“It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.”~Confucius
Several weeks ago a client came to our coaching session in a tough mood. She saw no movement towards her goals and no advancement towards what she wanted. She was stuck, at least in her own mind, and extremely frustrated.
Last week, however, everything was different. “As if out of nowhere,” she shared, “everything opened up.” She was excited and amazed at how things miraculously worked out for her with little to no reason. “Really?” I asked. “Really? All of your small steps and consistent actions over the past few weeks, and even prior to that, had nothing to do with everything opening up?”
I watched the realization creep over her face, the acknowledgement of all the things she had done, the actions she had taken, the conversations she had had, along the way. “All along,” I shared, “you worked this. Sometimes slowly, but never stopping. You need to own that…in fact, it reminds me of the situation you’re in with your team right now.”
We dove into her team situation and she realized how she was pushing them to keep moving quickly. And how they might get to their goal just as easily, or maybe even more easily, if she let up on them so that they could move slowly and steadily every day.
When caught in frustration because nothing has happened quickly enough, stop and acknowledge all the small, slow steps you’re taking…and see if you can let that get you towards your goal.
Where are you going slowly, but not stopping? How can you let that be enough for now?
Let us know.
If you enjoyed this post, you can read more like it in our book, The Power of Thoughtful Leadership: 101 Minutes To Being the Leader You Want To Be, available on Amazon.
For support in not stopping, contact Robyn at rmcleod@chatsworthconsulting.com.
Click here to receive The Thoughtful Leaders™ Blog posts via e-mail and receive a copy of “Ending Leadership Frenzy: 5 Steps to Becoming a More Thoughtful and Effective Leader.”
Photo Credit: appsky/Bigstock.com
