SLOW DOWN TO SUCCEED
The last weeks of August and first weeks of September have been filled with school preparation, projects with deadlines, extracurricular activities, open houses, new routines, and so much more! This is all fun, yet it is a great reminder that our leadership advantage is slowing down to succeed!
I’m not alone according to Carl Honore the “The Godfather of the Slow Movement.”
"It is a cultural revolution against the notion that faster is always better. The slow philosophy is not about doing everything at a snail’s pace. It’s about seeking to do everything at the right speed. Savouring the hours and minutes rather than just counting them. Doing everything as well as possible, instead of as fast as possible, it’s about quality over quantity in everything from work to food to parenting."
I get it! Our brains are very busy places! We are modern leaders with brains exposed to constant over-worked and over-loaded environments. The pressure grows, and unless you are being self-aware you hardly notice you jumped back on the treadmill of busyness. You may see a slight change in your productivity, performance, and personality. This is when most of us subconsciously speed up, not slow down!
Not only does it feel good to slow down, but leaving space in our schedules rather than striving to fill every moment with activity leads us to solve our challenges more naturally. Coaching is that positive space for presence which reaps rewards that are often beyond our limited beliefs!
Barbara Fredrickson developed the Broaden-and-Build Theory of Positive Emotions, demonstrating emotions such as joy, gratitude, serenity, interest, hope, amusement, and inspiration. It was found that these emotions expand cognition and problem solving while stress narrows our cognitive ability! We move forward better when we are experiencing positive emotions. A slower pace can create space for calm leadership to spark richer thinking, more creativity, increase collaboration, more innovation and problem-solving.
To counteract your habitual busyness, I will partner with you to slow down, pause, breathe, to clarify your vision, to help you reconnect with a sense of where you are going and why. In the interim, here is another reminder of the importance of purpose and how to find your leadership energy!
"Beware the barrenness of a busy life". -- Socrates