Quiet Speed - by Joe Murphy

Slow Down - Don't Speed Up
I have read and reread the book titled "Secrets of a CEO Coach" to gain some of the key points of someone (the author) I really respect. Debra A Benton is the author and has a lot of great ideas anyone can implement.


One is this idea of "Quiet Speed." I fall into the habit of trying to do a lot. A lot means working hard. Working hard means doing a lot more of what you normally can accomplish. You pile stuff onto to your workload until you find it almost impossible to get things done.


Work Overload - What Winds Up Happening?
Simply, you speed up, to get your pile complete. When you speed up, you get harried. You talk faster. You become impatient. You become - often - curt and perhaps rude, when you talk to those around you. These people don't know you've picked up more work that you have to get done in one day than any normal human can do.


But the feeling you have boiling inside you is - Get out of my way, I have to get my work done, and why aren't you people getting me this information I need to complete my job, and why aren't you working as hard as some of the rest of us (especially me!).


What You Look Like
By looking "hasty", by talking fast, you appear nervous. By looking nervous you are stating "I am not important and I may not belong here."


You also appear harried, out of control. And the last thing a top executive, client or internal executive, wants to do is give someone who appears out of control, something to be done that is important.


What You Should Do
You have to harness your energy. You have to consciously SLOW DOWN. You have to pace yourself. Pace means becoming more deliberate in your actions. Create a list of all the things you have to do (on paper). Then break the list into sublists for each major item on the list. Each subtask is an activity that when complete, is one step closer to getting the major item on your list complete.


Sure, we've all heard about the list thing. Sure, you have. But, do you do it? Answer is: Either "no" or not as often or as well as I should.


So you have your list. But back to Quiet Speed. You must convey a look of being relaxed. Perhaps the list making will help. The appearance will help too. Because the more harried you are, the more you begin to miss and forget things. Then you become frenetic.


Frenetic is not a good thing to be labeled as being.


You want to exude poise. You want to appear confident. You want to appear memorable.


So, slow down. Work on Quiet Speed.


Thanks - Joe Murphy