Do Less Rescuing, Lead More
Eight weeks, final paper for this doctoral class submitted. Mission-critical work moved forward. I felt calmer while shipping more.
Capacity wasn’t more hours. It was subtracting one reflex: rescuing.
The loop:
Reset: One visible quarterly outcome everyone can see.
Reflect: Weekly green/yellow/red against that line.
Reassign: I ask, “Outcome? Metric? Where do you want help?” Then I assist only where asked.
Release: I don’t take the ball back. Small fires are tuition.
Guardrails:
Daily focus session to move the needle.
Hard shutdown so tomorrow starts clear.
What changed: Output up, rework down. The team owned solutions, I owned the standard. Less overwhelm because the work aligned to a clear line of sight.
Try this today: After your next meeting, run a 3-minute AAR: Intent? Reality? Adjustment? Then book tomorrow’s focus block and write one sentence you’ll ship.
Leadership capacity expands when you stop rescuing and start trusting.
What rescue can you retire this week?