All Episodes

April 23, 2025 8 mins

 What if you're not at your best? We've all experienced those days where everything feels like an uphill battle, when no matter the effort, things don’t seem to fall into place. In this episode, I explore the challenges and essential strategies for handling those tough days with grace and introspection. Through personal stories, like my memorable encounter with a rushed and hungry surgeon, I reflect on the importance of self-care and understanding when it's crucial to pause, reassess, and adjust our approach to leadership when our capacity is compromised.

My journey as an educator and mentor has taught me the value of emotional intelligence in navigating pressure. Being a leader often means maintaining composure, even when chaos might reign internally. I share how crucial it is to embrace those off days not as setbacks but as opportunities to recalibrate, ask for help, and be honest about our limitations with ourselves and our teams. Through my stories and insights, I aim to provide a roadmap for showing up effectively, even when we're not at our best.

 

“If we can get grounded and centered and question, ‘what's needed in this situation?’”

 

Today on The Rising Leader:

  • Acknowledging when you’re not at your best and taking appropriate action is crucial.
  • The paradox of pushing through versus knowing when to pause for personal care and reflection.
  • The positive outcomes that stem from ensuring your emotional and physical readiness before tackling high-pressure responsibilities.
  • Open communication can prevent misunderstandings when you're not performing at your peak.
  • Seeking support and creating new agreements can alleviate pressure and improve outcomes.
  • The value of using transparency to empower your team with context about your current state.
  • Determining when a commitment requires your full capacity and when adjustments are necessary.
  • Being truthful about your condition fosters understanding and minimizes potential negative impacts.

Grab Your Copy of The Rising Leader Handbook

Do you find yourself rising through your company's ranks so fast that you wish you had a manual to become an effective leader? Then, The Rising Leader Handbook is right for you.

In The Rising Leader Handbook, you’ll learn how to shift your perspective and gain the leadership skills you need, regardless of the breadth of your responsibilities, by leveraging the relationships you’ve built with the CEO, the Leadership Team, and the team you lead as well as your relationship with yourself.

Visit The Rising Leader Handbook: Turning High Achievers into Effective Leaders to grab your copy and start mastering your skills to become your team leader.

 

Leader, It’s Time to Rise!

 

Thanks for tuning into this week’s episode of The Rising Leader Podcast. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and leave a review wherever you get your podcasts.

 

Apple Podcasts | TuneIn | GooglePlay | Stitcher | Spotify | Amazon Music | iHeart Radio

 

Be sure to share your favorite episodes on social media to help me reach more listeners like you.

 

Join me on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and LinkedIn. For more exclusive content and information, visit our website.

Mark as Played

Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark

My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.

The Joe Rogan Experience

The Joe Rogan Experience

The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.