Creating Space for a Slower Pace

Leading With VOICCE® Series.

I rushed out the door for a team development day, and made it 5 minutes down the road, only to realize I'd left behind one of the core components I intended to bring. I turned around, headed back home, retrieved it, and rushed out again - now even more behind than before.

In my hurry, I didn't stop to clarify the parking directions, and I ended up on the wrong side of campus. Rerouting in a rush, I missed my turn and lost a few more precious minutes. All in all, I walked in fifteen minutes later than planned - frustrated with myself, and worried about the impression it might leave. Thankfully, it was move-in day on campus, and others were delayed too. But that moment stuck with me, because it reminded me just how much time I could have saved had I simply slowed down in the first place.

If you don't have time to do it right the first time, what makes you think you'll have time to do it again?

I didn't save time that morning by rushing. I spent more of it. I ended up more stressed, and I created a cortisol rush that my nervous system could have done without. Every shortcut I tried to take created a new problem that cost more than the seconds I was trying to save.

We've all experienced it - more pressure, constant expectation, increasing responsibility. The one thing I keep hearing is that everyone is feeling it. The pressure to do more, to go faster, to decide quicker. People want it now. Not now, in fact - yesterday. And AI is only accelerating the pace.

My observation: these expectations are causing an acceleration of stress, more than anything else. And it's costing us all real time.

How many times have you rushed to send an email, only to realize you forgot a recipient, didn't fully express your idea, or forgot the attachment? We've all been there. And then what- you have to send the email again, clarify the oversight, or otherwise revise your work.

Faster is not better, yet we are living in a time where everyone is expected to deliver everything faster than ever before.

There's real science behind why this backfires. Yale neuroscientist Amy Arnsten has spent decades studying what happens to the brain under stress, and her research shows that even mild, everyday pressure rapidly impairs the prefrontal cortex. The prefrontal cortex is the part of the brain responsible for judgment, planning, and rational decision-making. Under stress, cortisol floods the brain with chemicals that shift control away from clear thinking and toward reactive, habitual responses instead. Arnsten calls it "chemistry over circuitry." In other words, the more rushed we feel, the less capable we actually are of thinking clearly - right when we need it most. Perhaps that meeting where you've been suddenly put on the spot, or in a heated exchange with a partner where you desperately want to get your point across.

Or what about this one - have you ever been looking for your phone so you can hurry up and get out the door, while you are, in fact talking on your phone?

Some of these moments are funny. We can laugh at the phone situation, or other silly moments. But the reality is this - constant pressure to always move faster has real consequences.

If there is one thing I've learned, in bridging my mindfulness training with my leadership strategy, it's this: speed kills.

Speed kills peace. It kills quality. It kills integrity.

Faster is not always better.

How will you, as a leader, help your team understand the power of slow?

How will you lead by example?

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Tian Philson - Leadership Transformation & Decision-Making Coach | Creator of the VOICCE® Decision Making & Empowerment Framework | Helping leaders go inward so they can go upward.