The Power of Pause

Kevin Cashman is a senior partner for Leadership and Talent Consulting at Korn/Ferry International, the founder of the Chief Executive Institute and a senior fellow of the Caux Roundtable, and in his latest book, The Pause Principle, he identifies  how 'pausing' in many forms can provide better, fresher thinking in all areas of business and human relations

Too often, we take for granted our simplest yet most profound and transformative human capabilities. Sleep, for instance, is, on the surface, very simple. Our superficial analysis of sleep says, "Yeah, no big deal. We rest and wake up. So what?" But take a moment to consider how profound sleep really is. Every night, we go to sleep fatigued and possibly stressed from the day. When we awaken, we feel completely rejuvenated.

What sleep is to the mind and body, pause is to leadership and innovation. Pause transforms management into leadership and the status quo into new realities. Pause, the natural capability to step back in order to move forward with greater clarity, momentum and impact, holds the creative power to reframe and refresh how we see ourselves and our relationships, our challenges, our capacities, our organizations and missions within a larger context. While losing touch with our ability to pause may be less obvious than losing our ability to rest, it can be just as devastating. In our fast-paced, achieve-more- now culture, the loss of pause potential is epidemic.

This concept of 'pausing', and the gains in personal and team effectiveness it can bring, is present throughout FranklinCovey's thinking and in practical terms we provide a range of tools and techniques which allow people to translate this idea into action for themselves and colleagues. These include a Stimulus-Response model, Beginning With The End in Mind, Creating Tribute Statements, Going For Extraordinary, Moving Off The Solution, Slowing Down For Yellow Lights and Focusing an Smart Trust. Whether applied individually or collectively, these new ways of thinking and new ways of working are all designed to help people to get the new and different results offered by 'the power of pause'.