(why great leaders don’t rush the first response)
On busy farms and across fast-moving agri-businesses, tension can spike quickly—rosters, weather, milk price, breakdowns, customer delivery pressures, compliance or audit surprises, supply-chain delays, quality claims, ERP/IT outages, board/reporting deadlines, you name it. Emotional Intelligence (EQ) gives leaders a simple tool to keep conversations constructive: the pause.
When we’re triggered, the brain’s “alarm system” can hijack our thinking and push us into fight/flight—snappy emails, curt radio calls, or decisions we regret. A short pause lets the heat drop so your thinking can catch up. Instead of reacting, you choose your response.
Leaders who deliberately pause create room for curiosity: What’s really going on? What outcome do we want? What does the other person need to feel heard? That small gap between the trigger and your reply is where better decisions—and trust—are built.
Try this in your business this week
Name it (silently): “I’m triggered.”
Breathe (one slow cycle): In through the nose, out through the mouth—buy yourself ~6 seconds.
Choose a better first line:
“Talk me through what happened.”
“What would a good fix look like?”
“Let’s separate urgent vs important—what’s first?”
Close the loop: Summarise what you heard and agree next steps/time.
Why the pause works: a short gap cools the moment so you can think clearly; it also sends a powerful culture signal—teams mirror leaders, so when you model calm, others follow; and it trades speed for clarity, shifting you from proving to improving with more listening, cleaner agreements, and less rework.
Use the pause in everyday moments: in toolbox chats, ask one question before giving direction; for radio or text, acknowledge first (“Copy—on it”) and send the fuller reply once you’ve checked the facts; and after a hiccup, do a quick debrief—“What cue will we use next time to pause sooner?”
Ready to put the pause into practice?
Build it into your team with 8 Steps—our practical leadership programme that turns good intentions into everyday habits. We coach the “pause → reflect → respond” approach through real on-farm and in-business scenarios, simple scripts, and quick check-ins so the behaviour sticks and performance lifts. Next intakes: end of November in the Waikato and Canterbury (find out more here).
Funding note: 8 Steps may be eligible for up to 75% RBPN co-funding for qualifying businesses—ask us for details and current availability.
“Between the trigger and the reply is the space where leadership happens.”