Speed Isn’t the Same Thing as Leadership
Employee experience does not break down because leaders move too slowly.
It breaks down when leaders move quickly and then reverse themselves.
In a world that rewards urgency, speed often gets confused with leadership. Decisions are made fast. Directions are set quickly. And just as quickly, those decisions get undone.
From the outside, it can look decisive. From the inside, it feels destabilizing.
Employees can tolerate frustration. What they struggle to recover from is whiplash.
Slow decisions are uncomfortable. They create tension. They require patience. But they also create space for listening, context, and clarity. When leaders take the time to understand the perspectives of people across the organization and explain the reasoning behind a decision, employees may not always agree, but they understand what is happening and why.
Fast reversals do something different.
They quietly erode trust.
When employees are pulled in one direction and then yanked back in another, it signals uncertainty at the top. It makes people hesitant to commit. It teaches teams that today’s priorities may not matter tomorrow. Over time, that instability shows up as disengagement, skepticism, and eventually a damaged employer reputation.
This pattern is especially common in high-growth environments where speed is treated as a competitive advantage. Leaders feel pressure to move quickly, seize opportunities, and show momentum. But organizations that become obsessed with speed often flame out not because they lacked ambition, but because they lost credibility with their people.
Employee experience is shaped less by how fast decisions are made and more by how consistently they are upheld.
Leadership is not about avoiding frustration at all costs. It is about choosing which kind of discomfort is worth enduring. Temporary frustration caused by thoughtful decision making is far less destructive than the long-term damage caused by constant reversals.
This is where employee experience becomes a leadership choice.
Leaders who prioritize clarity over chaos create environments where people feel safe investing their energy. They build trust by explaining decisions, standing by them, and adjusting course thoughtfully when new information truly requires it.
Speed can be impressive.
Consistency is sustainable.
And in the long run, employee experience depends far more on the latter than the former.
