members, I stopped building relationships with my peers, I lost my connection to the whole purpose of my role and the organisation, I came home cranky to my family and my health suffered.
Not great outcomes for either myself or those around me!
When we are operating from this adrenaline and cortisol fuelled space it is almost impossible to access our compassion, our courage and our curiosity so great leadership flies out the window!
Neurologist, psychiatrist, and author Victor Frankl is often quoted as saying:
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space, it is within our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”
Creating strategic pauses throughout our lives enables us to access that space between stimulus and response, even when we are triggered in the moment. We can do that by:
This is about slowing down to go faster, and it may sound crazy to you right now but your ability to take one mindful deep breath can transform your leadership – why not try it?!
When you are racing from one meeting to the next, ticking items off the never-ending to-do list, and firing instructions about looming deadlines, ask yourself “at what cost?”
Modern corporate life has raised “being busy” to a high-status declaration, implying that we are lazy if we are not running at a million miles per hour, yet if we are in a constant state of busy-ness our sympathetic nervous system is activated, which triggers our fight/flight/freeze response. This can be incredibly useful for getting lots of s**t done but ask yourself: Is being busy the same as being effective?
When do you simply STOP and take a breath, lift your head from your computer screen and see the big picture?
From my own experience I know that when I have been under extreme stress at work, I stopped listening to my team members, I stopped building relationships with my peers, I lost my connection to the whole purpose of my role and the organisation, I came home cranky to my family and my health suffered.
Not great outcomes for either myself or those around me!
When we are operating from this adrenaline and cortisol fuelled space it is almost impossible to access our compassion, our courage and our curiosity so great leadership flies out the window!
Neurologist, psychiatrist, and author Victor Frankl is often quoted as saying:
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space, it is within our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and freedom.”
Creating strategic pauses throughout our lives enables us to access that space between stimulus and response, even when we are triggered in the moment. We can do that by:
- Working with a coach each month to find clarity on what is important to us and how we want to BE as a leader
- Blocking out time each week to look at the big picture and prioritise accordingly (& ruthlessly!)
- Setting time aside for reflection every day, noticing what is working and what is not
- Focusing on taking deep breaths and centering ourselves in our body several times a day to allow us to be open, present, and connected
This is about slowing down to go faster, and it may sound crazy to you right now but your ability to take one mindful deep breath can transform your leadership – why not try it?!
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