Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and goalachieving. This
Speaker 1: is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Fellovledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode three forty eight and let me start with
Speaker 2: a question. When your head hits the pillow at night,
Speaker 2: what runs through your mind? Is it the budget, the
Speaker 2: toxic team member, that big meeting tomorrow, the growing list
Speaker 2: of things you didn't get to today, or maybe it's
Speaker 2: that one conversation that you avoided because it was uncomfortable.
Speaker 2: As leaders, we don't get the luxury of flipping a
Speaker 2: switch at five pm and shutting down. Our minds stay
Speaker 2: in motion. We replay the day forecast tomorrow in spiral
Speaker 2: through worst case scenarios. We might not admit out loud.
Speaker 2: That's the burden of leadership, being responsible for more than
Speaker 2: just ourselves. But here's the truth. What keeps you up
Speaker 2: at night reveals what kind of leader that you are.
Speaker 2: If it's fear of confrontation, it may mean you've avoided
Speaker 2: something that's long overdue. If it's guilt about work life balance,
Speaker 2: maybe your personal priorities are being drowned out. If it's
Speaker 2: worry about your team, then you're probably a servant leader
Speaker 2: who cares deeply, sometimes too deeply. I've had my share
Speaker 2: of sleepless nights. When I first stepped into a senior
Speaker 2: leadership role. I can remember laying awake wondering if I
Speaker 2: made the right decision in a hiring situation. That single
Speaker 2: thought morphed into a web of worry. What if they underperform?
Speaker 2: What if the team doesn't accept them? What if I
Speaker 2: lose the respect of the people who trusted me to
Speaker 2: lead That one decision it kept me up for a week.
Speaker 2: But here's what I learned. What keeps you up at
Speaker 2: night is often a signal, not a sentence. It's a
Speaker 2: signal that something needs attention. It's your mind poking you,
Speaker 2: saying hey, don't bury this. And as leaders, we can't
Speaker 2: afford to ignore those signals. We have to learn to
Speaker 2: face them head on and translate sleeplessness into strategy. So
Speaker 2: let me offer you three practical strategies for dealing with
Speaker 2: the thoughts that haunt leaders at night. Number one, capture,
Speaker 2: don't carry. When something hits your mind late at night,
Speaker 2: write it down, keep a note, pat or your phone nearby.
Speaker 2: The goal isn't to fix it in the moment, it's
Speaker 2: to unload it. There's science behind this. Externalizing a thought
Speaker 2: reduces its emotional weight, and you'll rest better knowing it's
Speaker 2: at least captured. Number two, categorize the concern. Ask yourself,
Speaker 2: is this a control issue, a clarity issue, or a
Speaker 2: communication issue. If you can't control it, acknowledge that. If
Speaker 2: you lack clarity, schedule time to get the answers. If
Speaker 2: it's a conversation you're avoiding, plan it, don't procrastinate it.
Speaker 2: And number three, convert anxiety into action. Worry is wasted
Speaker 2: energy if it doesn't lead to movement. If something keeps
Speaker 2: returning night after night, make a plan, even a small
Speaker 2: first step is better than living on a hamster wheel
Speaker 2: of mental stress. And let's be honest for a second.
Speaker 2: Some of us lie awake because we care. We carry
Speaker 2: the weight of people's lives, their paychecks, and their futures.
Speaker 2: That's not weakness, that's leadership. But here's the leadership checkpoint.
Speaker 2: If your sleepless nights outnumber your peaceful ones, you're doing
Speaker 2: too much alone. Leadership isn't a solo sport, Build a team,
Speaker 2: build a system, Build rhythms in your day so that
Speaker 2: your nights don't become the catch all for unresolved chaos.
Speaker 2: If you're leading an organization and you're up at two
Speaker 2: am worrying about that one toxic team member, you've got
Speaker 2: to ask yourself why is this still unresolved? If your
Speaker 2: mind races about money or mission drift, maybe it's time
Speaker 2: for a recalibration. And if it's burnout, then it's time
Speaker 2: to admit you need a break or at least a breather.
Speaker 2: In leadership, silence can be loud, and nighttime has a
Speaker 2: way of amplifying the voices that we ignored all day.
Speaker 2: Don't run from that. Listen to what it's telling you,
Speaker 2: but don't camp there. Either write it down and capture
Speaker 2: it and use it as fuel to lead better tomorrow.
Speaker 2: So tonight, when your eyes open at three am and
Speaker 2: that thought starts racing through your head, I had to
Speaker 2: ask yourself is this something I need to carry or
Speaker 2: something that I need to confront. Is it worry or
Speaker 2: is it wisdom knocking at my door? This has been
Speaker 2: the seven minute Leadership Podcast, and I thank you for listening.
Speaker 1: For more Paul fell of Alito Podcasts. Visit paulfellowalito dot com.