Leadership Essentials

⏱ 5 min read

In a rush? Here is the quick overview.

The issue

• Leaders often spend the whole day supporting people, answering messages, and solving problems without creating space to actually lead.
• Without intentional reflection time, it becomes harder to see patterns, anticipate obstacles, and make decisions from a broader perspective.

Best practices for you as the leader

• Build short, distraction-free "Just Breathe" moments into your workday.
• Use that time to reflect on your team, your priorities, your longer-term goals, and what really needs your attention.
• Choose a method that works for you, commit to it for a month, then adjust and keep practicing.

Key takeaway

Reflection time is not a break from leadership. It is one of the practices that helps you lead with clarity, perspective, and intention.

The Problem at Hand

Leaders spend a lot of time supporting people.

• You answer questions.
• You respond to messages.
• You solve problems.
• You jump into meetings.
• You check in on your team.
• You handle the fire of the moment.

And all of that matters.

But here’s the problem: if your entire day is spent reacting, responding, and supporting, you may not be leaving enough space to actually lead.

Because leadership requires more than being available.

It requires perspective.

You need time to think about where the team is going, what might get in the way, what your people need from you, and whether you are spending your time on the right things.

And that does not usually happen in the middle of back-to-back meetings and nonstop instant messages.

Which brings me to one of the simplest, most underrated leadership practices I know:

Just Breathe.

The Workout Reminder

Hey, exercise fans. What’s the one phrase you hear in every workout class, no matter the discipline?

CrossFit. Pilates. Orangetheory. HIIT. Zumba. Barre. Yoga.

Different formats. Same reminder:

"Just Breathe."

Now let me ask you something.

Leaders — how often do you take the time to just breathe?

I do not mean the wellness trend version.

I mean the leadership version.

The intentional pause. The quiet moment. The space to lift your head and think.

For leaders, this is not a nice-to-have. It is part of the job.

The Leader's Guilt Trap

Many leaders feel guilty stepping away during the workday — even briefly.

I did, for years.

Here’s what my days used to look like:

• Log in first thing and immediately check email.
• Respond to as many messages as possible before meetings began.
• Do quick check-ins with team members.
• Spend the rest of the day pivoting between meetings, firefighting issues, supporting the team, and scanning emails whenever there was a pause.
• Live in instant messaging — nonstop.
• End the day answering remaining messages, checking on my people again, and clearing more email.

Most days ran 10 hours straight, often without a real lunch break.

And to be fair — I got a lot done.

But here was the problem.

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Supporting Is Not the Same as Leading

As a leader, part of my job was to support my team.

And I was good at that.

The other part was to lead.

Leading means:

• Looking ahead.
• Anticipating obstacles.
• Holding a clear vision for the future.
• Making decisions that moved us toward longer-term goals.

That part? I wasn’t nearly as strong.

Why?

Because true leadership requires space.

You have to lift your head up long enough to see the forest through the trees.

And when every minute is filled, that never happens.

LeDev Advice

Discovering the Power of “Just Breathe”

Later in my career, I started intentionally building “Just Breathe” moments into my workday.

At first, it felt wrong.

"Shouldn't I be working?"
"There's so much to do."
"People need me."

But over time, I saw the impact.

Those moments made me more centered, more focused, and far more effective.

Not because I was doing more.

Because I was finally giving myself space to prioritize the right things at the right time.

Not just for that day, but for where my team needed to go next.

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What It Looked Like in Practice

Here’s what those “Just Breathe” moments looked like in practice for me:

• Morning: A 15-minute walk around my neighborhood.
• Midday: Another 15-minute walk at lunch.
• End of day: One final walk before logging off.

And this part matters:

No phone. No messages. No distractions.

The purpose wasn’t productivity — it was perspective.

I was not trying to create another planning meeting with myself. I was giving my brain room to think without the constant noise of the day.

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The Questions I Reflected On

During those walks, I’d deliberately ask myself questions like:

• How is the team really doing?
• What do they need right now to be at their best?
• How do I need to adjust my time to meet those needs?
• How are we actually tracking against our six‑month goals?
• Of today’s fires, which ones truly matter in the bigger picture?
• How did today go — and what should I adjust tomorrow?
• Do I have the right plan for my day and my week?

Sometimes I came back with a clear answer.

Sometimes I came back with a better question.

Both were useful.

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Why These Moments Worked

What I loved about these “Just Breathe” sessions:

• My mind finally had room to think beyond the day-to-day noise.
• I was not taking notes, so it did not feel like another task.
• There was no audience, which made it a judgment-free zone.
• I could be fully honest with myself about what was working, what was not working, and what needed my attention.

That kind of honesty is hard to access when you are moving from one demand to the next.

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What I Gained

The results surprised me.

• Some of my best ideas surfaced during these moments.
• Slowing down helped me see things I had missed while moving fast.
• I had multiple “aha” moments that changed how I showed up as a leader.
• Other times, reflection simply confirmed that I was on the right path, which gave me the confidence to stay the course.

My biggest learning lesson?

Clarity comes when the noise quiets.

Summary