What if Slowing Down is the Most Powerful Thing You Can Do Right Now?
When we are in crisis, we speed up and push harder — when slowing down and breathing will actually get us further.
We make more reactive decisions. And then we have to clean up from those reactive decisions.
This is when we most need to pause, perspective-take, and make powerful, values-aligned decisions. And while we're at it, crisis is also an opportunity to make bold moves — because we don't have the time or energy to be precious about our choices. We have to change because the environment around us is changing. We might as well leave some baggage behind in the process.
This is why I suggest doing the deep work of courage building in the midst of the chaos — not after. So we can learn to turn toward ourselves, harness our inner resources, access our intuition, and navigate the hard conversations.
Because adding avoidance and misaligned decisions to chaos only amplifies it.
If you are leading an organization through a crisis right now, here are 10 things to do to stabilize:
Let your emotions be there without judgment. This is hard, and you are likely navigating uncharted territory. Self-punishment won't make it easier — but learning to slow down and practice self-compassion will actually change the weight of the moment.
Get granular about naming what you are experiencing. Most people can only name a handful of emotions, but emotional granularity — naming your emotions with precision — actually helps you process them. And know that seemingly conflicting emotions can exist at the exact same time.
Create space for your team to name what they are experiencing, too. Let it be okay to name an emotion without trying to fix it. A simple practice: a two-word check-in at the start of meetings — two words to describe how you are feeling right now. If someone shares something heavy, honor it. You don't have to tiptoe around it or change your forward motion because of it.
Get clear on the values you want to honor in this moment. What are the central guiding values of your organization, and are you honoring them in your crisis decisions? This isn't about being clean and tidy — crisis is messy. It's about choosing the harder, values-aligned path even when no one would blame you for choosing easy.
Release what isn't mission-critical. Whether you're navigating rapid growth or unexpected funding shortfalls, you have to be able to zoom out and honestly assess what is draining energy. It might be a program, a process, or a way of doing things that no longer aligns with your mission. (And before you tell me EVERYTHING is mission-critical — let me remind you that the leader going down in a ball of flame is going to more negatively impact your program than whatever it is you choose to pause, rethink, or release right now.)
Lean hard on your boundaries as a leader. You are not only protecting your organization's greatest asset — your own decision-making capacity — you are modeling what healthy boundaries look like for your team. If you are doing someone else's job while leading through a crisis, you are not protecting your mission. You are abandoning it.
Practice reality-checking the stories your brain makes up. When we feel uncertain, our brains love to manufacture stories to satisfy the need for certainty. These stories are often fear-driven and deeply flawed. Counter this by leaning into curiosity with yourself and others. What do we know is true?
Normalize truth-telling. In the words of Brené Brown, "Clear is kind." Start small. When you feel the urge to gloss over a problem or soften the impact of a difficult decision, resist it. Clarity, even when it's uncomfortable, is an act of leadership.
When you catch yourself racing through decisions out of fear or urgency — slow down. It takes far longer to clean up after a reactive decision than it does to step back, breathe, and reset.
Deepen your regulation practice. The greatest asset of a leader in crisis is their decision-making ability — your capacity to navigate uncertainty and choose wisely in the moment. Protect it like the resource it is.
Here’s what this looks like in real life.
A leader I work with had been carrying a responsibility that, on paper, made sense. It was part of her role, she had invested time in it, and people were counting on her. But in session after session, a pattern emerged: the work was draining her without delivering a meaningful return. Role ambiguity had created a ripple effect — unclear expectations for her team, wasted hours in redundant conversations, and a slow erosion of her capacity to do the work she was actually best at and most energized by.
She showed up to our call stuck. She described the endless loops of communication and the heavy cost of the uncertainty, saying at one point, "I just feel like I'm taking up space." She was trying to map out every possible org-chart scenario to make this work, but underneath it all, she was just exhausted.
The breakthrough came when we named it plainly: this responsibility was diluting her impact.
Her instinct — like so many leaders — was to hold on. Not because the work was going well, but because letting go felt like failure. She said it herself: "I feel like the right decision is that we need to do something else, but I don't want to let my boss down." She had started something, and walking away from it felt irresponsible.
But when we reality-checked those stories, something important surfaced. She named it herself: "Well-being is my top value, and my well-being is not being met right now." Holding this responsibility wasn't serving anyone.
Once she could see that clearly, she made a plan to release it. Not abandon it chaotically, which is what many of us do when we go down with the sinking burnout ship, but transition it thoughtfully. She got incredibly clear about what she could and couldn’t carry, identifying exactly who on her team was ready to step up and lead the pieces being left behind, and refocusing her own energy where she could make the greatest impact for her organization.
And in the final minutes of our conversation, something shifted. Her speech pattern changed. She went from circling and hedging to crystal clear. In a single breath, she named with complete certainty the three things that needed to happen next. Once the decision was made, she was free to leverage her greatest resource — her aptitude for strategy — to move forward.
That's what releasing the right thing does. It frees us up to be the best version of ourselves for our organization and our mission.
About the Author
Julie Boll is a nonprofit strategist and leadership coach with over 20 years of experience in the nonprofit sector. She specializes in helping mission-driven leaders navigate complex challenges, build high-trust teams, and step into courageous leadership with clarity and confidence.
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