Edition #13 – The Other Side of Leadership

The Challenge

We love to talk about the shiny side of leadership. The wins. The influence. The impact. Its all good, or so it seems. The reality is, as we all know, there is another side. The side where you are running so fast it feels like a sprint that never ends. The side where the weight of responsibility feels heavy on your shoulders. The side where just catching your breath is hard work.

Why It Matters

If we only talk about the good bits, we set leaders up for failure. Overwhelm builds quietly until it tips into burnout, and by then it is not just you that suffers. It is your team, your culture, and your results.

Thriving leaders are not the ones who power through everything at any cost. They are the ones who can slow down, face into their own vulnerability, and reset. Its also fair to say that most of us miss the amber flags that are waved at us before the red ones arrive. We berate ourselves for not being as good as we were last week, month or year. Making sure you allow yourself time to check in both on yourself and your team, enables positive and proactive behaviours and heads off the derailing stuff that can get in the way.

How to Lead Through the Overwhelm

• Pause on purpose. Time to think is not indulgence, it is survival.
• Say it out loud. Naming what feels heavy takes away its power.
• Stay anchored. Your values are the compass when decisions come at speed.
• Be open. Vulnerability creates connection and gives others permission to do the same.
• Choose wisely. Not every ball you juggle is glass. Some are rubber and can bounce.
• Lean in to support. You do not have to carry it all. Coaching, peers, mentors, use them.

Watch Outs for Your Team

Overwhelm is rarely yours alone. Teams often mirror the leader. Look out for:

• Silence in meetings where there used to be energy
• Rising cynicism or talk of “what’s the point”
• Short tempers or friction between colleagues
• A drop in creativity or fewer new ideas
• More mistakes or missed deadlines than usual
• Sudden withdrawal from someone who was once engaged

Noticing these signs early means you can step in before your team hits the same wall you are facing. The watch out here is this, if you power through at any cost, this behaviour is projected and before you know it the working culture of your team is pretty unhealthy.

Reflection Questions

• Where does leadership feel overwhelming for you right now?
• What tells you that you are running too fast?
• Which responsibilities are glass and which are rubber?
• How could you face into vulnerability in a way that lightens the load?
• Who helps you find your breath when the pace is relentless?
• What one action would give you more space to reset this week?
• If your team is showing any of the watch outs above, how will you respond?
• If you rewrote your leadership story today, how would you want the other side to read?

At Advance 6 we believe better solutions lead to better outcomes. That begins with leaders who have the courage to breathe, reset, and lead with vulnerability.