Why Leaders Must Now Come Up For Air

We must come up for air

It is easy for leaders to get caught up in the day to day hustle of business and lose sight of the bigger picture. The list of demands, personal and professional is relentless yet normal for any leader, but being busy is not a sign of productivity.

It is only when we slow down and step back that we can see our lives in context, understand what’s important to us, make conscious rather than automatic decisions, and become better leaders.

Give the world the best of you

88% of leaders we surveyed told us they find it difficult to slow down and switch off, if this is you, then you’re not alone.

But what what if going faster and driving harder are not the answer? Could there be another way to perform and achieve at higher levels?  

One driven not just by targets and expertise but by meaning.

What if the growth and capacity of leader lies in their ability to Pause?

To unplug, reflect, and... stop.  

Knowing when to Pause is how you give the world the best of you, not just what’s left of you; because when you step back, restlessness transforms into ease, decisions feel intuitive, and flow becomes a natural state.

Big Breakthroughs Follow A Pause

Twice a year, Bill Gates takes a self-proclaimed “think week.” He spends seven days of solitude in a cabin in the forest. Oprah creates a sacred personal space blocking out Sundays as a time of personal renewal to “be” with herself. Netflix CEO Reed Hastings takes 6 weeks' vacation a year because: “It is helpful. You get a different perspective on things.”

These leaders venture off the beaten path, dedicating time to being uncharacteristically quiet because they understand that a simple pause is rewarded with layers of valuable information.

A Pause is not lazy, nor is it a holiday or passive inactivity. A Pause is an active experience that opens the doorway to the healing and connection the deepest parts of you desire.

Here’s why taking a Pause works

1. Space creates capacity

Space allows supressed emotions to be felt, cleared and released. Consciously creating space also connects you both to your deeper intuition and big picture thinking so that you can feed these insights into your greater ambitions.

2. Silence alleviates stress

Excess noise whether internal or external, creates a build-up of stress. Pause uses silence as a tool to help you get grounded and create stillness within, which in turn generates happiness, peace and self-direction.

3. Compassion evokes action

When times of transition are treated as an integral part of your life and developmental path in a loving and compassionate way, you can move from self-doubt and paralysis to clarity and action, using an often-misunderstood skill: self-compassion.  

How Do You Know When To Pause?

A pause is an opening. It acts as a portal to insights and intuition, options and choices, giving more dimensions to your experience. These are the top 5 reasons leaders choose to Pause with us.

1. Craving More

You’re a high-performing leader who on the outside has it all - yet it’s not enough to satisfy your deeper calling. You know that it’s going to have to be an inside job.

2. Strategic Shift

You’re facing a pivotal decision that will significantly impact your business and the people within it. You need to step back, see the bigger picture, and make significant decisions.

3. Turning Point

It’s time to prepare for a personal transition - a new role, a change in your career, a step up or a step out; and you want to move forwards with clarity and intention.

4. Life Reset

Life has thrown you an unexpected curveball - ill health, bereavement, divorce - forcing you to take stock and reassess what really matters.

5. Brink of Burnout

You are drowning in the craziness. Your body (and everyone around you) is saying it’s time to slow down. You’ve not felt inspired for a while and you’re ready to reignite the spark within.

After working with 100’s of leaders and running dozens of Pause retreats over the past decade, we have developed some of the most powerful and effective tools for high performance pausing.

Join Danielle live for the next Pause Masterclass and discover tools to help you minimise stress and maximize performance.

Learn how to cultivate the most powerful habits for peak performance, understand why Pause is part of performance and why constant activity does not necessarily mean progress.

The philosophy of Pause is simple:

If you’re going to perform in a world that’s speeding up, sometimes you need to slow down.

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