One key insight that has consistently emerged in our Coaching Conversations with CEOs over the last few months is their frustration with getting executive leaders to Be Thoughtful. We are not talking about “Thanks for remembering my birthday”; we mean scheduling time to tune into the process of Being Thoughtful. Being Thoughtful requires accessing your Critical, Strategic, Innovative, & Reflective Thinking to access new insights. These insights can help you create new value to address an issue or opportunity that will impact the future of your organization.

The Process of Being Thoughtful

1. I will schedule time in my calendar every week for Quality Thinking – I will leverage my Critical, Strategic, & Innovative Thinking skills to address an issue or opportunity.
2. I will complement my Quality Thinking time with time for Reflective Thinking, giving myself space and time to connect the dots – I will discover new value, resolve an issue, or move an opportunity forward by asking myself, “What is emerging in my space that supports my future and the organization’s future as it relates to the issue or opportunity I am working on?”
3. The final step is to formulate a credible opinion or perspective on the topic, issue, or opportunity – I now have evidence to back up my opinion because I slowed down enough to think about what I am presenting to others.

Example

We have a client who dedicates time every Friday afternoon to Being Thoughtful, addressing a specific issue or opportunity that will impact the future of his organization. In November, he spent time leveraging data on where their expertise was having success with clients across North America. After some reflection, he asked himself, Why was one of the company’s key clients not leveraging this expertise?

To answer this question, the client spent time collaborating with his VP of Sales. They designed a conversation that allowed them to meet with the EVP and explore new possibilities for the organization to leverage their expertise. Due to this well-designed conversation, the EVP was fully engaged and accountable for the possible results. Based on this meeting, the EVP made a request to two of his VPs of Operations to explore new opportunities with the company—opportunities that could have a significant impact on their operations, saving the client millions of dollars. In return, new revenue has been generated for our client’s organization.  

Question

What issue or opportunity is calling you to schedule a 90-minute block of time to be thoughtful about it?

Being Thoughtful contributes to a growth rather than fixed mindset. Learn more about what that looks like in the HBR article “Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset – What’s the Difference?”

https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/growth-mindset-vs-fixed-mindset

If you would like to learn more about Awesome Journey’s Executive Leadership Coaching Expertise to help you and your team be successful in 2025, check out our website at www.awesomejourney.ca.