Burned Out or Fired Up?

The Lie: “You just need to push harder.”
The Truth: You can’t lead when your nervous system is fried.

I remember the long nights vividly. Running a Wall Street office for a public company meant being on call 24/7. My phone never stopped buzzing. I’d answer emails at midnight, catch the first train before sunrise, and jump straight into performance calls the moment I walked in.

Every quarter felt like a race against the clock — quotas looming, pressure mounting, and no room to breathe.

It was like living in a pressure cooker. And for a while, I convinced myself that’s just what leadership was: always pushing, always grinding, always on edge.

Then one day, I caught my reflection in the glass wall of a conference room. I looked exhausted. Not just tired—emptied out.

That’s when it hit me: I wasn’t leading. I was reacting. Spinning. Surviving.

That moment marked a shift.

I realized clarity doesn’t come from doing more—it comes from doing less, more intentionally.

It comes from remembering what matters.
From making space for stillness.
From listening to your inner voice before reacting to everyone else’s.

When I made that shift—when I led from clarity instead of chaos—my team felt it.
Decisions got simpler. Conversations got real. Results actually improved.

Because clarity isn’t a luxury. It’s a leadership requirement.

Reflection:
Where are you currently leading from exhaustion instead of clarity?

What would it look like to slow down—just enough—to lead from truth, not panic?

👉 To dive deeper, download my free ebook “Burnt Out or Fired Up?”

Owen