Go Fast by Going Slow: The Leadership Power of Presence | Mindshift Moments

The Moment:

It’s a Tuesday morning. Your calendar is packed: back-to-back meetings, urgent emails, project deadlines, and a team member waiting for guidance. You’re running fast, prioritizing, multitasking, and trying to keep everything moving.

One of your direct reports comes to you with an idea. You kept your interaction brief, giving them just enough guidance to move forward and get to the next thing. You feel efficient and helpful as you move on in your day.

But something is nagging at you: the conversation didn’t land. The insight you hoped they would have didn’t really surface. They shared being unsure. The spark, that breakthrough you wanted for them…it never appeared.

The Mindshift:

Here’s the truth most leaders miss (including me): slowing down strategically is the fastest path to speed.

Generosity of time — truly being present with your team — is one of the most powerful, underestimated leadership moves you have. When you slow down, notice, and listen, you create space for your team to think deeper, see patterns, act bolder, and own results in ways you can’t force from the top

This is leverage. When you fully engage with your team (i.e. asking questions, coaching their thinking, giving them power to lead initiatives while still being there to support them) you multiply your impact. You don’t just solve the immediate problem; you unlock creativity, push your team to stretch their thinking, and cultivate the trust and safety where real learning and high performance happen together.

It’s what I call a “go fast to go slow” strategy. An investment of concentrated attention in the moment to save hours, develops thinking, and creates breakthroughs down the line. When your team knows they will be seen, heard, and supported, they take ownership and move faster than you ever could alone.

Slowing down does cost time and the investment creates exponential returns.

The Strategies:

Here are a few ideas on how you can make generosity of time a habit starting today:

1. Pick one interaction to be fully present.

A one-on-one, a quick check-in, or a small meeting. Silence distractions (phone, watch, chat), slow your pace, and listen to understand what the other person is really trying to communicate, not just to respond.

2. Notice how much you’re talking versus listening.

One way to listen more? Asking powerful questions that invite reflection, exploration, and stretch. Here are a few to try out:

• What’s the real challenge for you here?
• What perspectives might we be missing in this?
• What options might we have at this moment?
• Where do you have space and resources to act right now?
• If we could do this without constraints, what would it look like?

3. Schedule micro-reflection windows.

Even 15 minutes a day to zoom out, observe, review, and think without a to-do list can change how you lead and the decisions your team makes. Treat it as high-leverage leadership time.

Slowing down doesn’t have to mean falling behind. It can mean seeing opportunities, unlocking insight, and creating trust that accelerates results. Every moment you give fully, every question that invites thinking, every pause that allows ownership multiplies your team’s speed, creativity, and resilience. Start small. Start today. Go fast by going slow.