When Leadership Stops Rushing

Recently, I shared a story about a former colleague, Jeff Schmidt, whose leadership was defined by a quiet anticipation - an ability to pay such close attention to the people around him that he knew what they needed before they even asked.

During my years at Bell Labs, I worked under a director named Victor Lawrence, who showed me a different, but equally powerful, version of attention.

Victor was a renowned scientist carrying the immense responsibilities of a massive organization. Yet, what I remember most about him is how he walked through the corridors.

Victor rarely hurried from one meeting to the next. Instead, he would pause and give his full, undivided attention to whoever was standing in front of him. He asked about their families. He remembered their children's names.

If Jeff’s attention was about quiet support, Victor’s attention was about unhurried presence. In those brief moments in the hallway, the extraordinary scale of Victor's work never interfered with the simple act of noticing another human being. What stayed with me was not the authority he carried, but the quiet way he made people feel seen.

It taught me that leadership isn't always about how efficiently we manage the future. Sometimes, it is simply about our willingness to stop treating the present moment as just a transition to somewhere else.

In our rush to manage the day, who are we forgetting to notice?

(A brief reflection from "When Attention Settles: Why Life Feels Lighter When We Stop Trying to Manage It.")