10 Jul In a World of Speed, the Best Leaders Are Slowing Down
“And so, taking the long way home through the market, I slow my pace down. It doesn’t come naturally. My legs are programmed to trot briskly and my arms to pump up and down like pistons, but I force myself to stroll past the stalls and pavement cafes. To enjoy just being somewhere, rather than rushing from somewhere to somewhere. Inhaling deep lungfuls of air, instead of my usual shallow breaths. I take a moment to just stop and look around me. And smile to myself. For the first time in a long time, I can, quite literally, smell the coffee.”
—Alexandra Potter, The Two Lives of Miss Charlotte Merryweather
Imagine a leader rushing into the office after a difficult morning. The phone is buzzing, the calendar is full, and a disappointing report is waiting. An employee tries to raise a concern, but the leader gives a quick answer and keeps moving. Only later, after stepping outside and sitting quietly with a cup of coffee, does the leader realize that the employee was not complaining—they were pointing toward the solution.
That is what slowing down can give us. The problem may still be there, and the decision may still be difficult, but we are no longer seeing it only through urgency. When our pace changes, what we notice can change too. Sometimes the answer is already in front of us, but we are moving too fast to hear it.
That reminds me of the 2015 NBA Finals, when the Golden State Warriors trailed the Cleveland Cavaliers two games to one. A young staff member, Nick U’Ren, suggested replacing Andrew Bogut in the starting lineup with Andre Iguodala. Steve Kerr could have dismissed the idea or protected his authority. Instead, he paused, listened, and made the change.
The Warriors won the next three games and the championship, and Iguodala was named Finals MVP. What stays with me is not only the basketball decision. Kerr had created a culture where someone lower in the organization felt safe questioning the plan. He was also secure enough to recognize a good idea that did not come from him.
That story reflects what you and I experience in business. Everything encourages us to move faster: faster decisions, faster growth, and faster reactions to competitors. Speed can begin to feel like proof that we are leading effectively. Yet the faster we move, the easier it becomes to miss what employees, customers, and results are trying to tell us.
A mindful pause helps us separate what happened from the story we immediately create about it. Something to keep in mind is that better decisions require more than better questions. We also need to regulate our emotions and settle our nervous systems enough to choose a response instead of acting out a reaction.
Search Inside Yourself, a leadership program that began at Google, combines mindfulness, emotional intelligence, and practical tools for handling pressure. One of its central lessons is that the goal is not to eliminate emotion, but to become more aware of it and less controlled by it. One simple place to begin is by paying attention to the breath.
Slowing down does not require a retreat or an empty calendar. It can begin with one full breath before answering a difficult question, five minutes between important meetings, or a short walk before making a major decision.
The world will continue to accelerate.
Our advantage may not come from moving faster than everyone else.
Sometimes it will come from regulating ourselves, listening carefully, and seeing what others are rushing past.