Deceleration

Hi Reader

It hit me yesterday at about 3.30pm.

I’d spent the better part of an hour and a half listening back to a recent coaching call with a guy from a successful professional practice who also doubles up as a volunteer leader for his professional association. As well as the listen-back I made notes for 30 minutes and then immersed myself for 90 minutes into crafting a diagnostic document to point him towards the insights that revealed the root of his present challenge and also suggestions as to how he might navigate his way through.

And then 2.5 hours in, pretty spent to be honest as that type of immersion is draining, I started out crafting this edition of Fine Lines.

And ten minutes in and realising my work was, at best, mediocre, I was hit with a blast from the past. Something I learned years ago in my S&C career and that I filed away as being common knowledge.

Deceleration.

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You know when you watch most field sports on TV and they bring up key stats etc on each player? Well one of those that causes conversation is a player's ‘top speed’. I get it; it’s a seductive metric and one which highlights the speed these guys play at.

But what’s hidden from the viewers is that field sport is not really about straight line speed. Yes, acceleration off the mark is very important. But in field sports there is also a requirement for quality in your quantity, so to speak i.e. the ability for agility and prowess in changing direction is of the essence. To put it simply, the guys at the top learn how to slow down so they can go faster.

Slowing down is a skill. A learnable skill.

And, as I said, it hit me yesterday at 3.30pm. I had reached top speed, so to speak, today and before I changed direction into writing Fine Lines I needed to slow down to get a good result. But instead I was trying to pivot while running flat out - a dangerous maneuver and often how injuries can happen on the field.

And so I argued with myself a little and then decided it was siesta time.

What’s the point in living in a sunny country if I don’t enjoy it regularly, right?

Every week I work with high achievers….professional folks who keep the foot to the floor and forget the brake. They do it because it’s the default mode, because they can and because nobody ever coached them in slowing down to go faster.

I get it. The footballers I worked with on this skill initially looked at me like I'd lost the plot. Working on going slower felt like giving up ground.

But then we’d look at some video footage of agile players from different sports; Messi, Iniesta & Ronaldinho in football, Nadal in tennis, Deion Sanders & LeSean McCoy in NFL and others across a long list. And then the penny would drop - they’d see that a vital parallel skill to develop alongside speed and quickness was the ability to slow down so they could leave opponents floundering.

It’s the same in professional life.

When everyone else is running flat out that might not be obvious. And it’s not easy when you’re trying to “prove” yourself or “win every day”. But it’s a piece of inverse logic that will drive improvement in your competence because you’ll begin to understand what ’state’ you need to be in to draw consistently better performance from yourself. And just as the movement of those athletes was part of their skillset that made them look a class apart, so too is your ability to drop a gear when your body tells you will set you apart amongst your peers.

It’s not all that obvious unless you look for it. But I see it every week - the professionals who cannot decelerate are the ones I watch running fast in the wrong direction, and they don’t know it.

I've worked at the intersection of organisational prosperity and human performance for many years. The truth is that most organisations are achieving about 50%-55% from their people - and yes, I know, you do plenty of 'in the job' training & coaching. That's not the issue...the issue is not factoring in the human performance component.

If that feels interesting you'll get me at paulclarke.ie@gmail.com or paul@theleaders.coach. Let's chat.

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Retired U.S. Air Force Colonel | Leadership Speaker & Strategist | Creator of Master the Unseen™

DeDe Halfhill is a retired U.S. Air Force Colonel, keynote speaker, and leadership strategist who helps leaders Master the Unseen™—the hidden forces shaping their teams, decisions, and cultures. With 25+ years of high-stakes leadership experience, including two combat tours in Iraq and advisory roles to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force, she understands what it takes to lead when uncertainty is high, stakes are real, and trust is non-negotiable. DeDe equips leaders with the tools to recognize hidden leadership dynamics, step into hard moments, and sustain real impact. Because leadership isn’t just about strategy—it’s about recognizing what’s shaping the moment before it happens and having the courage to act on it. She has spoken to executives across industries, from Fortune 500 companies to military leaders, helping them see what others miss, lead with clarity in high-stakes moments, and build lasting leadership cultures rooted in trust and accountability. Her work challenges conventional leadership wisdom, proving that the biggest threats to success aren’t always external—they’re often the unseen undercurrents, blind spots, and emotional forces leaders fail to address. 👉 Learn more at dedehalfhill.com