We have the privilege of working with leaders in a wide range of businesses – for profit and non-profit, large and small, service companies and product driven – and one of the major changes we’re seeing in all of them is that leaders are running hard and fast, going from one thing to the next, with not a moment to think. 

Not a moment to think.

These women and men are running companies that need their leadership and yet, they don’t have a moment to think. And, it’s a problem.

Reflecting and thinking are how new ideas are incubated and born; it’s where “what is” is toppled by “what can be;” and where strategies are given legs. Without a moment to think we can only do as we have always done.

We all benefit from a moment to think.

In the September 3, 2015, Harvard Business Review Article, 5 Strategy Questions Every Leader Should Make Time For by Freek Vermeulen, we found this quote:

The CEO of a large, global bank once told me:
“It is very easy for someone in my position to be very busy all the time.
There is always another meeting you really have to attend,
and you can fly somewhere else pretty much every other day.
However, I feel that that is not what I am paid to do.
It is my job to carefully think about our strategy.”

As a leader, whether in title or in the way you live your life, it’s important that you take a moment to think about:

  • Your vision for your company or your life
  • The obstacles that challenge you living that vision
  • What you can do to get around those obstacles
  • Who is in your world that can contribute to success
  • What you need to know to make the best decisions.

Do it now – look at your upcoming week and plan a moment (or two) to think!

Let us know how it goes.

– Your Coaches and Allies at Carpenter Smith Consulting

Are you an executive who is too busy to do important strategic thinking?
Get in touch with us today, our Executive Coaches can help.