For leaders, it is easy to feel overwhelmed. Too many things going on. Our heads a hive of activity, buzzing around with actions, worries, priorities and deadlines – all that needs to be done now. This is particularly evident in times of change, transition, and uncertainty, says Tom Andrews, ACEVO’s head of member support.
A narrated version of this blog is available at the bottom of the page
I’ve been thinking a little bit about pace and pacing. They are interesting words as can be taken to exemplify a sense of anxious speed, ‘setting the pace’ or ‘pacing the floor’. Alternatively, they can be used in a different way, where you ‘pace yourself’ and you ‘find your own pace’.
Pacing is most often associated with sport. From athletes choosing how to distribute their energy through a race, to boxers – such as Mohammed Ali in the 1974 Rumble in the Jungle – conserving energy to strike at the optimal time. The importance of pacing can be seen across history from fables, for example, the tortoise and the hare, hunter-gatherers chasing prey, and military campaigns where managing supplies and health are crucial as well as ‘choosing your battles’. On a more prosaic level, we pace ourselves all the time, for instance on a night out or a shopping trip.
Pacing yourself is about not doing anything too quickly or too much at any one time. It is about the right amount of speed and focus, so you have sufficient energy to complete the activity well.
The word pace is a derivation of pax in Latin which means in peace. I like this, as it reminds me that it is not just about completing a task or tasks but how we do it, mindfully, in peace, sustainably. Do you finish the race? How are you at the end? Do you have time and energy for life outside work? To pace ourselves we need to have self-awareness about our strength/s and capacity, to judge the distance of the race, the obstacles and then calculate the pace we want to travel at.
In addition, pacing enables us to build our own sense of autonomy. It is not about what the circumstance is doing to us, but what we are choosing to do given the circumstances.
There will be a little voice saying ‘do it all now – it’s all important’ but maybe we need to reflect like a long-distance runner. To see the whole race, to plot out priorities, to take breaks to recharge, and to choose how we use our energy at different phases of the journey.
A reflection from ACEVO member John Casson, CEO, L’Arche
As a new CEO [at L’Arche] it is dawning on me that it’s pacing, not pace, that makes for life-giving, transformational leadership and lasting impact. I spent 20 years in high profile government jobs where speed was highly prized – or more often churn creating the illusion of speed. Of course, we will sometimes choose to go fast – in a crisis, and to grab opportunities and early wins. But it comes at a cost, especially right now when people have been absorbing so much change and challenge. Haste disempowers other voices and ideas, and prevents leaders from seeing their real opportunities and risks. Haste feeds top-down, heroic leadership that is better at control than deep change. Haste produces tired leaders who feel cross with tired people. In my last government job, I started with a classic 100-day plan – but it had little relation to what I later saw as really mattering. As CEO now, I see a big part of my role as creating the right space and pace for people and ideas to emerge. I’ll know I’ve got it when our momentum comes from people owning the mission and excited about what they can do, not from me always stamping on the accelerator.
If you would like to talk through anything that has resonated in this article, please email support@acevo.org.uk and Tom will be in touch to arrange a conversation.
