Coming Up in February 👀: Leadership Beyond the Workplace
Plus, easing the weight of expectations
Coming Up Next Month: Personal Leadership
Leadership isn’t just something you do at work – it’s how you show up in every part of your life. Managing your time, strengthening your relationships, and staying true to your values all take the same skills that great leaders use every day.
Personal leadership means owning your choices, being consistent, and building real connections with the people who matter most. It’s about guiding yourself with purpose, even when life throws you a curveball.
We’re diving into this next month! Get ready for insightful tips on leading yourself and strengthening your relationships, along with a deeper understanding of what comes naturally to you and where you might need to stretch beyond your comfort zone – all based on your personality type.
Watch for a NEW 5-day Personal Leadership Challenge coming in February!
Want to Submit a Leadership Topic?
Have a specific leadership topic in mind that you’d love to see us cover? We’ve opened up commenting so that anyone can share their idea(s) in the comments. We can’t promise to pick yours, but we do promise to review and consider every single idea.
Smart Restart Challenge Check-In: Easing the Weight of Expectations
We’re well into January, and the holiday glow feels like a distant memory. You’ve likely worked through the initial chaos of returning to work by now. Maybe you’ve tackled the to-do list from your Smart Restart Challenge – you’ve reconnected with your team, reflected on what worked last year, and started setting the tone for a strong 2025.
But somehow, the weight hasn’t lifted. The expectations still feel heavy, and the stress hasn’t quite let up.
If that’s where you’re at, take a deep breath. You’re not alone – and it’s okay to feel this way. Let’s pause for a moment to talk about three ways to ease the pressure and keep moving forward, one step at a time.
1. You Don’t Have to Do It All (Even If It Feels Like You Should)
One of the hardest parts of leadership is the constant pull to do more.
More for your team.
More for your goals.
More to prove your worth.
But you actually don’t have to do it all – not today, not tomorrow, not ever.
With that in mind, what’s one thing you can let go of this week? Maybe it’s a project that isn’t as urgent as it feels. Maybe it’s the need to have all the answers right now. Or maybe it’s the pressure to handle every problem on your own.
Letting go doesn’t mean you’re failing; it means you’re leading smarter.
2. Reconnect With What’s Working (Instead of Fixating on What’s Not)
When stress takes over, it’s easy to zero in on the gaps – the things that aren’t going as planned, the goals that still feel out of reach.
But what if, just for today, you focused on what is working?
Look for the bright spots. Maybe your team has shown incredible resilience this month. Maybe you’ve had one meaningful win, no matter how small. Or maybe you’ve simply made it through a tough day without giving up.
Every bit of progress matters.
Take a moment to recognize those wins, both for yourself and for your team. Celebrating the positives helps to remind yourself why you’re doing this in the first place.
3. Leadership Is Hard. Connection Makes It Easier.
Leadership can be lonely. The pressure, the expectations, the constant need to keep things moving forward – it’s a lot. And it’s easy to convince yourself that you’re the only one who feels this way. But the truth is, you’re not.
Reach out. Whether it’s a quick coffee chat with a peer, a check-in with a mentor, or even just a candid conversation with someone you trust, connection is a lifeline.
You don’t have to have it all together. You don’t have to pretend the weight isn’t there. Sharing the load doesn’t make you less of a leader – it makes you human.
One Step at a Time
If you’re still feeling the weight of expectations, give yourself permission to slow down and breathe. Focus on the basics: showing up, trying your best, and knowing that’s enough.
You’ve got this. (And if it doesn’t feel that way today, that’s okay. Tomorrow’s a new day.)
Be sure to follow along with the rest of the smart restart series! We’ve yet to examine why Sentinels and Explorers may struggle after a holiday break (and how quick wins can help them regain momentum) – that’s coming up.
I subscribed to this leadership course not because I handle a team, as a matter of fact I work mostly on my own, but there are two main reasons I signed in: 1) I hope some day I can have a team to lead and I want to be prepared, 2) I am a physician, so my work is mainly to listen to people and interpretate what their problem is, and SELL them my point of view, which is to me a way of leadership, if I can't convince them then they wont return to my office, so I want to find the better way to approach each individual because I have found that the way the message is delivered matters to them. My petition would be to help me recognize the personality type of a person in a conversation (obviously an approach to it) and the best way to deliver a message which might be you have an important disease as well as you have anxiety but we can work it. Some people like an extended explanation, but others I feel just want to be told punctualy what to do and cut the chit-chat. Thank you very much.