Careers, General Management: Pausing for focused reflection

By Lolly Daskal, SmartBlog, 23-10-2013

James was a leader of a large organization that was downsizing, and he was struggling. He was always stressed out and was experiencing constant physical pain, emotional breakdowns and spiritual collapse. In his words, “He was a mess.”

On the outside, he looked fine, but he said that, on the inside, he was falling apart. He knew he needed a life change, but he had no clue where to begin. I told him we begin from within. We begin with your thinking, your doing, your being.

So often we spend so much time focused on doing that it can be hard to know how to start just being. To lead from within, to change the quality of your living and leadership start by:

Take timeouts. You are most likely a busy leader — someone with a lot on your shoulders. If you’re like most of us, you are being measured by the work you do and how you do it. Anything that takes precious moments out of the day needs to really be worth it.

Taking a timeout helps us collect ourselves and to reflect is worth it! Our pausing gives us an opportunity to bring our best into the future
Time out may mean:

• Closing the door to your office.
• Shutting down the phone.
• Taking a long walk, run, or bike ride.
• Going to the gym.
• Or just sitting in meditation.

Taking time out and pausing in solitude gives us the opportunity to cancel out the noise so we can find ourselves again.
Take time to question. Asking the right kind of questions at the right time, gives way to the right answers. When pausing for focused reflection ask yourself the following questions:

• What impact have I made today?
• What impact do I want to make today?
• How have others impacted me?
• What went well? What didn’t go well?
• What can I improve?
• How did I treat people?
• How can I make today more meaningful?

You may have a different set of questions for your professional life:

• What did I accomplish today?
• Did I live by values?
• Did I go the extra mile?
• Did I make decisions with clarity?
• Did I communicate well?
• What did I learn?

If you’re faced with a difficult situation, you can ask yourself questions that pertain specifically to that circumstance. As a leader, identifying your why, what, and how is the groundwork for understanding your purpose and presence.>>>