We have never had more technology to help us move faster.
And perhaps never had more need to pause and decide where we’re actually going! 🍀
The 2026 Microsoft Work Trend Index points to an interesting shift: as AI takes on more of the work, the challenge for organisations is increasingly about how humans use their time, attention and judgment.
And that made me think:
If technology helps us do more, what will we choose to do with the time and attention we gain?
🍁 Because speed is not the same as progress.
🍁 And productivity is not the same as good thinking.
In fact, emerging research is beginning to point to a possible “productivity trap” — when technology makes individual tasks faster, we may inadvertently create less space for deliberation, challenge, reflection and the conversations that lead to better decisions.
So perhaps the question for leaders is no longer simply:
“How do I get more done?”
It is:
“What deserves my attention in the first place?”
Because leadership at a senior level is not about responding to everything.
It is about creating enough space to notice, think, discern and choose.
And this is where coaching becomes powerful.
Not to give the leader another answer.
But to create the pause in which the leader can finally hear their own.
Sometimes the most strategic thing a leader can do is stop. ❤️
Not because there is less to do.
But because there is something more important to see.
And interestingly, this is something I found myself learning in my own personal life this week.
Slowing down gave me space to notice something I might otherwise have rushed past. 😇
A lesson I’m carrying with me: slowing down isn’t about doing less. It’s about creating enough space to notice what really matters!!!