Presence at the Red Light — and the Boardroom
This morning, I hit every single red light on my way to work. You know the kind of drive — when you’re already running behind, and the universe seems to say, “Not so fast.”
I caught myself drumming the steering wheel, muttering under my breath, and feeling the tension rise in my shoulders. Then I remembered: this is a compass moment.
Presence isn’t just for retreats or meditation cushions. Presence is for stoplights, inboxes, and boardrooms. Presence is for the small, ordinary pauses that shape how we show up in leadership.
Why Presence Matters
Presence is the first quadrant of the Integration Compass. On the surface, it may sound like mindfulness — a way to ground yourself in the moment. But in practice, it’s something more disruptive: it’s about dismantling the reflex to perform.
When we aren’t present, we perform. We rehearse instead of listening. We brace for how others will react instead of inhabiting what we believe. We jump to urgency instead of asking if the moment requires it.
And here’s the cost: performance erodes authenticity. It silences instincts. It pushes us away from ourselves. Presence brings us back.
Presence Beyond the Individual
It’s easy to think of presence as personal — something that helps me breathe, calm down, and focus. And it does. But presence also changes the culture around us.
A leader who takes one breath before answering a tough question shifts the energy of the whole room.
A manager who schedules intentional pauses in meetings makes space for quieter voices to speak up — especially those who have been talked over too many times.
A team that practices presence disrupts urgency culture, which often rewards the loudest or fastest voice in the room, not the most thoughtful.
Presence isn’t just self-care. It’s equity in action. It slows things down enough that everyone can contribute, not just those who have been conditioned to dominate.
A Story of Presence
I once coached a woman in her first leadership role who confessed, “I feel like I have two jobs: leading my team and proving I deserve to lead my team.”
In meetings, she rushed through her points, afraid of being cut off. She carried her laptop everywhere, terrified of being seen as unprepared. Her feedback was glowing — “organized, competent, professional” — but she was exhausted.
When we worked on presence, everything shifted. She learned to take one pause before speaking. To let silence hang for a breath. To notice when she was bracing instead of simply being.
The result? People leaned in more when she spoke. Her team started modeling the same behavior. Meetings became less about speed and more about substance. What looked like a personal shift was actually a cultural redesign.
Practical Practices for Presence
If you want to experiment with presence this week, here are three micro-practices:
Pause Before Performing Before responding in a meeting, take one breath. Ask yourself: Am I speaking from clarity, or fear of being misperceived?
Protect White Space Block two short pauses on your calendar this week. Even five minutes between back-to-back meetings gives your nervous system space to reset.
Invite Missing Voices End one meeting by asking, “Who haven’t we heard from yet?” That single question can change the culture of belonging in your workplace.
Reflection Question for You
Where does urgency culture show up most in your leadership right now — meetings, emails, deadlines, or decision-making?
(Poll option if you’d like to add it on LinkedIn: Meetings, Emails, Deadlines, Decision-Making.)
Journaling Prompt
Where in your day do you rush past yourself without noticing? What would it look like to pause, even briefly, and allow presence back in?
Integration Mantra of the Day
“I don’t need more time to find presence — I need more presence in the time I already have.”
This is the invitation: presence isn’t a luxury, it’s a practice. And when we practice it consistently, it liberates us personally and redesigns our cultures to be more humane, inclusive, and whole.