The Hidden Cost of Leadership: Are You Leading or Just Putting Out Fires?
Remember when we thought the hardest part of work would be the work itself? Yeah, that was cute.
Now, your days are a relentless cycle of Slack pings, back-to-back Zooms, and “urgent” requests that hijack your schedule. The strategic work you were actually hired to do? Buried under a mountain of other people's priorities. It’s exhausting—and it’s diminishing the value you bring as a leader.
Recently, I spoke with a tech exec who hadn’t seen the gym in two weeks. Why? Because she was constantly “handling it.” Fires, last-minute demands, and other people’s poor planning had become her daily agenda.
When we mapped out her month, it turned out that 80% of those “emergencies” weren’t emergencies at all. They were just mismanaged expectations landing on her plate. She had fallen into Human Giver Syndrome—a concept from Kate Manne’s book Down Girl.
Are You a Human Giver?
Manne breaks it down like this:
Human Beings: Expected to achieve, lead, and take.
Human Givers: Expected to offer time, energy, attention, support—and do it with a smile.
Sound familiar? If you’re stuck in a cycle of endless giving, you’re not leading. You’re on the fast track to burnout.
The Fix: Lead With Boundaries, Not Burnout
Avoiding burnout isn’t about "self-care Sundays"—it’s about managing your energy like a pro. Here’s what works:
✅ Say, “I’ll get back to you by [specific time]” instead of dropping everything
✅ Block deep work time in your calendar—then guard it like a client meeting
✅ Delegate aggressively (your sanity depends on it)
✅ Avoid task-switching chaos: Do the hard stuff first, then something enjoyable, then something you love
✅ No fluffy morning routines—just real boundaries and the confidence to enforce them
If you're ready to shift from reactive leadership to strategic leadership, let’s talk.
I offer complimentary strategy sessions to help leaders like you reclaim their time, increase impact, and lead without burnout. Schedule HERE.