You're Not Tired of Leading. You're Tired of Not Recharging.
Your brain uses 20% of your body's energy. Leadership drains it faster than anything else. Here's how to refill before you collapse.
đ§ââď¸ Protect the Flame
The Practice Burned-Out Leaders Skip (Until Itâs Too Late)
đˇ Setting the Table
Sit with this for a moment:
Your brain uses 20% of your bodyâs total energy, more than any other organ.
One-fifth of everything you consume fuels the three-pound organ between your ears.
And leadership drains it faster than almost anything else.
Decision fatigue. Emotional labor. Constant context-switching. The weight of responsibility for people, performance, outcomes.
Itâs not that you donât care anymore. Itâs not that the work doesnât matter. Itâs not even that youâre bad at leading.
Itâs that youâve overdrawn the account.
The account of focus. Of presence. Of emotional resilience. Of clear thinking.
And unlike a bank account, you canât just deposit more willpower and expect everything to balance out.
â¸ď¸ Let It Rest
Before you keep reading, try this:
Close your eyes. Take three deep breaths.
Notice what youâre feeling right now. Not what you should feel. What you actually feel.
Tired? Overwhelmed? Calm? Anxious? Numb?
Whatever it is - just notice it. No judgment. Just awareness.
Now keep reading.
đĽ The Simmer
This week, we explored energy management through two stories:
Monday: The 2024 CEO crisis, 74 executives forced out, not for lack of effort, but for exhaustion-driven poor decisions. Including Starbucks CEO Laxman Narasimhan, ousted after 17 months despite prioritizing work-life balance.
Wednesday: Sarah, the 27-year-old operations manager who asked for a âreset dayâ during the busiest season. Her boss resisted. She insisted. She came back sharper and caught a $15,000 error.
Both stories teach the same lesson: The flame that burns brightest doesnât burn longest. The flame thatâs protected does.
Mindful leaders create margin. They donât fill every moment with productivity. They donât pack their calendars like Tetris. They donât measure their worth by their exhaustion.
Instead, they pause between meetings. They breathe before responding. They choose pace over pressure.
Because stillness sharpens decision-making.
đ FULL CIRCLE: This practice builds on Mondayâs framework and Wednesdayâs boundary-setting lesson. Thatâs how these three newsletters work togetherâone table, three courses, complete development.
đ§ Kitchen Science
Neuroscientist Dr. Andrew Huberman has spent years studying how the brain performs under stress and rest.
His research shows that the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain responsible for executive function, strategic thinking, and emotional regulation, performs best with consistent rest and visual breaks from screens.
The data is clear:
10 minutes of intentional pause can restore hours of clarity
A brief walk outside can reset cognitive capacity
20 minutes of eyes-closed rest can be as restorative as a full sleep cycle
But hereâs the problem most leaders face: We wait until weâre already depleted to rest.
We tell ourselves:
âAfter this project wraps up...â
âOnce the busy season ends...â
âWhen things slow down...â
Things never slow down. And by the time we âfind timeâ to rest, itâs not recovery. Itâs damage control.
Think about the last major decision you made while depleted. Maybe it was late at night. Maybe you were frustrated. Maybe you were just tired of thinking about it.
How did that turn out?
Now think about a decision you made from a place of clarity. Rested. Centered. Present.
Different, wasnât it?
Thatâs not coincidence. Thatâs neuroscience.
Mindful leadership is about proactive restoration, not reactive collapse.
Itâs about recognizing that your energy - mental, emotional, physical, spiritual, is finite. And that protecting it isnât selfish.
Itâs necessary.
You canât lead well from depletion. You canât make good decisions when running on fumes. You canât show up fully for your team when youâre barely showing up for yourself.
â¸ď¸ Let It Rest
Notice how youâre reading this right now.
Are you skimming? Rushing to finish? Thinking about your to-do list?
Or are you actually here, present with these words?
Thereâs no wrong answer. Just notice.
This is the practice. Presence. Even for 30 seconds.
đ˝ď¸ This Weekâs Preparation
THE MORNING INTENTION RITUAL
Before your day begins, before you check your phone, before you open your laptop, before you dive into the chaos, try this:
STEP 1: SIT (2 minutes)
Find a quiet spot
Close your eyes if that feels comfortable
Sit upright but not rigid
Breathe naturally
STEP 2: BREATHE (1 minute)
In for four counts
Hold for two
Out for six counts
Repeat 5 times
STEP 3: ASK (1 minute) Donât try to stop your thoughts. Just notice them. Then ask yourself:
âWhat needs my full presence today?â
Not âWhatâs on my to-do list?â Not âWhat fires do I need to put out?â
What needs your full presence?
Maybe itâs a difficult conversation. Maybe itâs a strategic decision. Maybe itâs simply being present for your team.
STEP 4: SET THE INTENTION Finish by saying (out loud or silently): âToday, I choose to lead from fullness, not depletion.â
Then move into your day. With intention. Not reaction.
đĽ Tasting Notes
Take your time with these. Donât rush. There are no right answers.
1. Where are you confusing busy with effective?
Think about your last week. How much time was spent being busyâresponding, reacting, putting out fires? How much was spent being effectiveâcreating, deciding, leading strategically?
Whatâs the ratio? 80/20? 90/10? 95/5?
2. Whatâs one moment of pause you can build into today?
Not tomorrow. Not next week. Today.
Between meetings? Before lunch? At the end of your workday?
Where can you create just five minutes of space?
3. What would it feel like to lead from fullness instead of depletion?
Close your eyes and imagine it.
What would change? How would you show up differently? What decisions would you make?
That version of you is possible. But it requires protection. It requires intention. It requires saying no to some things so you can say yes to what matters most.
đˇ Digestif
The brightest leaders donât burn fast. They burn steady.
They protect the flame.
They understand that leadership isnât about how much you can endure.
Itâs about how sustainably you can show up.
Day after day. Year after year. Decade after decade.
Youâre not too busy to rest. Youâre too depleted not to.
This weekend, give yourself permission to refill.
Not because youâve earned it. Not because youâre weak.
But because youâre wise enough to know: The best leaders lead themselves first.
đĽ Sunday Prep
THE RESET RITUAL
Choose one 60-minute window this weekend. Protect it fiercely.
During that hour:
No phone
No laptop
No âproductiveâ tasks
Just you
Do whatever restores you:
Sit in nature
Take a bath
Read for pleasure
Nap without guilt
Walk without a destination
Stare at the sky
The only rule: Be fully present.
Donât think about work. Donât plan Monday. Donât solve problems.
Just be.
Because thatâs where clarity lives. In the space between the doing.
đž Save This for Later
Bookmark this issue for when you need the reminder. (Future you will thank present you.)
đ§ Forward to a Friend
Know a leader whoâs running on empty? Send them this. Sometimes we need someone else to give us permission to rest.
đŹ JOIN THE CONVERSATION
The comments on Substack are where the real learning happens.
What are you working on this week? Whatâs your biggest energy management challenge?
Share in comments below. Weâre all students of leadership here.
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đ§ Whatâs Coming Next Week
The theme: Self-Awareness & Growth
Weâre diving into Marshall Goldsmithâs revolutionary Feedforward methodâthe alternative to feedback that actually creates growth without guilt.
Monday (The Leadership Table): The complete Feedforward framework with food industry applications
Wednesday (Breaking Bread): Why âI donât knowâ might be your most powerful leadership phrase
Friday (The Mindful Leader): The Leadership Shadowâwhat your team sees that you donât
See you Monday at The Leadership Table. Rest well.
đ THIS WEEKâS READING RECOMMENDATION
âThe Power of Full Engagementâ by Jim Loehr & Tony Schwartz
The book that changed how I think about energy management. Not about time managementâenergy management. Essential reading for any leader who wants to sustain excellence.
đ§ LISTEN INSTEAD OF READ
Catch my A Student of Leadership Micro Podcast for quick, behavioral leadership insights in 6-8 minutes. No theory. No jargon. Just real insights from real food industry experiences you can apply today.
Think of it as your daily leadership vitamin: quick, potent, essential.
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Lead Yourself First. Grow from the Inside Out. đ§ The Mindful Leader, a publication by Robert Adams, A Student of Leadership