One Reaction. Weeks of Ripple Effects

The hardest leadership lesson that I ever learned, and I wish I'd actually learned it so that I didn't cause some of the mistakes, was to pause and think and maybe take a little bit of a breath before I react instead of responding to situations. My reaction to things caused huge ripple effects throughout the organization. It sent these negative shockwaves throughout the organization that often lasted 2 or 3 weeks. Had I actually learned to respond to pause, maybe to consider the entire situation and to remember that none of this stuff actually matters. We're just walking each other home. I would have been able to approach the serious conditions without that serious, stressful nature. So I wish I was able to respond versus react as a business leader.