Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of performance through strong human relations, team building, and golajiving. This is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul Fellovledo.
Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast. It's episode four fifty five. I want to start today with a personal admission. I have a hard time relaxing and doing nothing. I'm a creative, which means I have two speeds sleep or working on something, and there is no in between. And if you're listening to this, chances are you might be wired the same way. Now here's the challenge. As leaders. We're rewarded for that constant forward motion.
People look at us and think they never stop. They're always creating, building, pushing and driving the mission forward. And that's true. But there's a fine line between being productive and being consumed. So let me explain. Creativity is both a gift and a trap. The gift is obvious. It allows you to see opportunities that others miss. You can take a spark of an idea and turn it into a business, a project, or a new way of leading. That's why your team trusts you. You're the one pulling
the organization into the future. But the trap. The trap is subtle. If you're always working, always turning over the next idea, you can trick yourself into believing that rest is laziness, that downtime is wasted time. And here's the truth that took me years to learn. Rest is not wasted time, it's required time. Without it, you don't sharpen the blade, you dull it. And think about athletes, even the best in the world don't play every day. They rest, recover,
and train. If they only played, they'd burn out or get injured. Yet, leaders, especially creative ones, believe they can stay in constant output mode forever. And that's not sustainable. So here's the key leadership takeaway. If you operate with only two speeds, you need to be intentional about when you hit each one. Sleep is where you reset. But true recovery also means creating intentional margins in your life, margins where you're not producing, not creating, not pushing, but
simply allowing your mind and body to recharge. For me, I had to reframe how I thought about relaxation. I don't think of it as doing nothing anymore. I think of it as doing something critical for my leadership, taking a walk, sitting outside with a cup of coffee, having a conversation that isn't about work. Those are investments, and investments pay dividends later. When you don't create those margins that I mentioned before, here's what happens. Your creativity begins
to recycle the same old ideas. You start chasing busyness instead of progress, and worst of all, you stop being fully present with the people who need you most, both at home and at work. So, if you're like me and you only know two speeds, here's the challenge I'll leave you with today. Schedule intentional recovery. Don't just wait until you're exhausted. Treat recovery with the same importance that you would treat a meeting, a deadline, or a project with.
Put it on your calendar, protect it, and honor it. So here's the payoff with all of this. When you step back, even briefly, you don't lose momentum, You gain clarity. You come back sharper, fresher, and more creative than before. That's the difference between a leader who survives and a leader who thrives. So yes, I still have a hard time doing nothing, but I'm learning that doing nothing sometimes means doing everything that truly matters for my longevity as
a leader. This has been the seven minute Leadership Podcast, and I thank you for listening.
For more Paul fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com.