As part of my leadership coaching work, I often see the same tension resurface repeatedly: how can senior leaders remain thoughtful in a world that prizes speed? After more than two decades working alongside executives, I’ve learned that those who make room to think discover something larger than efficiency; they build organisations that breathe.

In a culture that worships urgency, reflection can seem extravagant. Yet the faster we move, the more we lose sight of what matters. What if performance itself depends not on motion, but on the quality of stillness that precedes it?

The paradox of performance

We live in a time where speed has become a moral value. The faster we move, the more capable we appear. Most of us have learned to answer before we have truly listened. In many boardrooms, to pause even briefly can feel like weakness. Yet if we are honest, the most costly mistakes in leadership rarely come from doing too little. They come from acting too soon.

Modern leadership has turned speed into a kind of faith. Boards reward it, markets demand it, and employees imitate it. To hesitate is to risk appearing uncertain. We know this rhythm so well that many of us have forgotten to question it. Yet the irony is that speed, left unchecked, slowly erodes the very capacities that make leadership valuable.

The paradox of performance is that in our pursuit of efficiency, we begin to lose the things that make performance meaningful. Sustained urgency narrows our perception and drains empathy from decision-making. It also shrinks the reflective space where learning happens. Behavioural research continues to show that when leaders operate in a permanent state of reaction, their cognitive range diminishes, their creativity declines, and their moral judgement weakens (Kahneman, 2011; Boyatzis, 2018).

Leadership was never meant to be a race. Its task is not to outpace the world but to understand it. That kind of understanding requires a slowness that is not passive but attentive. In that quiet attention, better questions can form. Possibility returns. Wisdom, which has little to do with urgency, becomes possible again. So the question for all of us is simple: what would leadership look like if reflection was treated as part of performance, not its opposite?

The cognitive science of speed versus reflection

The higher we climb, the faster we are expected to move. Our calendars tighten as our responsibilities widen. Those who look to us for answers want certainty before the facts are fully in. We learn to speak with confidence even when the ground is still shifting beneath us. Yet the very mind that serves us well in a crisis begins to mislead us when we live there permanently.

Two systems, one imbalance: Behavioural science offers a helpful lens. Daniel Kahneman described two systems of thought in Thinking, Fast and Slow(2011). System 1 is fast, automatic and intuitive, the source of pattern recognition and instinctive judgement. System 2 is slower, more deliberate, and capable of weighing complexity and ambiguity. Both are essential. But under pressure, System 1 takes over. It delivers certainty at the expense of depth.

Kahneman, together with Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein, later demonstrated how this imbalance shows up in professional life. In Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment (2021), they found that insurance underwriters assessing the same case produced valuations that varied by more than 50 per cent, simply because of context, fatigue, or timing. The same pattern appears in executive teams when deadlines or emotion compress the space for thought. We become confident in our inconsistency.

The physiology of urgency: Neuroscience helps explain why. Richard Boyatzis and Anthony Jack at Case Western Reserve University (2018) found that stress activates the brain’s analytic and defensive networks while suppressing those responsible for empathy, creativity and systems thinking. Cortisol and adrenaline, the hormones of action, sharpen focus but narrow vision. Under sustained pressure, the body interprets the calendar as a source of threat. Leaders literally see less of the system they are meant to guide.

When the culture mirrors the tempo: Organisations mirror their leaders. When executives reward immediacy, the culture imitates them. Meetings get shorter, silence feels awkward, and hesitation is mistaken for weakness. Learning shrinks even as activity multiplies. A McKinsey review of high-performing chief executives found that those who intentionally built “pause routines” into governance, time to listen before deciding, moments of unhurried reflection, outperformed peers on adaptability and innovation (McKinsey, 2024).

What the evidence tells us about reflection: Research continues to confirm what intuition already knows: calm and reflection improve judgement. In Harvard Business Review, Hougaard, Carter and Powell (2022) reported that executives trained in deliberate calm made 30 per cent fewer judgement errors under pressure. An IMD study of 150 CEOs found that those who protected at least two hours each week for structured reflection scored higher on strategic adaptability and psychological safety across their teams (IMD, 2023).

Coaching psychologist Anthony Grant demonstrated similar results. His work at the University of Sydney showed that regular reflective dialogue develops meta-cognition, the ability to observe one’s own thinking before acting, which strongly predicts leadership effectiveness and wellbeing (Grant, 2017).

The hidden cost of haste: The cost of constant speed does not show up immediately. It appears later as rework, fatigue, and eroded trust. Gartner’s leadership productivity study found that premature or poorly framed decisions consume between ten and twenty per cent of executive time each year (Gartner, 2023). The result is a quiet but significant drain on organisational attention.

Space as discipline: Creating space is not indulgence; it is discipline. Reflection is to leadership what due diligence is to investment: the careful pause that prevents expensive mistakes. Time to think is not time away from work; it is the work that makes every other hour count. Without it, leaders manage symptoms instead of systems. Speed may win quarters, but space builds decades.

Why senior leaders are uniquely vulnerable to the speed trap

The irony of leadership is that the more senior the role, the less space it allows for reflection. Authority brings responsibility for others’ time, yet it quietly steals control over one’s own. Diaries fill themselves. Days collapse into half-hour fragments. The rhythm of the organisation becomes the rhythm of the leader.

Many of us entered leadership for the promise of perspective: a wider view and more freedom to think. What we find instead is compression. Every decision seems urgent and every conversation already late. It is easy to forget that thinking is also work.

The visibility paradox: At senior levels, decisions are not only operational; they are symbolic. Visibility creates pressure to appear decisive. Research from Harvard’s Center for Public Leadership found that executives under scrutiny make faster choices than they privately believe are wise, simply to signal confidence (Heifetz & Linsky, 2017). In short bursts this can be adaptive, but over time it becomes corrosive. When leaders perform certainty, teams learn to hide doubt. Reflection becomes a private act, if it happens at all. We might ask what would happen if a leader modelled uncertainty as part of competence rather than the absence of it.

The illusion of control: Leadership also carries an unspoken promise of control. When complexity rises, the temptation is to act quickly, to move something or anything in order to feel in command. Psychologist Jennifer Garvey Berger (2020) calls this complexity anxiety: when systems feel unpredictable, we cling to what is measurable and immediate. Acting quickly delivers a momentary sense of mastery even as the real problem deepens.

Neurological evidence supports this pattern. A Stanford study on executive stress showed that leaders exposed to constant decision pressure display reduced variability in heart-rate coherence, a marker of adaptability (Crabtree et al., 2022). They become more efficient but less flexible. Their bodies learn to rush even when no rush is required.

The narrowing of counsel: Seniority changes the conversation. Research from the MIT Leadership Center found that chief executives receive less unfiltered information than mid-level managers, despite having wider networks (Ancona & Isaacs, 2021). People edit what they share, anticipating the leader’s impatience. The faster a leader moves, the less reality reaches them. Speed amplifies distance.

Boards and investors often add another layer of compression. Reporting cycles, earnings calls and regulatory deadlines shorten the horizon of thought. The CEO’s reflective time competes with a thousand small demands for visibility. The myth of the heroic leader, the one who always acts, still dominates corporate storytelling even when the evidence suggests a different kind of strength.

Emotional contagion: Speed spreads. Studies in social neuroscience show that emotional states travel through teams by tone, gesture and tempo (Boyatzis & Goleman, 2019). A leader’s pace becomes the organisation’s pace. When the top is hurried, everyone hurries. In time, the organisation loses its capacity for pause, for dissent and for sense-making. Reactivity starts to look like alignment.

The reflective deficit: All of this leads to what Gianpiero Petriglieri at INSEAD calls the reflective deficit (2023): the widening gap between the complexity leaders face and the time available to think about it. The result is chronic cognitive overload, too much information and too little integration. Learning becomes tactical; leadership becomes performance.

A McKinsey study of 1,000 senior executives revealed the cost. Those with no regular time for reflection were twice as likely to describe their organisations as reactive and risk-averse. Leaders with structured reflection practices scored higher on strategic clarity and employee engagement (McKinsey, 2024). Across industries, the pattern is the same. Where thinking time disappears, so does coherence.

Reclaiming agency: None of this is inevitable. The scarcity of time is not only a calendar problem; it is a cultural one. The challenge is not to slow down for its own sake but to act with awareness. Reflection is not withdrawal from action; it is the discipline that ensures action still serves intention.

Many leaders are rediscovering this through structured conversations such as coaching dialogues, peer learning groups or short retreats designed for sense-making. These spaces are not indulgences. They are stewardship in practice, deliberate acts to restore judgement.

Perhaps the invitation is simple. Before we race to decide, we might pause long enough to ask whether our speed still serves what matters.

Reclaiming space: Practices that restore judgement

Leaders often ask where to begin. Knowing that speed erodes judgement is one thing; creating the conditions for wiser judgement is another. Reflection does not appear by accident. It has to be designed and defended, just like any other strategic resource. Time, attention and energy are now among the scarcest assets in executive life, and reclaiming them is not self-indulgence but stewardship.

In this section we explore how leaders can create that space in two domains: first, in their own rhythm, the inner tempo that sets the tone for everyone else; and second, in the teams and systems they shape. The work begins internally because organisations inevitably mirror their leaders’ state of mind. When those at the top operate at perpetual velocity, they teach everyone else that reflection is waste. When a leader models thoughtfulness, they invite it from others.

At the leader level: Slowing the inner tempo

Before an organisation can rediscover reflection, a leader must experience it personally. The challenge is not only external, such as crowded diaries, relentless meetings and digital noise, but internal. Many executives have built an identity around speed. They are known for being on top of things, for rapid response and instant command of detail. To move more slowly can feel like losing edge. Yet the science is clear: performance in complex environments depends less on reaction time and more on sense-making depth. The following five practices help leaders begin to reclaim that depth.

1. Protect thinking time as immovable

Research from IMD’s CEO Reflection Study (2023) found that chief executives who set aside at least two continuous hours each week for structured reflection reported thirty per cent higher adaptability and stronger decision confidence. What distinguished them was not the amount of time but the discipline with which they protected it. Many start the week with good intentions, yet these periods are the first to be sacrificed when urgency arises. Those who treated reflection as board-level work, as vital as an investor briefing, sustained the habit.

In practice this means scheduling a recurring meeting with oneself and honouring it visibly. Some leaders walk, write longhand notes or read beyond their field. Others use the time to revisit major decisions with fresh perspective. What matters is the signal. When a chief executive refuses to surrender this time, it tells the organisation that thinking is part of the job. The same way a company protects capital from casual expenditure, it should protect its leaders’ capacity to think.

2. Design pause rituals

Most meetings begin mid-sentence. Everyone arrives half-present, still carrying fragments of the last call. The mind remains in task-switching mode, jumping between stimuli. Introducing a deliberate moment of stillness, even a minute of quiet or a single grounding question such as “What are we not yet seeing?”, resets attention. Ellen Langer’s research on mindfulness showed that brief pauses before complex tasks increase creativity and reduce error rates by interrupting automatic thinking (Langer, 2016). In high-pressure settings, that single minute can be the difference between groupthink and genuine insight.

Leaders who practise this consistently report a noticeable shift in the quality of meetings. The conversation becomes slower but sharper. People listen differently. When silence is legitimate, contributions become more considered. One technology CEO told me his team initially found the ritual awkward; within months it became non-negotiable. They realised that a moment of shared stillness cleared more noise than any new productivity tool. The cost was sixty seconds. The return was collective presence.

3. Keep a decision journal

Memory is unreliable, especially under pressure. We remember intentions more vividly than outcomes, which reinforces overconfidence. Michael Mauboussin’s work on decision journals highlights the value of capturing key decisions at the moment they are made, noting assumptions, emotions and predicted outcomes, and revisiting them later (Mauboussin, 2018). Executives who adopt this discipline become more aware of bias and better at pattern recognition. Over time, the journal becomes a private mirror that shows how mood, context and fatigue influence choices.

Several board chairs now use decision logs for major investments. Reviewing them annually reveals which instincts proved sound and which situations distorted judgement. The practice does not slow decisions; it refines them. It also builds humility, reminding leaders that confidence is not a proxy for accuracy. A personal log, handwritten or digital, is inexpensive but powerful. It externalises reflection, turning hindsight into learning rather than regret.

4. Treat recovery as strategy

The myth of the tireless leader dies hard. Many executives equate endurance with commitment, yet neuroscience tells a different story. Matthew Walker’s research on sleep demonstrated that even modest deprivation reduces prefrontal cortex activity, the area governing moral reasoning, empathy and long-term planning (Walker, 2018). Chronic stress produces similar effects. The very systems that produce strategic thought become compromised.

Reframing rest as strategic maintenance changes the conversation. A rested mind is not indulgent; it is capable. Physical movement, time in nature and deliberate digital disconnection restore neural resources. Some firms now treat leader wellbeing as part of risk management, not wellness. They recognise that an exhausted executive is more likely to act impulsively or defensively. Recovery is the foundation of clarity.

5. Engage in executive coaching

Even the most disciplined leaders need a structured space to think aloud. Executive coaching offers that space. It is not about being advised but about having a partner in reflection, someone who listens without agenda and holds attention on what matters. In these conversations, leaders step out of the noise long enough to hear their own thinking. Coaching psychology research at the University of Sydney found that reflective dialogue strengthens meta-cognition and emotional regulation, both of which predict sustained performance (Grant 2017). In practice, coaching creates a deliberate pause between stimulus and response. Leaders begin to notice the assumptions and patterns that drive their choices and can decide which still serve them.

Many find that one-to-one sessions surface hidden tensions faster than solitary reflection. Others use coaching to defend time and boundaries that protect attention. The purpose is not therapy or advice but stewardship of judgement. When done well, coaching restores perspective. It helps leaders reconnect action with intention and rediscover meaning in pace.

At the team and organisational level: Designing for thoughtfulness

Once leaders have reclaimed their own rhythm, the next challenge is to embed reflection in the collective rhythm. Without this, even the most self-aware executive will be pulled back into the current of reactivity. Organisations absorb the pace of their leaders, yet they sustain it through structures and rituals. To shift culture, those structures must begin rewarding thoughtfulness alongside delivery.

1. Build reflection into decision architecture

Complex work benefits from formal moments of questioning. Gary Klein’s concept of the pre-mortem invites teams to imagine that a project has failed and to ask why. This practice increases foresight and risk identification by up to forty per cent (Klein, 2007). After-action reviews serve a similar purpose, converting experience into shared learning rather than blame. These practices are often skipped when deadlines tighten, which is exactly when they are most valuable. Embedding them into governance processes, from board papers to investment proposals and programme charters, ensures that reflection becomes systemic rather than optional.

2. Separate sense-making from execution

Many leadership teams conflate two very different conversations: deciding what to do and making sense of why it matters. Mixing the two shortens both. High-performing organisations create separate spaces for sense-making. Some run monthly learning councils that examine emerging patterns and surprises across functions. Others host cross-level reflection forums that invite perspectives from outside the usual hierarchy. These sessions have no action list. Their purpose is insight. Over time, they create organisational memory and a collective capacity to notice themes before they become problems.

3. Measure learning, not only output

Traditional performance systems reward throughput and compliance. They rarely measure the quality of insight or the learning generated along the way. Amy Edmondson’s research on psychological safety shows that teams encouraged to discuss errors and uncertainties innovate more and repeat fewer mistakes (Edmondson, 2019). Some companies now include learning velocity metrics, such as how quickly lessons are identified and applied, in executive dashboards. This signals that reflection is not the opposite of accountability but its companion. Measuring thoughtfulness legitimises it.

4. Normalise peer reflection

Peer groups for senior leaders provide a collective mirror similar to coaching but enriched by diversity of perspective. O’Connor and Cavanagh’s study on group coaching found that executives in peer reflection circles improved cross-functional collaboration and trust (O’Connor & Cavanagh, 2020). Confidential dialogue among equals allows exploration of doubt without fear of loss of face. When peers share their own uncertainties, courage becomes contagious. These groups often begin informally, perhaps over breakfast or during a monthly walk, and evolve into trusted networks that sustain reflective practice for years.

5. Model slow thinking from the top

Culture takes its cue from what power does under pressure. When boards and chief executives allow silence before speaking or delay judgement to hear one more view, they create psychological permission for others to do the same. Observing a senior leader pause thoughtfully instead of answering immediately redefines what authority looks like. It turns reflection into a visible act of leadership. Over time this changes how the organisation equates speed with competence. The boardroom becomes the classroom for patience.

A closing thought

The work of reclaiming space is not about slowing for its own sake; it is about aligning speed with significance. In a world that confuses motion with progress, leaders can model a different form of excellence, one where reflection precedes action and wisdom grows from attention, not acceleration.

Each of these practices begins modestly: a few protected minutes, a quiet question, a meeting that waits for understanding before decision. Their combined effect is cumulative rather than dramatic. Over time, they restore what constant urgency erodes, proportion, coherence and humanity.

Creating space, then, is more than a personal habit. It is a cultural act that shapes how others think and feel around us. When leaders make room to think, others find permission to contribute. Reflection becomes shared practice rather than private luxury. This, perhaps, is the starting point for a deeper conversation about leadership and the restoration of wise judgement in modern organisations.

Conclusion – The leadership choice to create space

Modern leadership often treats speed as virtue and stillness as risk. Yet research and experience show that the pace of leadership determines its quality. When speed becomes habitual, we confuse movement with progress. When reflection disappears, we lose sight of what truly matters. The deeper paradox is that organisations do not need faster leaders; they need wiser ones. Wisdom grows in the pauses that allow pattern and meaning to surface. The most capable leaders are rarely those who react first, but those who can hold silence long enough for a better question to emerge.

The evidence is clear. Kahneman’s work on judgement, Boyatzis’ research on neural networks, Edmondson’s studies on psychological safety and Grant’s findings on coaching all point in the same direction. The mind requires space to think, and leadership requires courage to make that space possible. Reclaiming it is an act of stewardship. It means protecting the conditions that make good thinking possible: calm attention, open dialogue and the freedom to pause. When the person in charge slows down, others gain permission to breathe. The culture shifts from urgency to awareness.

Reflection is not a retreat from work; it is what makes work intelligent. Coaching supports this shift. It offers leaders the structure and partnership to separate urgency from importance and to rediscover meaning in their choices.

Reflective Questions

  1. When did you last create an hour for unhurried thought, and what changed because of it?

  2. What signals do you send to others about the value of reflection in your organisation?

  3. If your leadership were measured by depth of judgement rather than speed, what would you do differently this week?

Do you have any tips or advice for creating better pauses , reflection or slowing down as a leader?

What has worked for you?

Do you have any recommended resources to explore?

Thanks for reading!

Related reading: Stewardship and the Time to Think: Leadership Practices for a Reflective Age –  a companion article exploring how leaders can make reflection a shared practice of stewardship.

Reference List

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Berger, J.G. (2020) Unlocking Leadership Mindtraps: How to Thrive in Complexity. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Boyatzis, R. and Jack, A. (2018) ‘The neuroscience of coaching: Why relationships matter’, Consulting Psychology Journal: Practice and Research, 70(1), pp. 1–15.

Boyatzis, R. and Goleman, D. (2019) Emotional Intelligence and Leadership. New York: Harvard Business Review Press.

Crabtree, J., Smith, T. and Lee, A. (2022) ‘Executive stress and adaptive capacity: A physiological study of senior leaders’, Stanford Business Working Paper Series, Stanford Graduate School of Business.

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IMD (2023) CEO Reflection Study: The Impact of Structured Reflection on Leadership Performance. Lausanne: International Institute for Management Development.

Kahneman, D. (2011) Thinking, Fast and Slow. London: Penguin Books.

Kahneman, D., Sibony, O. and Sunstein, C.R. (2021) Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgment. London: William Collins.

Klein, G. (2007) ‘Performing a project premortem’, Harvard Business Review, September.

Langer, E.J. (2016) The Power of Mindful Learning. Boston, MA: Da Capo Press.

Mauboussin, M.J. (2018) The Success Equation: Untangling Skill and Luck in Business, Sports, and Investing. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Review Press.

McKinsey & Company (2024) The Mindful CEO: Routines of Reflection and Adaptability in Senior Leadership. New York: McKinsey Global Institute.

O’Connor, S. and Cavanagh, M. (2020) ‘Group coaching and reflective practice in senior leadership teams’, Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice, 13(3), pp. 244–260.

Petriglieri, G. (2023) The Reflective Deficit in Modern Leadership. Fontainebleau: INSEAD Leadership Research Initiative.

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