This morning I found myself watching a snail as I completed a few rounds in the park. I appreciated how it moved deliberately across the ground with a confident steadiness.

When standing still and watching, the progress can seem painfully slow. But each round I kept checking on the ground it had covered. And of course, after a few rounds, it had moved ahead to new terrain.

The snail wasn’t rushing. It wasn’t darting around, distracted or unfocused. It was just moving forward. It wasn’t exuding ‘stress’ vibes. It was present, intentional and aligned to where it was going. (At least that’s what it seemed to me).

Meanwhile, in our world of urgency, speed is often mistaken for progress.

I remember rushing a proposal to a prospective client. I’d had the initial discussion with the project sponsor and thought I’d understood the need. I responded within 24 hours, thinking this turnaround would win me points. But even as I was putting it together, in a state of mild tension, questions were popping into my head. I pushed on, though I lacked many of the answers.

My proposal was missing client context – it was more boilerplate than tailored solution. You’ve probably guessed – the client was underwhelmed. Fortunately, I came clean and admitted I needed to speak with more stakeholders to truly create a solution that would meet the real needs.

Only then, when I slowed down and invested time in understanding the client’s situation fully, was I able to quickly close the deal.

I experienced this from a different perspective a few weeks back, when a client cancelled on me at the last minute. To them, it was probably just another rescheduling in a busy day. But to me, it was a signal. They weren’t thinking strategically. They were reacting. Running around directionless in the name of importance and overload. There was lots of movement, but little true progress.

The worst part? The leader’s team emulated this behaviour.

In another case, a leader I worked with grew frustrated with how slowly her team was moving to launch a new strategy. She’d moved ahead with creating PowerPoints and had scheduled a town hall. The launch was fast, but adoption was slow and painful. She thought people were slow in keeping up. Only when she switched into reverse gear and started having conversations with key stakeholders to understand their reality was she able to get them on board.

More upfront engagement could have avoided the significant resistance she experienced – and perhaps resulted in a much faster execution.

The paradox? We’ve known for many years now that the pace of change in the world isn’t slowing down. Are the leaders who thrive those who can hold their ground like the snail? The leaders who are present and intentional.

• They align their pace with purpose.
• They engage others where they are, not where they wish they were.
• They move steadily toward the goal, rather than endlessly chasing the next urgent thing.

If you think the goal is simply to move faster, maybe think again.

Maybe it’s more about how present you remain, regardless of the pace – and how intentional you are in aligning choices to your end goal.

Be more snail.

Sometimes the fastest way forward is to go slow.