The cost of noise

“There is nothing so useless as doing efficiently that which should not be done at all.”
– Peter Drucker

Leaders can either fuel distraction or create space for better work.

Think about what a typical day feels like for someone on your team.

Their calendar is packed. Messages keep coming. Priorities shift before they finish the last thing. They move from meeting to meeting, check email in between, glance at Slack or Teams, and try to keep up with a growing stream of AI-generated output.

By the end of the day, they’ve been busy every minute and still may not have gotten to the work that mattered most.

That’s not just a time problem. It’s an attention problem. And leaders have a big influence on whether that problem gets better or worse.

This is exactly the problem Shawn Vanderhoven, partner at The Wiseman Group, set out to solve in his new book, Pause: How to Lead Brilliant Work in a Busy World.

Join our conversation on September 10, when Shawn will sit down with Advantage President & CEO Jonathan Hodge to unpack what he learned from leaders at 150 top companies—and share his practical framework for helping teams regain focus, reduce the noise, and spend more time on the work that matters most.

Leaders who master the pause, he says, can help their teams spend 3X more time on priority work.

One question for the week: What deserves more of your team’s attention this week—and what deserves less?

One great thing for 09.01.26 – PAUSE: Thursday, September 10 at Noon Eastern – Help your leaders learn how to create clarity, protect focus, and move faster by knowing when to slow down. Make room for brilliant work. Reserve your spot!