Time To Press Pause – Real-Life Stories from the C-Suite
Time To Press Pause - Real-Life Stories from the C-Suite
Podcast Description
The only constant is change.To successfully navigate through the change, leaders need the time and space to focus.It’s time to press pause.Ellen Williams, CEO of The Salient Strategist, is the host of these raw, intimate C-Suite "press pause" stories. Listen to the why, when, and how they knew it was time to press pause and their outcomes. Pausing to focus is crucial, whether it is minutes, days, weeks, or longer because some decisions can be made quickly, but many can’t and shouldn’t.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
This podcast centers around themes such as leadership development, personal growth, and resilience in the face of change. Topics discussed include recognizing burnout, the importance of taking strategic pauses, and the realignment of professional goals with personal values, evidenced by episodes featuring guests like Ruchi Pinniger discussing mentorship and financial guidance and Urs Koenig exploring self-assessment in leadership.
The only constant is change.
To successfully navigate through the change, leaders need the time and space to focus.
It’s time to press pause.
Ellen Williams, CEO of The Salient Strategist, is the host of these raw, intimate C-Suite “press pause” stories. Listen to the why, when, and how they knew it was time to press pause and their outcomes.
Pausing to focus is crucial, whether it is minutes, days, weeks, or longer because some decisions can be made quickly, but many can’t and shouldn’t.
In this episode of Time to Press Pause, Ellen Williams sits down with Sophie Devonshire, CEO of The Marketing Society and bestselling author of Superfast: Lead at Speed, to talk about why strategic pauses are the fastest way to better decisions, clearer direction, and more sustainable momentum.
Sophie shares her “squiggly career” from P&G and Coca-Cola to founding and selling an e-commerce company, moving overseas, and writing Superfast.
You’ll hear how she builds micro-pauses into projects (pre-mortem, midpoint check, fast feedback), uses the “soak period” when navigating a transition, and why community and coffee chats are non-negotiable when you land somewhere new.
You’ll learn:
- How to slow down to speed up (and avoid headless-chicken mode)
- A simple cadence for year / mid-year / monthly reflection that actually sticks
- The “100 coffees” playbook to build a real network (friends, not just contacts)
- How to frame a break as a “strategic pause” so ambitious teams buy in
Disclaimer
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