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FROM MARK
As we close out Q1 and look ahead to the rest of the year, I’ve been thinking a lot about a simple but powerful four-letter word: STOP.
In our always-on, hyper-productive work culture, we’re conditioned to view stopping as failure. We celebrate the starters, the doers, the multitaskers who juggle seventeen priorities while somehow finding time to respond to Teams messages within 30 seconds. But here’s what I’ve learned after decades in this business: the most effective leaders aren’t necessarily those who do the most. They’re the ones who know what to stop doing.
Think about it. Your team is likely facing capacity challenges right now (who isn’t?). Your strategic priorities for the year probably haven’t gotten any smaller since January – in fact, they’ve likely grown. And yet, time remains stubbornly finite. Something’s gotta give.
Maybe it’s time we start applying Marie Kondo’s approach to decluttering to our work. While she’s famous for asking “Does this spark joy?” when deciding what to keep, her method is actually more about what you choose to discard. The magic happens not in what you add to your life, but in what you deliberately remove.
The same principle applies to leadership. The most important decision you can make right now isn’t what new initiative to launch—it’s which existing activities to STOP:
First, take a clear-eyed look at everything on your plate. Which projects align with your core strategic objectives? Which ones are merely “nice to have” or, worse, legacy commitments that no longer serve your goals? Prioritization is the key.
Second, be brutally honest about capacity. Your team members aren’t superheroes (even though they sometimes act like it). Continued overload leads to burnout, mistakes, and eventually, exodus.
Finally – and this is the hard part – make the call. STOP the work that doesn’t drive meaningful outcomes. Yes, this means disappointing someone. Yes, it means walking away from sunk costs. And yes, it can feel like failure.
To make this work, you truly have to believe that stopping deprioritized work isn’t failure, it’s leadership. It’s creating the space your team needs to excel at what truly matters. It’s modeling the courage to say “not now” or even “not ever” to good ideas that simply don’t deserve a place at the top of the list.
As we head into Q2, I challenge you to identify at least one significant activity you can STOP. Have the difficult conversation. Free up the resources. Then watch what happens when your team can fully focus on their highest-value work.
Remember, in a world of infinite possibilities but finite capacity, the ability to STOP might just be your most valuable skill.
Founder/Managing Principal/Stop Sign Proponent, IA
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