Leadership isn't always a firm voice or a well-considered decision. Sometimes it's a long silence before speaking. A deep breath before responding to a message that could set everything ablaze. An awkward pause in a meeting where everyone is waiting for a solution you don't (yet) have.
There are days when holding the center is the most strategic act you can take.
And paradoxically, the one that is most underestimated.
When everything seems out of control—a project falling behind schedule, a client pressuring you, a supplier failing to deliver, a team waiting for direction—the natural instinct is to rush, react, and project control. But experience has taught me that poorly managed haste is the enemy of leadership . And that remaining calm is not a weakness.
It's the invisible muscle that prevents costly mistakes, unnecessary conflicts, and reactive decisions that ultimately cost more than the original crisis.
Where do you train for that? Not on the construction site. Not in the office. You train for it long beforehand.
You train yourself when you decide not to start your day on your phone. When you make space—even if it's just 10 minutes—to be with yourself before engaging with the world. When you develop a ritual that depends not on motivation, but on awareness: being present so you can think. Breathing so you can choose. Emptying yourself of noise so you can support others.
In my case, that ritual changes depending on the season. Sometimes it's meditation with my eyes closed. Other times it's silence with instrumental music, while I review the three key decisions of the day. There are days when it's exercise at dawn to get my body moving before the system drags me down. The important thing isn't the method. It's the intention: not to let the day catch me unprepared.
Forbes speaks of "executive presence in uncertainty," and while the phrase sounds elegant, what lies behind it is profoundly human. Maintaining composure involves containing your emotions without becoming numb. It means accepting that not everything can be controlled, but almost everything can be managed better with perspective. And understanding that calm isn't communicated by saying "calm down"... It's communicated through your demeanor. Through the way you walk down the hall. Through your expression as you listen. Through your pause before speaking.
The team feels it. The client perceives it. The project benefits from it. It's not always noticeable in the moment. But maintaining a central position changes the course of things. Not because you control everything, but because you don't let chaos decide for you.
