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⏸️ The Space Between Stimulus and Response
Leadership starts in the silent moment between stimulus and response, where we choose who we want to be. A reflection from Covey, Frankl and my Executive MBA.
"Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and our power to choose our response. In our choices lie our growth and our happiness."
— often attributed to Viktor Frankl
For me, this sentence was a late discovery. I have always been a direct person, sometimes short-tempered, and only with time did I understand how much that space makes the difference between reacting on impulse and choosing with awareness.
This freedom is not only about neutral or positive events. Its strength shows up most when we face emotionally negative stimuli: a stubborn, arrogant or aggressive person. That is where communication becomes hardest, and that is where the space becomes one of our greatest resources.
The reflection came to me while reading Stephen Covey's The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. I immediately connected it to the Leadership module of my Executive MBA, where I saw how much this awareness is the foundation of personal leadership.
- In that space there is the possibility of not being a slave to our emotions.
- In that space there is the strength to lead yourself before leading others.
- In that space we cultivate autonomy, trust, influence and authentic leadership.
Leadership does not begin with grand visions or strategies. It begins in that silent moment between stimulus and response, where we choose who we want to be.