Why spaciousness matters for leading in speed—and how to create it

These are the key questions we discuss in this episode of Changing Conversations with Megan Reitz.

Megan Reitz is Associate Professor at Saïd Business School, Oxford, and Professor of Leadership and Dialogue at Hult-Ashridge Executive Education. A leading voice on leadership, speaking up and organisational dialogue, her latest research explores spaciousness: a quality of attention that reveals relationships, interdependencies and possibilities hidden in constant doing mode.

In this conversation, we share:

• That leaders operate in two modes of attention: doing (instrumental, narrow) and spacious (open, curious, unhurried)—and why “spaciously doing” integrates both
• How your presence shapes others’ voice and performance—and practical micro-pauses to shift how you show up
• Why we often avoid space (fear, success = activity) and the myth that spaciousness means doing nothing
• How to design for creativity and safety in fast-paced systems (rituals, metrics, environments)
• A practical framework: SPACE—Safety, People, Attention (speed bumps), Conflict (dissonance), Environment

We’d love to keep the conversation alive. Reach out to Katrina and Stig to challenge us, ask a question, recommend a future guest and give us feedback.