Invite the Quiet

Executive leaders excel at pivoting throughout the day. While I don’t want to diminish the heroism of my local fire department, I used to refer to managers and leaders as fire fighters. Fires pop up all around us everyday and we respond by extinguishing them, smoldering them, or allowing them to burn down after assessing the potential damage. Some of us love that about the work - not knowing what we might walk into every day lights us up, gives us surges of energy and even gives us a sense of purpose. After all, who would take on the responsibility of calmly assessing these fires and making swift, confident decisions if we weren’t there?

I fell victim to the addiction of it. I worked the long hours, took the responsibility for all of it on my shoulders. The dopamine rush of absorbing chaos that others brought to me and turning it back to them in the form of a confident and clear next step gave me incredible validation of my worth. And then my family gave it a name: workaholic. Of course I denied it until I realized that the more I worked, the more I needed to work.

I do not miss it now, but the withdrawal symptoms were very real, very heavy, and very eye-opening. When I left federal work I felt lonely, I felt lost, and I felt incredible guilt and shame. And then, I found the Quiet.

Here, in the quiet, is where I am finding clarity of purpose, internal validation, and intrinsic motivation. When the external needs and pressures are removed, I am left with just my own needs, my own wants. I reflect, I process, all with no timeline or endgame. Here in the Quiet is where I am finding my truth, my values, my beliefs, and my renewed purpose.

When was the last time you sat in the Quiet? What might happen if you offered this Quiet to your team as a gift? There’s no better moment than now to shut out the chaos, turn away from the fires, and give your team the gift of Quiet space. It is in this space that you may rediscover your truth (mission), values/beliefs (culture), and purpose (vision).

might this clarity serve you? What could help your team transition from a high-pressure environment to embracing moments of Quiet?

Executive leaders excel at pivoting throughout the day. While I don’t want to diminish the heroism of my local fire department, I used to refer to managers and leaders as fire fighters. Fires pop up all around us everyday and we respond by extinguishing them, smoldering them, or allowing them to burn down after assessing the potential damage. Some of us love that about the work - not knowing what we might walk into every day lights us up, gives us surges of energy and even gives us a sense of purpose. After all, who would take on the responsibility of calmly assessing these fires and making swift, confident decisions if we weren’t there?

I fell victim to the addiction of it. I worked the long hours, took the responsibility for all of it on my shoulders. The dopamine rush of absorbing chaos that others brought to me and turning it back to them in the form of a confident and clear next step gave me incredible validation of my worth. And then my family gave it a name: workaholic. Of course I denied it until I realized that the more I worked, the more I needed to work.

I do not miss it now, but the withdrawal symptoms were very real, very heavy, and very eye-opening. When I left federal work I felt lonely, I felt lost, and I felt incredible guilt and shame. And then, I found the Quiet.

Here, in the quiet, is where I am finding clarity of purpose, internal validation, and intrinsic motivation. When the external needs and pressures are removed, I am left with just my own needs, my own wants. I reflect, I process, all with no timeline or endgame. Here in the Quiet is where I am finding my truth, my values, my beliefs, and my renewed purpose.

When was the last time you sat in the Quiet? What might happen if you offered this Quiet to your team as a gift? There’s no better moment than now to shut out the chaos, turn away from the fires, and give your team the gift of Quiet space. It is in this space that you may rediscover your truth (mission), values/beliefs (culture), and p