(I030) The Leadership Discipline of the Ebb: What One Quiet Week Revealed About Strategy, Stillness, and Self-Awareness

Last week, I hit the ebb. The wave I’d been riding—the ideas, the energy, the progress—started to fade. I felt stuck. Not broken, but heavy. Like I was paddling hard with no momentum behind me.

Instead of forcing my way forward, I did something I rarely used to: I paused. I listened. I looked at the data, my rhythms, and what nature always teaches—after the swell comes stillness.

In Japanese philosophy, there’s a word: 間 (Ma). It’s the space between things—not empty, but full of possibility. The kanji shows a gate, with sunlight shining through. It’s the pause that lets the light back in.

This week, I remembered: you don’t lose progress in the pause. You find your power there. Read More…