Strategic pause – missing-in-action leadership skill

“Fast and faster. Rapid response. The race is on. This is a world of change like never before. Those who wait will be left behind. It is a first mover advantage game. The attention spans are in micro seconds. The innovation competition is super competitive. Move quick, quicker, quickest.”

These are the management mantras that are dominating the business world. Take the artificial intelligence (AI) example. AI platforms process millions of real-time data rows to cut electric vehicle battery and product prototype cycles by up to 46%. Virtual assistants and round-the-clock chatbots decrease customer interaction handle times by up to 30%. Employees save an average of 114 hours per year through automated data entry, scheduling, and invoicing. These are great developments for competing in a relentlessly cut-throat world.

With machines and software whizzing past, expectations for a super faster human reaction are at an all-time high. Companies are now proud of their ability to beat the clock. This is sometimes called agility. These are all needed actions. Human ability is much greater than realised to date. This super computing, machine learning race has had one casualty i.e. the ability to “pause”. Many would laugh at this word. They would be sarcastic and say, “Are you joking? Pause! We can hardly breathe, leave aside taking a pause.” They feel that taking a pause is a degradation in work life. You will be considered lax, shirker and dumb.

This very perception is what makes leaders continue the life of whirlwind. They zoom past projects, tasks, conference calls. They get home late. They find it difficult to spare time for family. They can hardly cope with the work demands, leave aside taking pauses or breaks. This mindset has put people in a frenetic motion that is unsustainable.

Leaders must take a pause. Leaders must reflect. Leaders must introspect. Leaders must be out of the whirlwind to redirect if required. Leaders need to not only have a pause themselves but also built-in systems that support at all levels to use the break in their life to prevent breakdowns. Research from Harvard Business School found that leaders who regularly employ strategic pauses in high-pressure situations demonstrate 34% better decision-making outcomes than those who react immediately.

They also see a 30% drop in project errors, and foster teams that are 2.3 times more likely to catch early problems. Despite these facts, leaders continue to go with the whizz of flow. When I asked one leader why he does not stop, reflect, recreate, he smiled ruefully and said, “There is no time for it.” This misperception that taking time out will make them lag behind is what needs correction. Let us have a look at how a pause could be the “fastest” propeller of growth:

Strategic Pause#1 – When slow is fast: The insta-culture is everywhere. Organisations want instant responses. The employees want instant recognition. The customers want instant service. AI has created even more pressure to do it faster. When I told a leader that the employees felt that you need to listen more, he looked at me with surprise and said, “Who has the time to listen to their stories.” That is exactly why things get delayed.

The time saving that they are doing by just instructing employees and expecting them to get into the fast forward execution mode never happens. The pause-and-listen strategy is the fastest way to activate people. When you listen to people genuinely, it is a big engagement tool. The more you engage them, the quicker the motivation.

The more the motivation, the more the speed of execution. By just spending 1% more time in hearing and involving people, trust goes up. High trust environments increase productivity by 50%. High trust organisations can outperform competitors by up to 400%. The return on investing in slowing down to connect, communicate and create is self evident.

Strategic Pause#2-When tranquility is creativity: When you get pulled by the push of work, you get really busy, you get really led by the circumstances. The market is hit by the oil prices, you cut costs. Competition brings in innovations, you try to better them. In fact, you are doing the catching up game most of the time. The concept of sitting still and resting the mind to reflect on whether this constant and efficient climbing of the tree is worth it. Is this tree really worth the effort? Will we reach the top of the tree only to find out we are on the wrong tree?

When we are in whirlwind of work, we do not have the time to think of these questions. That actually means not being able to create new avenues. It may require leaders to start the day before the actual day to do it. Tim Cook of Apple gets up at 3.45am to start the day by doing his at peace sorting of the mails and gym to really get an early creative buzz. Indira Nooyi, the famous Pepsi leader, used to feel that early morning was excellent for envisioning new things. Satya Nadella, head of Microsoft, started his day with reading poetry or philosophy to spur his perspective.

Strategic Pause#3-When breakaway is breakthrough: How do you feel after days of doing back-to-back meetings and projects? Tired? Exhausted? Mentally fatigued? Does a tired brain help focus? Does a tired brain help rethink? Does a tired brain help reimagine? Hardly. It can become embroiled in the day to day. It can become blank. It can become blocked. It can become negative. Thus when you get stuck in the routine, you must get unstuck by just going away from the situation. From penicillin to X-rays, breakthrough inventions have not taken place in labs but in environment away from them. The ability to think anew is sparked when you are in a new setting.

Human beings are the only beings that can use the brain box to imagine, to create, to recreate. That can only happen if the brain is not jammed, crammed or on auto-repeat of routines. To break that vicious cycle of racing on the same life track, you need to stop, think, change, and restart. For that to happen, a deliberate, intentional pause is imperative. That pause can make all the difference in just being a servant to the mindless rush of life, or a leader of the  mindful, meaningful life leading to your aspired destiny.