Leading in Constant Motion: Why Effort Direction — Not More Speed — Is the Future of Leadership

When speed isn’t the work solution

What CEOs are revealing about slow decision-making, misallocated effort, and the rising cost of outdated work styles.

Leadership has entered a new era — one defined not by periodic transformation but by constant motion. That’s the premise of a recent Forbes article, which highlights research showing just how quickly leaders must adapt to remain viable. It’s a message leaders feel every day: the pace is relentless, expectations are rising, and the old tools of productivity haven’t kept up.

But beneath the noise of AI, shifting markets, and economic pressure lies a more fundamental issue:
We’re still managing time when the real problem is how we’re directing effort.

And leaders are feeling the consequences.

What CEOs Are Saying — and What It Really Means

➤ 42% of CEOs believe their company won’t be viable in 10 years without reinvention.
➤ 57% say they’ve missed opportunities because decision-making is too slow.
➤ 41% of employee time is spent on work that doesn’t contribute value.
➤ 56% of CEOs have seen efficiency gains from AI — but only a third see it reflected in profits.
These aren’t small indicators. They reveal a deeper pattern:

Organizations are working harder, not smarter — and it’s costing them.

Leaders aren’t lacking capability.
Teams aren’t lacking talent.
AI isn’t lacking potential.

What’s lacking is a redesigned approach to effort — the economy inside how work gets done.

That’s where your work becomes essential.

The Real Threat Isn’t Change — It’s Misallocated Effort

The Forbes piece makes it clear: Companies aren’t struggling because change is happening too fast. They’re struggling because they’re still using legacy effort patterns in a world that requires precision.

• Slow decision-making.

• Crowded calendars.

• Meetings that multiply instead of accelerate.

• Work that fills the day but doesn’t move the business.

These issues aren’t time problems. They’re effort allocation problems. And they show up long before strategy fails.

This is why leaders tell me weekly:

“I know we’re working hard, I just can’t see the return.”

Time Economics™: The Missing Lens for Leading in Motion

Time management helps leaders organize tasks. But Time Economics™ helps them understand the return on their effort.

It shifts the question from:
“How do I get everything done?”
to
“Where should my effort go to create the strongest return?”

This is the pivot CEOs need right now, especially when:

• 41% of employee effort isn’t creating value

• decision-making is delaying opportunities

• efficiency gains from AI aren’t translating into profit

Because effort is the real currency of modern leadership.

Leaders Don’t Need More Speed — They Need Better Direction

The Forbes article lists ten ways leaders can “lead at the speed of now,” including faster decisions, dynamic strategy, and reallocation of resources.
But here’s the deeper truth:

Speed without direction creates rework.

Direction without time creates pressure.
But direction within time creates momentum.

Leaders don’t need more hours. They need a redesigned approach to how they—and their teams—use the hours they have.

Why Teams Fall Behind Even as They Work Faster

Teams are drowning not because of volume, but because of misaligned effort:

• Decision-making requires too much information

• Urgency overshadows future-focused work

• Meetings consume capacity

• Leaders step in to handle tasks that should be delegated

• Collaboration breaks down due to unclear expectations

These aren’t capability issues — they’re architecture issues.

Core concepts — from the 60-Second Rule, to Time Economics™, encourages leaders to remodel the architecture of work so that effort produces measurable progress.

Now What?

If you're leading through constant movement, you're not alone. The leaders I work with aren’t overwhelmed by change, they’re weighed down by outdated work designs that no longer support the pace of business.

The Time Economics Workshop helps teams:

• rethink effort allocation

• speed up decisions without increasing pressure

• refocus time on work that moves the business

• redesign meetings to regain hours each week

• build a shared language that prevents misalignment

• eliminate the 41% of low-value work consuming capacity
  

Because leading at the speed of now isn’t about reacting faster, it’s about directing effort where progress actually comes from.