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Table of Contents
About The Book
Proven strategies to get your team’s best work in the most distracting environments.
Are you leading a team that’s busy but never at its best? Is the pressure to do more with less pushing your people to burnout?
Most people don’t underperform because they lack talent or ambition. They underperform because their environment makes sustaining great work nearly impossible. But you don’t have to lose your team’s best work to endless distractions. With Pause, you won’t.
Pause reveals twelve leadership practices to deliberately slow things down so your team can move faster on top priorities. Drawing from original research on over 150 major companies from Amazon to Google to LinkedIn, speaker and consultant Shawn Vanderhoven discovered that teams with leaders who pause spend triple the time on their biggest projects—regardless of the chaos that surrounds them.
With this actionable framework, you’ll learn how to:
- Protect focus time by replacing distracting messaging habits
- Generate momentum by turning fuzzy goals into crystal-clear targets
- Reveal the hidden workload that’s silently killing deep work
- Recognize when your people need your ear to increase their ability to concentrate
- Turn rumination into confidence by using mistakes to fuel growth
Through these practices and with captivating case studies, Pause gives you the strategies to cut through the noise, deliver remarkable results, and become the boss everyone wants to work for.
Are you leading a team that’s busy but never at its best? Is the pressure to do more with less pushing your people to burnout?
Most people don’t underperform because they lack talent or ambition. They underperform because their environment makes sustaining great work nearly impossible. But you don’t have to lose your team’s best work to endless distractions. With Pause, you won’t.
Pause reveals twelve leadership practices to deliberately slow things down so your team can move faster on top priorities. Drawing from original research on over 150 major companies from Amazon to Google to LinkedIn, speaker and consultant Shawn Vanderhoven discovered that teams with leaders who pause spend triple the time on their biggest projects—regardless of the chaos that surrounds them.
With this actionable framework, you’ll learn how to:
- Protect focus time by replacing distracting messaging habits
- Generate momentum by turning fuzzy goals into crystal-clear targets
- Reveal the hidden workload that’s silently killing deep work
- Recognize when your people need your ear to increase their ability to concentrate
- Turn rumination into confidence by using mistakes to fuel growth
Through these practices and with captivating case studies, Pause gives you the strategies to cut through the noise, deliver remarkable results, and become the boss everyone wants to work for.
About The Author
Christian P. Kahahawai
Shawn Vanderhoven is a Partner at The Wiseman Group leading their development practice for senior executives and emerging leaders. He works with top brands like Apple, Johnson & Johnson, and Tesla, building strategies to leverage their greatest assets: talent. He lives with his wife, Anne, in Menlo Park, California.
Product Details
- Publisher: Simon Element/Simon Acumen (August 4, 2026)
- Length: 336 pages
- ISBN13: 9781668049488
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Raves and Reviews
“Shawn Vanderhoven names something every overwhelmed professional feels but often can't articulate: the invisible wake of digital detritus that managers mindlessly create for their teams. Pause is a sharp, research-backed argument for why the best leaders tap the brakes—and a clear guide for how to do it without losing momentum. Read it before your next meeting, and then cancel half the meetings on your calendar.”—Daniel H. Pink, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Drive, When, and The Power of Regret
"This book isn't just a theory. Shawn did the work to find out what leaders are doing to lead great work instead of driving teams to burnout.” —Liz Wiseman, New York Times bestselling author of Multipliers: How the Best Leaders Make Everyone Smarter
“I’ve spent years writing about the power of questions. But for good questions to make a difference, there needs to be space to hear them. This is the book you need to create that space .”—Michael Bungay Stanier, author of The Coaching Habit, the best-selling coaching book
"You can't get your team's attention if you yourself are driven to distraction. Vanderhoven gives you the tools you need to focus on the things that matter. Essential!"—Kim Scott, author of Radical Candor and Radical Respect
Resources and Downloads
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