There is no right pace. A lesson I’ve learned for myself and the leaders and teams with whom I constantly work. The pace and tempo of leadership have everything to do with context—the type of business, the strategy and culture of the organization, and the personal style of leaders.

Looking inside ourselves is the best first. We can look at our thinking process and decision-making. Our minds have the ability to speed up and slow down as psychologist and researcher, Daniel Kahneman, points out in his important book, “Thinking Fast and Slow.” In short, the way we see the world and react to it with decisions depends on the integration of two systems, one that is fast and guided by first impressions, intuitions, and quick associations (System 1), and the other, which operates at a more deliberate pace, guided by reflection and intentional attention (System 2). Otherwise, we can find ourselves creating a false sense of urgency that can cause confusion and negatively impact well-being.

We see this lack of integrative thinking play out in organizations, where both quick decisions and slow decisions can wreak havoc. Hiring and firing are good examples. How many of us have either witnessed or been a part of a staffing decision that was too quick, where, say, an internal candidate was pushed for a position by a powerful leader without too much question, or a firing process, which was slowed down to give the employee yet another chance to perform at expected levels.

Pace is also influenced by our emotions and our energy. Neuroscience has revealed in tandem with psychology that our brains are organized in integrative systems, with feedback loops within our own brains and also between ourselves and others. The work of neuroscientists, like Lisa Feldman Barrett, has shown that emotions are more a ‘We’ experience than an ‘I’, ‘me’, ‘mine’ experience. Mood is contagious. In short, if a leader is revved up and literally speed walking between offices, like one of my clients, the entire team will feel the tension and pressure. The same holds true for procrastination. Either way, by going too fast or too slow, a leader loses credibility and unwittingly spreads tension to those on their teams and into the organization.

Going fast to keep pace with business needs is important in a constantly changing market environment. However, the faster a leader moves, the more their interactions with others tend to be transactional. To counter this derailing tendency that can put quickness and efficiency at odds with relationship building, we can practice mindful reflection, or mindfulness. In this way, no matter how fast we go, we stay present with the experience of each moment and with the people around us. It’s this present attention we give to others in our daily interactions that paves the way for both goodwill and high performance.

A specific example of how pace can impact our relationships is when we become more aware of the quality of our listening. I once asked an executive who had received feedback about their deficient listening skills – “What would change if you slowed a bit and listened more?” The response – “Probably everything.” And, indeed, the executive predicted her own future, because after slowing her pace a bit and practicing listening with attention each day for 6 months, a new round of feedback showed how much she had changed. As one 360-rater described, “She’s fully with me and listening intently for our entire meeting now. I don’t have to repeat myself or waste my time following up because she didn’t hear me. Our meetings are shorter, and we get more done. Before, she’d try to pay attention to me while multitasking and at the same time give me a rapid-fire list of things to think about or do. Her better listening has changed everything.”

When it comes to the pace of leadership, whether we are in high or low gear, or simply idling, the key practice is being present and attuned to our own pace as well as the pace of our interactions, and within a system.