🪵 Leadership is hard right now

Listen, I know things are hard right now. Heavy.

It’s more than the normal “busy.” It’s more than just “work is a lot right now.” It’s the kind of hard that shows up in your back, your shoulders, your face, and your tone. It makes you snap at the driver that just cut you off and even at your kid at the dinner table.

Then, you log on to your computer and you remember you’re not only supposed to lead, but you’re supposed to help others lead.

You’re supposed to help your CEO write that sensitive email that’s going to upset everyone.

You’re supposed to support that leader who wants to put someone on a performance improvement plan.

You’re supposed to find a way to mobilize the company around action plans for the latest engagement survey that really could be summed up in three words:

“we. are. tired.”

This week, I’ve been thinking about the heavy load that is leadership. The moral responsibility that is taking care of other humans in a workplace that has become such an important part of well-being and culture.

More than ever, we need to find ways to take care of ourselves and to lead with determination and heart. We need to help our people to be successful and to do it in a way that doesn’t steal from every other important part of our life. We need to do it in a way that allows us to lean in at home and in our communities—to create positive ripples in a world that really needs some ripples.

✨ Why this matters

This week, so many of my conversations have started with the painful recognition that things just aren’t quite right. I ask people to share a bit of what’s heavy, in hopes that I can help lighten their load.

Now, more than ever, leadership is about an emotional weight people are carrying. There is an invisible load that we’re all trying to carry, sometimes without even knowing it.

When that weight stays unspoken, it can show up as frustration, withdrawal, or resistance. Not because leaders don’t care. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. They’re trying to carry too much, for too many people, alone.

🔥 Something to share

Instead of asking leaders to do more, I’ve been asking them to use this one simple question with their teams:

It’s not a performance question.
It’s a human one.

And when people are given space to answer honestly, you often get clarity and not excuses. When the entire organization is asking this question, you get collaboration and trust instead of blaming and frustration.

🔦 What we’re hearing

Across very different organizations, leaders are saying some version of the same thing:

“I know what I’m supposed to do. I’m just tired of carrying it alone.”

More than anything, people want to feel seen, heard, and understood. Leaders want to know that they have support. They want to know that someone is there to help if things just get too heavy.

Final thought: This is the kind of work we spend a lot of time on inside Campfire—helping leaders name what’s underneath the surface and build habits that make leadership feel more sustainable over time.

For now, I’m curious—

Where does leadership feel heaviest for you right now?

Take a minute to reply. I read and reply to every response!

Warmly,

Steve

Sent from Campfire—a hub for developing leaders at scale.