Hey Leader,
I thought grinding harder proved I was good at my job.
Spoiler: it didn’t.
When I was a Director, I wore a badge of honor called always on. If my boss pinged me late at night, I answered. If there was a gap in the calendar, I’d fill it with another meeting. If someone asked for help, even when I was spent, I said yes. Saying no felt dangerous. Slowing down? Lazy.
But I wasn’t lazy, I was maxed out. (Ever have that moment where your body says, “yeah, we’re done here”?)
The shift came when I stopped playing MVP and started acting like a damn exec.
Saying no so I could go deep instead of chasing every fire.
Delegating without guilt.
Logging off on time.
Not checking Slack at 5 am.
Even resting (wild, I know)… and shocker, my work got better.
Those “lazy” moves are the only reason I didn’t hit a wall again, and they're what got me promoted to Managing Director.
So if something feels counterproductive right now? Good.
You might actually be building the leadership muscle you need. 💪
Quick gut check for you: what’s one thing you keep doing because it feels productive, but deep down you know it’s draining you? (Reply! I’d love to hear it.)
Lead boldly, live fully, & don’t forget to breathe.
In your corner,
Scroll-Stoppers
This week’s most valuable scroll-worthy stuff, from tools to truth bombs!
Harvard Business Review: Why saying no is a power move, not a career risk.
I’m terrible at keeping my desk clean , and apparently, that might be killing my focus. 🤭 This list of home office mistakes hit a little too close to home.
I used to check Slack before I even brushed my teeth, and called it leadership. These 7 habits were wrecking my mornings (and my ability to lead).
Try This Today
Quick experiments for calmer inboxes, lighter loads, and more human leadership.
Decline one meeting.
If you’re always in meetings, you’re not leading, you’re managing. Cancel one this week and use the time to map what actually needs your brain.Log off when you said you would.
Set the tone. If your team sees you online at 10 pm, they’ll think they have to be too. Shut it down on time. Protecting your evening isn’t just about you, it gives everyone else permission to do the same.Hand off a task you usually cling to.
Delegating feels risky, like you’re giving away your value. But letting someone else own it builds their muscle and proves you’re not the only one who can deliver. That’s how you scale.
Your Power Reframe
Because what you believe shapes how you live & lead.
I used to treat rest like a reward I had to earn.
But the inbox never emptied, so the reward never came.
Once I flipped it, rest first -> work after. I had way more ideas, more patience (I’m not a very patient person, lol), and enjoyed leadership a whole lot more.
The thing I thought would slow me down is what actually made me better at my job (and gave me my life back!).
This Sparked Something
Little joys, leadership sparks, & random things we’re loving this week!
Line we underlined twice: "I'm committed to keeping my team focused on priorities while I am playing dodgeball with constant requests." ~A Director in The Elevate Lab
Tool that made life easier: Speechify, it reads books aloud so I can get through them way faster (especially since I tend to read out loud anyway 🙃). ~Pau
Resilience in action: I had to lead a group call from a park in New York this week while attending Fast Company’s Innovation Festival because of subway delays. Old Alli would have freaked out about that, present-day Alli rolled with the punches and actually enjoyed the experience! ~Alli