the effort trap

For a long time, I thought leadership meant doing more. It wasn’t my conscious goal. What I thought was driving me, was something like:

“Lead a team to deliver excellent work, and enjoy doing it.”

But underneath that sat a belief, that to do that well, I had to do more.

beliefs drive behaviour

For me, this belief showed up as:

• Over-Servicing

• Over-Rescuing

• Overthinking

• Over-Managing

• Over-Preparing

• Over-Explaining

These patterns served me well as a researcher: work hard, be smart, don't drop any plates.

But as leader, it started to affect my wellbeing and performance. The more uncertain I felt, the more I felt I had to do.

But leadership is about:

• being able to operate in uncertainty

• deploying good judgement when you don’t have the full picture

• making decisions when things are ambiguous

• bringing clarity to a complex situation

And you can't do this when you're down in the weeds reacting to everything that comes at you.

It took taking 3 weeks off due to stress and consistent coaching to help me see my leadership goals could be better accomplished by other means.

I'm on a mission

This experience has shaped not only my decision to coach new leaders, but also how I operate. I set up You Burn Bright to help researchers go from safe pair of hands to credible leader, one step at a time.

It’s not about changing everything about yourself. It’s about taking what already matters to you, and flexing that to suit your leadership context.

It’s not about waiting for confidence or permission. It’s about identifying one small thing you CAN do, doing it and noticing the impact of that.

3 questions to start breaking the effort trap

1/ In what one situation are you adding effort because it feels safer than doing less?

2/ What is one small thing you could try doing differently here, just as an experiment?

3/ If you did 10% less, what would you do with the excess?

Because how you talk to yourself matters

It took me a long time to see that my formula for success was holding me (and the team and organsation) back. Its arguments felt so convincing and the consequences of not operating in that way felt risky. It took coaching to build the courage to start small, experiment with new approaches, notice the difference and build the new habits.

If you’re interested in getting out of the weeds, or helping your junior leaders get out of the weeds, one step at a time, then I’d love to chat.

I am now recruiting for the September Burn Bright, Not Out Leadership Programme, priced at £1250pp. Only 6 places available. Email zoe@youburnbright.com if curious.

Thank you as always for reading. Please share with anyone you know is experiencing similar.

Zoe,

You Burn Bright