By Mino Vlachos
Most senior leaders who fail don’t fall short because they lack intelligence, work ethic, or ambition. They fail for a much simpler reason: they spend too much time doing the wrong work. They take on tasks that don’t belong to them. They stay busy, but in all the wrong ways.
As leaders ascend the organizational ladder, the nature of their responsibilities changes dramatically. Yet, many don’t adapt. By the time one becomes a CEO, the job isn’t about constant activity — it’s about clarity, vision, and strategic alignment. A CEO is expected to anticipate the future, craft an inspiring vision, tell a compelling story, and lead others to act. They must distill that vision into clear strategic priorities and ensure the entire organization moves in harmony toward them.
But far too often, leaders are conditioned into a habit of doing. Activity becomes a badge of honor. They equate busy-ness with progress. A strategy of endless motion.
I got a taste for these different strategies during my summers in Greece. For any child in Greece, the most dreaded part of the day is the afternoon siesta. Grandparents nap, and children are expected to stay quiet… for hours. For a child full of energy, this is pure torture.
That boredom often led me straight into stupidity. One memory stands out: outside my grandmother’s house on the island of Kefalonia, there was a bush with a yellow jacket wasp nest. Out of sheer boredom, I would go out with a fly swatter, shake the bush, and provoke the wasps into a frenzy. Then I’d flail around, swatting wildly like I was in a Star Wars battle, until I was exhausted or forced to run.
It was chaotic, aimless, and entirely reactive. My “strategy” was pure action: hit fast without thinking.
By contrast, my father has a talent for killing flies with his bare hands. I would watch him, completely fascinated by his technique. He remains absolutely still, moves slowly, approaches from behind and waits. He waits and waits, then strikes in a single, fast, precise motion. He even aims slightly above the fly, anticipating its upward escape. It is calm, calculated, and effective.
That’s the difference between activity and action.
Activity is noisy, frantic, and unthinking. It exhausts energy without clear direction. Action is focused. It’s about choosing the right moment, preparing, and moving with power and purpose when the time comes.
Many leaders are stuck in a loop of doing — more meetings, more tasks, more doing. They operate under the illusion that motion equals impact. But truly effective leaders often appear calm. They watch. They reflect. They wait for the right moment to move — and when they do, it’s like they take a quantum leap.
There’s a Greek saying: “Those with no brain have two legs.” Those who don’t think must rely on brute effort, often doing more work with less impact.
As leaders rise in seniority, they must learn to sit back in their seat (literally and metaphorically). They must learn to observe, to reflect, to think deeply.
Some of our richest cultural traditions reinforce this: walking slowly in the morning, sipping a coffee, chatting with a friend, sitting in the town square and watching the world go by. Maybe that afternoon nap was important after all!
These moments of stillness often lead to our greatest insights. Both visionaries and geniuses reflect.
When senior leaders get trapped in constant doing, it’s often because they’re doing the work of others, or they’ve developed habits that block deep thinking and sound decision-making. Leadership isn’t about being the hardest worker; it’s about making the best decisions. It’s about creating a better life, not just a busier one.
As my childhood saxophone teacher used to say, “Practice does not make perfect. Perfect practice makes perfect.” Practicing the wrong habits just ingrains dysfunction. We must be sure we’re doing the right things at the right time, not just doing more.
Ironically, slowing down might just be the fastest way forward.
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Mino Vlachos is a CEO Coach and the Founder of 3Peak Coaching & Solutions, a leadership consultancy dedicated to elevating executive mastery. 3Peak specializes in transforming businesses through leadership and team development during transitions and times of crisis. Mino is also the host of the 3Peak Master Leadership Experience podcast and the author of the book “Crisis & Leadership”.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/minovlachos/
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