Do you feel overwhelmed by the number of tasks that you’re asked to do each day? Or that the reward for a job well done is more work?
That’s how it felt when I started working at Google. Despite the external validation, I was exhausted and drained every day. My life was an endless stream of tasks and emails and meetings, with no way to get it all done. It felt like a game of Tetris – each time I got something under control, things would speed up and my manager would give me more to do, so that drowning in work seemed like my inevitable future.
After years of working every waking hour, I eventually burned out, my body collapsing for a week. And I realized something as I lay in bed recovering: I could keep going as I had been and continue to get the same results, or I could change my approach to work.
I had believed that my job was to do everything my manager and other leaders asked of me. But that wasn’t leadership – that was being an excellent follower.
— Leadership is deciding for yourself what is important.
— Leadership is convincing others what to do, rather than deferring to their judgment.
— Leadership is choosing the direction, not following the map of others.
— Leadership is setting boundaries and saying no when a task doesn’t align to your direction.
If you want to change your own approach to leadership, you can start this week by taking my Maven course, Scale Your Leadership with the Executive Mindset. It’s been designed specifically for rising leaders like you to help you break through the patterns that block you from the executive level.
This course is effective because it mirrors my own journey. After burning out, I served as the Chief of Staff for the Google Search Ads team for over six years, learning from world-class leaders how to create executive-level impact. I now coach executives in adopting those mindsets to accelerate their careers, from startup CxOs to big tech directors and VPs. I want to share with you what works so that you can skip all my painful years of learning.
We will start this week on Thursday, January 15th, and you will learn how to:
— Lead yourself and others through difficult, high-pressure situations
— Develop greater influence, presence, and executive-level thinking
— Create clarity, vision, and culture for your teams
— Deliver on more scope without burning yourself out
The classes will be recorded but attending live will allow for personal coaching on the specific challenges of your leadership journey so that you can apply these concepts immediately.
Leave a comment with any questions — I’m happy to help.
Otherwise, I’d love to see you on Thursday!