There are different opinions about what is at the heart of leadership. Some say influence (plenty of people do). Some, in my world of servant leadership, say it is to serve (I can’t object to that). These are all good answers and I have a different view. In my judgement, the foundational principle of leadership is intention and we practice intention by slowing down.
When I share this with colleagues and clients, they invariably ask, “How can I stop or slow down when things are moving so fast?”
Intention may look like physically slowing down, taking a break or shutting your door and turning off email for ten minutes in the middle of the day. However, what it more practically looks like day in and day out is something far more subtle.
John Wooden, the historically great basketball coach from the 60’s and 70’s, had a mantra – “Be quick, but don’t hurry.”
Wooden’s University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) basketball teams were ahead of their time in terms of the pace they played. Speed, timing and precision were hallmarks of his teams and was a model for many other college basketball programs.
The essence of the phrase, “be quick, but don’t hurry” was to remain controlled while moving at a fast pace so that you would stay in balance, properly determine the best options and respond appropriately to whatever came up.
The best surgeons, production line managers, lawyers and teachers operate from this place. Wooden said, “if (a surgeon) isn’t capable of responding quickly he may lose a patient. If an attorney isn’t a quick thinker he could lose a case.”
This is also the essence of intention or slowing down in leadership. Create the necessary space in your day to remain controlled while moving quickly so that you remain in balance, remain focused, determine the best options, and respond appropriately and from a place of purpose.
I mentioned earlier that the practice of this is subtle and often imperceptible to those around you. So, what might this look like? For me and most of my clients, it comes in the form of a question. Questions have a beautiful way of interrupting our pattern of activity or waking us up in the midst of being in a hurry. The following are a few questions to introduce in your day. You’ll notice they are surprising simple questions:
• What am I doing?
• What is most important?
• Why am I doing this?
• What’s our plan?
• Who is most important right now?
Interrupting your pattern is one thing, creating the space for the question is another thing all together. For me, it’s moving to a different seat in my office and taking a few deep breaths or if I’m in the middle of a situation, taking three to five seconds before I respond, breathe, ask myself “what is most important?” and then respond. Our brains are amazingly agile and able to do all that in a matter of seconds.
Here’s your new 7-day challenge:
Determine right now one or two ways you’ll slow down this week and the question you’ll ask when you do. Now go try it! Let me know in the comments how it goes.