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Most leaders don’t struggle with doing.
They struggle with stopping on purpose.
December amplifies this.
The story goes:
“I’ll think about my next chapter once things calm down.”
“I’ll reset properly in January.”
“I just have to get through the next three weeks.”
But I’ve coached enough senior leaders to know:
There is always a reason now isn’t a good time to pause.
So instead of waiting for a perfect window, I want to offer you something more realistic:
The Micro Strategic Pause
A Micro Strategic Pause is:
Short: 1–3 hours.
Intentional: not squeezed into the margins between emails.
Structured: you’re not just “thinking about stuff”; you’re asking specific questions.
It’s not about solving your whole life in an afternoon.
It’s about interrupting autopilot long enough to choose how you enter the next season.
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Step 1: Make space - deliberately
Pick a time within the next 10 days:
90 minutes minimum
Outside your usual workspace if possible (café, library, or even a different room)
Block it in your calendar with a serious label, like:
“Board Meeting: My Next Chapter”
This is not indulgent.
This is the work of leadership — starting with leading yourself.
Bring:
A notebook and pen
Your calendar for the past year
Optional: performance reviews / feedback notes
Step 2: Three questions for honest reflection
Divide your page into three sections and write on each:
What worked this year?
Where did I feel in my zone of strength?
What environments/people brought out my best?
What experiments (even small ones) gave me energy?
What did success cost me?
Health, sleep, relationships, creativity, sense of self?
Where did I override my own signals?
What am I quietly resentful about?
What do I want the next 12–18 months to feel like?
Notice: I didn’t say “look like.”
Feel like.
Words like: grounded, challenged, spacious, focused, connected, creative, visible. Use your own.
Don’t censor yourself. This is not a performance review. This is data.
Step 3: Design one strategic shift
Now ask:
“If I honoured what I just wrote, what is one shift I’m ready to make?”
Keep it small and concrete. For example:
“No more 7:30 a.m. recurring meetings.”
“One thinking block a week that isn’t allowed to be booked over.”
“No major career decisions until I’ve done three clarity conversations in January.”
“Say no to one ‘nice but not aligned’ project this month.”
Make it:
Visible (in your calendar / notes)
Specific (you’ll know if you did it or not)
Time-bound (test it for 2–4 weeks)
Tell someone you trust:
“I’m experimenting with a small strategic pause.”
“Here’s one shift I’m making and why.”
It could be:
A mentor
A peer
A coach
A partner or friend
You’re not asking for permission.
You’re creating relational accountability.
If this brought some things up for you
You might be realising any of these:
You’ve outgrown parts of your current role.
Your calendar no longer reflects your real priorities.
You want your next season to feel different — but you’re not yet sure how.
These are not problems to hide.
They are signals that you’re ready for more deliberate design.
This Micro Strategic Pause is a distilled version of the work I do in The Bold Shift™ — in 1:1 Sprints, small groups of 3 and in self-guided tools — helping leaders interrupt autopilot and design their next chapter deliberately.If you’d like to explore whether a Sprint, group coaching or self-guided tools would support you, reply to this email and I’ll share the details.
You don’t have to wait for January 1 to start leading yourself differently.
— Melissa