Think about the title of this article for a few minutes. What does slow is smooth, smooth is fast mean to you?
I was listening to the Pursuit Of Service podcast hosted by Brian Dodd and Jeff Wright. Brian mentioned the movie Zero Dark Thirty.
Zero Dark Thirty tells the story of Seal Team 6’s elimination of Osama bin Laden. This includes the entering of his compound.
Brian shared how the Navy Seal team moved. They took it slow. They were smooth and methodical in their movements. It wasn’t an in-and-out type of mission.
Their deliberate movements and collection of data allowed them to be successful in their mission.
We need to be slow:
You may have heard that you need to move fast to be a great leader. You don’t. You need to move slow.
Slow isn’t a bad thing. Slow means you are taking your time and assessing the situation in front of you.
When you are slow, you are able to:
- See potential problems before they’re a big threat
- Figure out your next move
- Make better choices
By slowing down, you open yourself up to the smoothness of movement you don’t have if you move fast from the beginning.
We need to be smooth:
Not smooth as in a smooth roller. We need to be smooth as in our movements, our actions align and move with ease from one task to the other.
When we move slowly at the beginning, we can move smoothly in the next step.
This smoothness allows you to move with a sense of purpose and mission. You know where you are going. You know what to expect.
This is the smoothness you want in your leadership. You want well-thought, methodical movements to be made.
We need to be fast:
Going slow and going smooth will lead to going fast.
Fast doesn’t come by barging through the doors, guns blazing. Fast comes through trial and practice. Through knowing what is happening and taking in your surroundings.
You will be surprised how much faster you are when you go slow to go smooth to go fast.
The speed you will gain by doing the first two steps will far surpass any speed you lost in the beginning. The two prior steps help you to make sure everything goes as well as it can.
Stop being afraid to go slow.
Only by going slow will you go smoothly will you go fast.
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