A weekly breather for overwhelmed leaders who need to step back from the noise & gain a little clarity to move forward.
THINGS FROM THE ROAD
Each week, I share what I'm seeing and learning in my unique position as an exec coach, bootstrapping founder and advisor to C-Suite leaders.
This week's theme: Knowing what you actually want
Many leaders I speak with lately can tell me in detail what isn't working in their job. The pace, politics & parts that drain them - it’s easy enough to name these things.
When I ask what they want instead, it gets much harder.
Why it's so hard to answer
People get stuck because they don’t know what good, let alone great, looks or feels like anymore. The other side of that feels a bit scary to contemplate.
Somewhere along the way, most of us forget what we actually liked about the work. What energises us, what we get excited about, what our ambitions were when we started out. Those answers were there once, but they've been buried under the identity of somebody that stopped asking a long time ago.
Start with what you don't want
I’ve got a neat little thing. It’s called the What Not Flip.
Write down everything you don't like about your job right now. The things that aren't working. The parts that drain you. Don't filter it and don't be polite about it.
Then flip each one. Write down its rough opposite.
You hate commuting five days a week. The flip is working remotely, or working flexibly. You don't like big corporates. The flip is a smaller startup. You dread one particular meeting. The flip tells you what kind of room you'd rather be in.
It's not an exact science, and it won't hand you a clear-cut path, but it does show you the opposite of what you've got. For many people, it might be the first honest picture they've had in years.
Once you can see it, the rest gets easier. You’ll know what to say yes to and you’ll know what to ask for. The next decision is a choice rather than a reaction.
OTHER PEOPLE'S PEARLS
Two quotes from wiser people than me, picked for you this week.
Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare.
For when looking after yourself feels like something you haven't earned yet.
It is not that we have a short space of time, but that we waste much of it.
For when you tell yourself there's no time for the thing that matters.
SOMETHING COOL I FOUND FOR YOU
One link that's seriously worth your time
Rick Rubin and Andrew Huberman on trusting your own taste, getting past self-doubt and staying present with the work.
Podcast, about 35 min
This week, don’t dwell on what isn't working. Ask the harder question instead: what do I want in its place?
Hit reply and let me know. I read every single email and would love to hear from you.
Sending good vibes,
Has
Beyond the newsletter, two ways I work with leaders: Mavericks Unlimited, executive coaching and strategy for CEOs, founders and their leadership teams, and tyllr, our development platform that helps managers thrive.