✨Carrying weight that was never yours alone? (022)

Have you ever felt like you’re juggling contradictions?

• Wanting to reward your team financially… but fearing you’ll jeopardise long-term sustainability in volatile markets.

• Supporting a team member bouncing back after health challenges… while worrying about overloading everyone else.

• Celebrating recognition one day… and dealing with an impasse the next.

If this feels familiar, you’re not alone. Many leaders confide that the hardest part isn’t making decisions, it’s carrying the emotional weight of competing needs.

Naming the Unmet Needs

• Leaders need a space to process, too. Not just to “decide” but to feel safe admitting how heavy it can be.

• High performers need rebuilding, not rescuing. Without overwhelming themselves or those around them.

• Teams need clarity as much as kindness. They thrive when they know both the boundaries and the care behind decisions.

• Organizations need sustainability. Quick wins that feel generous today can’t come at the cost of resilience tomorrow.

Why It Matters

When these needs stay unspoken, leaders start making impossible choices. They toggle between feeling “too soft” or “too hard,” never quite landing in the right place.

But when those needs are acknowledged and supported, leaders discover something powerful: you can burn bright without burning out.

A Gentle Invitation to Reflect

Pause for a moment and ask yourself:

• Where are you carrying weight that was never meant to be yours alone?

Closing with Kindness

If you’re nodding along, remember this: you don’t have to carry it in silence.

Sometimes the bravest step is allowing yourself to be supported — not as a leader or problem-solver, but as a human being navigating complexity.

📩 You can reach me at [email protected] if you’d like to explore what a safe, non-judgmental ‘space’ looks like and feels like - one where high-performing leaders can recalibrate, reconnect, and reclaim their spark.

🌱 And if you’re carrying weight right now, it may help to borrow someone else’s words until you find your own. Earlier this month, I wrote a letter to my future self in 2026 — a reminder that leadership isn’t about being unbreakable, but about being supported.

👉 You can read it here on LinkedIn.

If this resonated, hit reply or reach out. You don’t need to have the “perfect” problem defined. We’ll work it out together.

To your spark,
Mary