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<v Speaker 1>Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of

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<v Speaker 1>performance through strong human relations, team building, and golachieving. This

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<v Speaker 1>is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul

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<v Speaker 1>fella Aledo.

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<v Speaker 2>Hello everyone, and welcome to this seven minute leadership podcast.

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<v Speaker 2>It's episode five thirty eight. Today we're talking about one

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<v Speaker 2>of the most important leadership truths that no one likes

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<v Speaker 2>to admit out loud. Every leader has at least one problem,

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<v Speaker 2>one issue, one decision that sits in the back of

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<v Speaker 2>their mind and steals sleep from them. If you lead

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<v Speaker 2>long enough, something will follow you home, sit at your

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<v Speaker 2>dinner table, and then climb into bed with you. The

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<v Speaker 2>question is simple, what are you going to do about it?

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<v Speaker 2>That problem that does not let you sleep at night

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<v Speaker 2>is not a random annoyance, It's a signal. It's your

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<v Speaker 2>mind telling you that you have unfinished business. Leaders lose

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<v Speaker 2>sleep for a reason. The mind is relentless when something

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<v Speaker 2>is unresolved. So the message today is direct, do something

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<v Speaker 2>about the problem that does not let you sleep at night.

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<v Speaker 2>I'm going to break this into a structure you can

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<v Speaker 2>use right now. Grab notes for this one, because this

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<v Speaker 2>is a real world take action today style episode. First

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<v Speaker 2>identify the exact fear. Leaders often tell themselves a story

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<v Speaker 2>about the problem, rather than defining the problem itself. You

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<v Speaker 2>might say you're stressed about your team, but you're actually

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<v Speaker 2>stressed about one employee who's poisoning the culture. Maybe you

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<v Speaker 2>tell yourself you're overwhelmed by finances, but you're actually overwhelmed

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<v Speaker 2>because you've avoided the same budget conversation for six months.

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<v Speaker 2>Until you labeled the problem correctly, you have no chance

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<v Speaker 2>of fixing it, So write this down. Specific problems can

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<v Speaker 2>be solved. Vague problems follow you home and ruin your night. Second,

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<v Speaker 2>break the problem into one small first move. Notice I

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<v Speaker 2>didn't say fix the whole thing tonight. I said take

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<v Speaker 2>a small first move. Send the email, schedule the meeting,

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<v Speaker 2>call the vendor, start the draft, Block the hour on

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<v Speaker 2>your calendar to finally sit with it. The reason leaders

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<v Speaker 2>stay awake all night is because they feel powerless. A

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<v Speaker 2>single action gives you your power back. It signals to

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<v Speaker 2>your brain that the problem is now in motion, and

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<v Speaker 2>that alone lets you sleep better. Third, shrink the timeline.

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<v Speaker 2>Most leaders give big problems big timelines, and that's a mistake.

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<v Speaker 2>The longer you stretch the timeline, the heavy, the weight becomes.

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<v Speaker 2>I teach this to leadership teams all the time. When

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<v Speaker 2>something is keeping you awake at night, the timeline should

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<v Speaker 2>be short. You don't need to finish the whole project

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<v Speaker 2>in a day, but you do need to start the

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<v Speaker 2>fix within twenty four hours. That's how serious leaders operate. Next,

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<v Speaker 2>talk to the right person. Many leaders lose sleep because

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<v Speaker 2>they carry a problem alone that should be shared with

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<v Speaker 2>someone on their team. You're not meant to solve every

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<v Speaker 2>issue yourself. Leadership is not about doing everything it's about

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<v Speaker 2>improving everything. If the problem belongs with a deputy, a supervisor,

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<v Speaker 2>a partner, or a subject matter expert, hand it off

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<v Speaker 2>to them too. The moment you share that load with

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<v Speaker 2>the right person, your brain starts to relax and then

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<v Speaker 2>track your progress. You've heard me talk about this before.

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<v Speaker 2>Leaders do better when they see progress in front one

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<v Speaker 2>of them. Make a simple checklist for this problem. Break

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<v Speaker 2>it into steps, cross things off. Progress lower's anxiety. Completion

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<v Speaker 2>brings clarity, and clarity brings sleep. And here's a tactic

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<v Speaker 2>from the aviation world. Pilots know that when something is

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<v Speaker 2>wrong on the aircraft, you never ignore it, You never

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<v Speaker 2>hope it resolves on its own, you diagnose it, address it,

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<v Speaker 2>or you hand the aircraft off to someone who can.

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<v Speaker 2>You treat every unresolved issue as a potential threat to

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<v Speaker 2>the flight. Leaders should do the same. That problem that

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<v Speaker 2>keeps you awake is not going away on its own.

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<v Speaker 2>It's circling your runway, waiting for your attention. Deal with

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<v Speaker 2>it while you're still in control, and not when you're

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<v Speaker 2>forced to. So. Let me give you an exercise you

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<v Speaker 2>can do today, and it only takes two minutes. Number one,

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<v Speaker 2>write down the problem that is keeping you awake at night.

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<v Speaker 2>Number two write the smallest first action you can take

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<v Speaker 2>to fix it. Number three, put that action on your

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<v Speaker 2>calendar today. Number four, tell one person you trust that

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<v Speaker 2>you're taking ownership of this issue, and finally, do the

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<v Speaker 2>next step tomorrow. This is the playbook. Leaders do not

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<v Speaker 2>get rewarded for worrying. They get rewarded for action. Doing

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<v Speaker 2>something about the problem that keeps you awake is not optional.

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<v Speaker 2>It is part of the job. It's necessary, it's mandatory.

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<v Speaker 2>The message today is simple and powerful. If it keeps

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<v Speaker 2>you awake, it needs your attention. And if it needs

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<v Speaker 2>your attention, you owe it to yourself, Your team and

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<v Speaker 2>your mission to act now, not some day, because some

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<v Speaker 2>day is the reason you're not sleeping in the first place.

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<v Speaker 2>This has been the seven minute Leadership podcast, and I

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<v Speaker 2>thank you for listening.

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<v Speaker 1>For more Paul fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com.