Slow Down to Speed Up
Sep 27, 2026
Sometimes you have to get away from the work to get a better perspective on the work.
I’ve been planning a trip to Banff, Canada for several years.
This year, my husband and I finally made it happen. We came to celebrate our 35th anniversary, and I couldn't have picked a better time to get away.
Actually, that's not entirely true. We planned to go on this trip last September. But when PBS lost federal funding, I got scared and didn’t think it was a good time to leave my responsibilities at PBS Charlotte. I needed to raise an extra $1.2 million dollars to save staff jobs and that was my priority. So, I postponed the trip and I kept working.
Since the 4th of July, I’ve been going nonstop. Every day at the station, followed by several hours at night writing my third book. Then 7–10 hours more on the weekends. I kept telling myself I would slow down when I got through the next thing. Except there was always another thing.
Sound familiar?
We tell ourselves we're too busy to stop because there's too much to do and sometimes that’s what we have to do. Last September was NOT the right time for me to get away but this one was perfect. Here's what I'm learning in Banff:
Sometimes stopping is exactly what we need to do to see what comes next.
We drove west from Calgary, and within about an hour, I was surrounded by mountains.
Not just mountains. Mountains.
The kind that makes you stop talking for a minute and just marvel at their beauty. We were surrounded by them. North, South, East, West everywhere we looked we saw incredibly majestic mountains.
Our first day was a 10-hour tour through some of the most beautiful lakes and landscapes I've ever seen. When we arrived at Emerald Lake in Yoho National Park, something happened that I didn't expect.
It felt like time stood still and for the first time in a very long time, my thoughts got quiet.
I've had so many ideas swirling around in my head—about the station, my consulting business, my book, what's next, what I should do, what I shouldn't do.
All of a sudden, I wasn't trying to solve everything. I was just standing there and, in that stillness, I began to see things differently more clearly.
That's the first thing slowing down can give us:
- Perspective.
When we're buried in the day-to-day, everything feels urgent. We focus on the next problem, the next email, the next meeting, the next deadline. But sometimes you have to step away from the noise to see the bigger picture.
The next day, we went to Moraine Lake. I climbed 125 steps straight up to get the view. Halfway up, I asked people coming down the stairs the question every tired person asks:
“Is it worth it?”
Every single person said some version of the same thing:
“Don't stop.”
So, I didn't. When I reached the top, I understood why. It was, without question, one of the most stunning things I've ever seen. But something else happened at the top.
All those jumbled thoughts I'd been carrying around seemed to line up in a straight line. I could hear myself think. I could see more clearly what the future could look like and the steps I need to take to make it happen.
That's the second thing slowing down can give us:
- Clarity.
Leaders spend an enormous amount of time listening to everyone else. Our teams. Our boards. Our customers. Our colleagues. Our families.
But when was the last time you gave yourself enough quiet to hear your own thoughts?
Sometimes the answer isn't missing. Sometimes the noise is simply too loud to allow you to hear it.
-
Capacity
Then there was the Natural Bridge in Yoho National Park.
It wasn't the prettiest picture of the trip. The water was choppy. The current was rough but as I watched that water pushing and tumbling through the rocks, I thought about how much life looks like that. We have to go through the rough water to get to the good stuff.
Sometimes we’re the ones creating the rough water by refusing to slow down.
By Wednesday, after several days surrounded by all this incredible natural beauty, I felt lighter. Not because I was hiking mountains or that the work had disappeared. It hadn't. The challenges were still waiting for me at home. But I had changed my relationship with them.
I had more space in my head. More perspective. More clarity and more capacity.
- We don't have to earn rest.
That's probably the biggest lesson I'm taking home. I've always been someone who can push through. Give me a deadline, a challenge or a problem, and I'll figure it out. But pushing through isn't always the same thing as moving forward. Sometimes the most productive thing a leader can do is stop.
Not quit.
Not give up.
Stop.
Because when we slow down, three things can happen:
We see the bigger picture.
We hear ourselves think.
We return with more capacity to give.
And here's something I've had to remind myself of on this trip:
Rest isn't a reward for finishing everything.
Because, as leaders, we're never going to finish everything. There will always be another email. Another problem. Another meeting. Another decision. If we wait until everything is done before we take a break, we'll never take one.
As I'm writing this, I still have three more days in Banff.
Three more days to breathe.
Three more days to let my mind settle.
Three more days to simply be present.
Trust me I’m trying NOT to think about work, but I’m getting a very clear picture of how to pursue the future.
And when I return, I want to return refreshed—not just rested.
I don't want to come back and simply do more. I want to come back and make a bigger impact. Maybe that's what slowing down really gives us.
Not less ambition.
Not less commitment.
A clearer view of where we're going and more capacity to get there.
The mountain of work that lies ahead doesn't look any different because I slowed down.
But I see it differently.