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  • Published: 6 August 2026
  • ISBN: 9781529943245
  • Imprint: Transworld Digital
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $45.00

Pause

How to Lead Brilliant Work in a Busy World

  • Shawn Vanderhoven



The development expert behind some of the world’s most successful leaders reveals how to unlock your team’s ability to focus on the things that matter.

Sometimes the fastest way forward starts with a pause.

In our hyper-paced world, today’s teams face relentless demands, endless distractions and intense pressure to deliver more with fewer resources and in less time. Overwhelmed with an endless stream of tasks and the constant ping of emails, our workplaces leave our teams buried in chaos, while we as managers unintentionally scatter our employees’ efforts with unclear priorities and the pressure to overcommit.

Now, in Pause, speaker and consultant Shawn Vanderhoven turns conventional thinking about productivity and leadership on its head. Drawing from the latest research and real-world insights from top-performing teams at industry giants like Amazon, Google and LinkedIn, Vanderhoven reveals that the most effective leaders don’t chase action for action’s sake. Instead, they pause.

In Pause, Vanderhoven explores how to effectively filter out all the noise - from magnifying what matters most by identifying truly urgent tasks to buffering out busy through reducing common distractions like excessive emails - so your team can finally focus on the right priorities at the right time.

Pause is the counterintuitive approach to productivity you need, to unlock your team’s highest potential through slowing down.

  • Published: 6 August 2026
  • ISBN: 9781529943245
  • Imprint: Transworld Digital
  • Format: Audio Download
  • RRP: $45.00

Praise for Pause

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 bestselling books Radical Candor and Radical Respect

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

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, author of best-selling books Multipliers and Impact Players

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