Your pace vs. the pace of the world
Last Friday, I had an ah-ha moment with the team in our monthly leadership meeting.
We meet once a month for 2.5 hours to share how we are feeling in and outside of work and to discuss issues that we want the group’s perspective on. When it was my turn to share, I told the team that I can feel myself transforming along with our transformation, and I wanted to know if they could see or feel my growth, too. What I told them went something like this…
I am moving at a slower pace than I’ve ever moved before in our business. Even though we are in the midst of reinventing an organization that has been around for nearly fourteen years, I am not working until late at night, I am not working on the weekends, I am not keeping my foot on the gas 24/7, and I’m not responding to this new chapter with the “fight or flight” mentality that I might have otherwise approached it with in the past. And here’s the ah-ha: I’m okay with that. In fact, I’m learning to love it. That doesn’t mean it’s easy. Many days, I feel an internal battle, one side telling me that I’m not measuring up and that I need to move faster, and the other urging me to go at my pace instead of the pace the world makes me feel I should keep up with. I’m proud that for the first time in my entrepreneurial journey, the second side is winning.
For me to acknowledge something like this out loud feels huge. Entrepreneurs are taught to be scrappy. To hustle. To grind. To stay up until 2 a.m. working to make the dream come to life. And for a long time, that described the entrepreneur I was. It described the entrepreneurs and leaders I looked up to. I was proud to be like them. Proud that our team essentially knew me as a weekend warrior and late-night hustler. Proud of succeeding after meeting difficult challenge after difficult challenge, no matter the cost. Proud that my business was my life. It was all I had to talk about, and I saw no issue with that.
But things are different now. That isn’t me. When I asked my team if they could feel me slowing down, they validated me. They told me they are proud of me. They welcomed me to “their world,” saying they have been hoping and wishing for the day that I would join them. One even shared that she tries to match my pace, so when I slow down, the same questioning process happens for her, too. Wow. Sometimes I think we forget the impact we can have on others. My pace is a model, so I better think long and hard about that. May we all.
When I think about success in this next chapter, here’s what I envision: That I get to keep my health in the process. That I get restful sleep every night. That I get to be fully present with my family on the weekends. That our team gets to keep their health in the process. That they get to sleep well. That they get to disconnect and be all-in with their loved ones. That we aren’t rushed. That we have fun. That we aren’t defining our success by anyone else’s timeline. That we have time to think, strategize, and do our very best work. That we have the bandwidth to focus on the most important thing: taking care of our people and our clients in this transition. That we get to follow our inspiration instead of forcing it. That we don’t rush the uncomfortable stillness because we know this is where the most growth happens. That we embody the idea of a “calm company,” even during a huge shift. That success might take longer, and even if it does, it will mean just as much. That we can look back one day and be proud that we did this on our terms. That we had the courage to look at the pace the world says we should operate at and say, “That doesn’t feel like us.” That we can look back one day and say we achieved the greatest accomplishment in our company’s history, that we didn’t burn out while reaching for it, and that we didn’t lose ourselves in the process. That I can look back and say that I didn’t lose myself in the process. That I can look back one day and say that my business is a part of my life. That I have a lot of other stuff to talk about.
That’s it. That’s what I see. I am certain you won’t find that definition of success in many places, but I’m comfortable with saying it’s the version I like most. And my biggest hope is that our journey may inspire you to go at your pace, and not the pace of the world. Whatever that means and looks like for you. Own it, rock it. This is your life. Only one person should get to decide what success looks like for you and how it feels as you reach for it, and that person is… you.
And that leads to me what may seem like an unlikely announcement: Last week, we launched our newest project, our Human Leadership Program, which will take place on May 5 + 6 in my Zoom Room. I’ll be honest, I hesitated on launching this before figuring out exactly what the next Student Made chapter will look like. The world’s programming made me feel like that was the big announcement that was supposed to come next. But again… we get to write our story. So here we are, and this is us. We are so freaking excited to help leaders all over the world elevate their authenticity and their humanity, and this program has been on our hearts for years. This program is for any leader in any role in any industry, and we are so excited to launch this in a way that feels natural and right. To learn more and reserve your ticket, check it out here!
Funny thing is, as we gave ourselves permission to follow our inspiration and focus on this program, we had an epiphany: Everything that we are teaching in this program is exactly what we will be teaching students in Student Made. So, as we created the Human Leadership Program, it only made sense to create a student version of the curriculum that we will launch when the time is right. (Notice I said when the time is right and not soon? Growth.)
It should feel natural.
It should feel calm.
It should feel like you.
Simple as that.
Hugs through the screen,
Kristen
PS: Join us for our LIVE show this Wednesday (and every Wednesday!) at 11 a.m. ET, where our leadership team and I get REAL. We share everything from news and stories from behind-the-scenes of our pivot to what we’re learning, what we’re struggling with as leaders, and how we’re meeting this unprecedented moment in our history as a company. You can register here: https://bit.ly/3kWe2kT. It’s the same link each week. Hope to see you there!
