Do you find yourself with no time to think? Running at an unsustainable pace? Need a retreat? You’re not alone!
General Oliver P. Smith was a highly decorated combat veteran and Commander of the 1st Marine Division in the Korean War. In November of 1950, he was given orders to go as fast as he could north to the Yalu River, the border of China and North Korea. Rather than move at the pace commanded, he continuously slowed his division’s march to the point of near insubordination.
But he didn’t just drag his feet. All along the way he established supply points and even an airfield. His concern during this sub-zero winter drive was that he was sure that large numbers of Chinese forces awaited his troops. When his hunch was proven right, surrounded by Chinese troops at Chosin Reservoir, he commanded a withdrawal of his men in a seventy-mile march to the seaport of Hungram.
History records that his careful march north and Smith’s ability to keep the division together saved it from total destruction. During the battle of Chosin Reservoir he said, “Retreat? We’re not retreating, we’re just advancing in a different direction.”
Richard Jolly, a London Business School professor and executive coach, says that retreating is a good thing – especially retreating to think. He states, “about 95% of the managers he has studied over the past 10 years, both in his MBA classes and his coaching practice, suffer from the ailment, defined as the constant need to do more, faster, even when there’s no objective reason to be in such a rush. Eventually, hurry sickness really can make you sick, since it increases the body’s output of the stress hormone cortisol, which suppresses the immune system and has been linked with heart disease ( Too Busy to Think – Fortune 2/9/15).”
I’m reminded that when Bill Gates was running Microsoft he took 14 days off per year (1 week, twice per year) to go to a secret waterfront cottage, just to think and reflect deeply about Microsoft and its future without any interruption. Warren Buffett says, “I insist on a lot of time being spent, almost every day, to just sit and think.” If Gates and Buffett carve out time from their busy schedules to retreat, shouldn’t we?
Sometimes we just need to do what General Smith did; just slow down and take the risk of being insubordinate to those who would have us be casualties of hurry sickness. Keep in mind, you’re not retreating from your mission, you’re just advancing in another direction!
Bill Edmonds is an “Outside-Insider” (an Executive Coach and Consultant), who works with Financial Advisors to help them reach their full potential in the areas of organizational and personal development. A former Financial Advisor himself, Bill spent 24 years with Merrill Lynch until his retirement in 2014, where he led a $100+ million per year revenue wealth management business unit as a Director with the firm.
Have a comment? Share your thoughts about this post here or on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn
(click a social media share button below to share you comments)
