How do you lead when you’re drowning in pressure? For me, the answer didn’t come easily.
In a world that glorifies constant hustle, slowing down can feel like failure. But the longer I ignored the hidden weight I was carrying, the deeper I sank into disillusionment and soul fatigue, drifting toward a version of leadership that was doing more harm than good.
Leadership is supposed to inspire. Yet there I was: treading water, holding a heavy net above my head, convinced that if I just worked harder, I could keep afloat.
Leadership can feel exhilarating at times, but it can also feel like treading water while holding a net above your head.
For me, that moment came when:
This wasn’t leadership. It was slow-motion drowning. I didn’t know how to lead when I was drowning in pressure. And it was silently pulling me under.
In my darkest moments, I had to confront a hard truth: I was not designed to navigate this leadership moment alone.
The moment things began to shift was the moment I got honest.
And that honesty didn’t come easily. I’d like to say that I gladly took these first steps toward healing and realignment with confidence and joyful anticipation. That would be a lie. It felt like admitting defeat. Like confessing I wasn’t the leader I wanted to be. But naming the biases, speaking them out loud, wasn’t weakness. It was the beginning of wisdom.
I realized I was trapped by:
Naming these distortions didn’t fix everything overnight. But it was the essential first step to regaining clarity. If you’re wondering how to lead when you’re drowning in pressure, this is where it begins: name your biases, name your reality.
That’s why I created this simple tool: 📄 Spot the Bias Worksheet — Download here.
It’s designed to help leaders pause, reflect, and identify the hidden biases that keep them stuck.
You can’t lead forward until you name where you are.
Before diving into practical steps, let me share this: The external pressures didn’t vanish. But my internal posture did. I went from reactive to reflective. From isolated to supported. And most importantly, from treading water aimlessly to moving forward with clarity and intention.
Once I named my biases, here’s what helped me begin moving forward:
A Clear Framework to Organize the Chaos Revisiting my mission, values, strategy, and capacity realigned my efforts.
Counterattacks of Praise “Stop negotiating with heaviness. Combat it with praise. Fight back with truth. You were not born to carry what Jesus came to break.” -@chrisdurso
Console those who mourn in Zion. Give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; That they may be called trees of righteousness, The planting of the LORD, that He may be glorified. Isaiah 61:3 NKJV
Trusted Voices to Help Me Discern Coaches, financial professionals, counselors, mentors, and trusted friends spoke clarity into my fog. And, they carried me for a bit when I couldn’t bear the weight.
Small, Faithful Steps Not grand reinventions, just the next right step in alignment with my core purpose.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed, off-course, isolated, or drowning in your leadership right now, hear this:
Isolation amplifies pressure. But clarity is born in honest community.
The first step is to stop pretending. Name what’s real. Invite trusted voices into the process.
That’s when the pressure begins to lift.
This clarity didn’t happen in isolation. It happened because I finally accepted:
I am not alone in this leadership moment. Neither are you.
Take a breath with me right now.
Inhale: “I am not alone.”
Exhale: “God is with me in this moment.”
Leadership clarity begins with courageous honesty. Learning how to lead when you’re drowning in pressure isn’t about superhuman strength. It’s about slowing down long enough to listen, name what’s real, and invite others in. You’re not meant to do this alone.
📩 Book a Vision Clarity Conversation
You don’t have to carry the net alone.
With clarity and care,
Jeff
