The People, Process, & Progress Podcast - The Power of One Pause

Episode Date: December 5, 2025

In a world accelerated by AI, leadership still comes down to human judgment. Today’s episode looks at how President Kennedy used quiet moments during the Cuban Missile Crisis to think clearly and choose restraint, and how we can do the same.This week’s tool from The Stability Equation is The Mental Stop Sign a simple way to slow down, breathe, and make decisions from calm rather than pressure.Takeaways • A pause can shift an entire day • The Mental Stop Sign settles your mind fast • Prayer and mindfulness strengthen leadership • AI can inform us, but wisdom guides usOne pause, one breath, one clear decision.

Welcome to the People Process Progress Podcast, where we talk about how to bring people together, align process, and build progress together. I'm your host, Kevin Pannell, author of The Stability Equation, and The People Process and Progress of Project Management. To connect with me and learn more, visit Peopleprocessprogress.com. If you find this episode helpful, subscribe, leave a review, and share it with others. Now let's get started. Hey, everybody. Welcome back to Faith in Action Friday. Earlier this week, I talked about AI or artificial intelligence and how information in healthcare and leadership moves faster than ever.

So today I want to talk about one tool that helps you slow down, enough to think clearly, stay present, and lead well. During the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F. Kennedy was surrounded by non-stop pressure, right? Intelligence updates, recommendations, projections, fear, everybody wanted quick action, and honestly, the world kind of needed it. But what helped him most was actually simple. He paused. He stepped out of the room, found a quiet moment, and then he let his thinking catch up. And that pause helped him choose a restrained path instead of a rushed one.

Not because he had better data, but because he made space for judgment. This is exactly where one of the tools from the stability equation book comes in. Let's call it the mental stop sign, right? It's a quick mental interruption that tells your brain, slow down, pay attention, respond with purpose. Now, we're not all going to be perfect to this, but let's give it a try. Let's talk through this. So here's your assignment. Use the mental stop sign once today before you make a decision.

Here's how it works. Step one, when you feel rushed, pressured or pulled, picture a bright red stop sign in your mind. That alone can interrupt some momentum, right? Next, let's take five, slow breaths, not 10, five. Let's go in our nose, out our mouth, your heart rate drops, your thoughts settle, and your body stops trying to run the show. Third step, say a simple prayer. Give me clarity and patience right now.

step five make the decision for calm not for emergency and after that get your body moving for a few minutes right check on one person who might need support today close your night by asking did that stop sign help me lead better today mindfulness doesn't have to look like meditation or long breathing sessions sometimes it's just stopping for a second catching your breath and remembering that your judgment matters more than your speed use the mental stop sign today let it steady your mind and sharpen your leadership. I'll talk to you next time and Godspeed.