Rebooting Your Leadership In Challenging Times

How Leaders Can Step Off the Leadership Treadmill and Reset

High-achieving women are often in constant motion—juggling responsibilities, meeting expectations, and driving results. The problem? The relentless pace can leave even the most capable leaders feeling mentally exhausted, emotionally drained, and disconnected from their purpose. This is magnified during times of uncertainty, as many people face today.

Many believe the solution is simple: Push through. Keep going. Be resilient. But resilience alone isn’t enough. Without intentional resets, leaders run on depleted energy, making decisions from fatigue rather than clarity.

The Pressure to Prove Your Value in Today’s Workplace

Workplaces today are undergoing massive shifts—layoffs, restructures, and evolving expectations have left many professionals feeling vulnerable and uncertain. In times of organizational change, there’s often an unspoken pressure to prove your worth, whether that means working longer hours, taking on additional responsibilities, or ensuring your team remains indispensable.

For many leaders, this can trigger an overwork response—believing that pushing harder will provide security.

For many leaders, this can trigger an overwork response—believing that pushing harder will provide security. But the reality is, operating from a place of fear and exhaustion doesn’t lead to better outcomes—it leads to diminished clarity, reactive decision-making, and burnout.

In moments of uncertainty, what leaders actually need isn’t to push harder—it’s a reset.

Resetting Isn’t Stopping—It’s a Strategic Recalibration

Too often, the idea of "rest" is mistaken for resetting. A weekend off, a vacation, or even a temporary slowdown might provide relief, but it doesn’t address the deeper misalignment that keeps leaders stuck in overwork cycles.

A reset isn’t about stopping—it’s about realigning so that you can move forward with more clarity, energy, and intention. It’s about identifying what’s no longer serving you and making the necessary shifts to sustain success without burnout.

Beyond Rest: How Leaders Can Reset for Sustainable Success

The real issue isn’t that leaders don’t take breaks—it’s that they don’t take the right kind of breaks.

Think about it: How often have you taken time off, only to return feeling just as overwhelmed as before? That’s because most forms of rest don’t actually solve the root cause of exhaustion. A reset, on the other hand, does.

Rest is important, and taking breaks is necessary for recovery. However, traditional rest (like time off or a short break) is passive—it helps you recover, but it doesn’t help you course-correct. An intentional reset is active—it involves reflection, recalibration, and a conscious decision to lead differently.

The 3-Part Leadership Reset Framework

Here’s what an intentional reset actually looks like:

1. Pause with Purpose

Leaders often wait until burnout forces them to slow down. But intentional resets happen before exhaustion takes over.
Ask yourself: What’s draining my energy? What’s no longer aligned with my goals?
Create regular space for self-reflection—whether it’s a structured pause, journaling, or a guided coaching process.

Many leaders believe they can’t afford to pause, but in reality, they can’t afford not to. Without intentional pauses, they risk making decisions from a place of exhaustion rather than clarity. A true leader knows that stepping back strategically isn’t a sign of weakness—it’s a sign of wisdom.

2. Recalibrate Your Leadership Priorities

Are you spending time on what truly matters or just reacting to what’s urgent?
Leadership success isn’t just about doing more—it’s about doing what aligns with your values, strengths, and long-term goals.
Identify areas where small adjustments can create a significant impact.

When leaders don’t recalibrate, they often find themselves chasing goals that no longer serve them. They might be holding onto old definitions of success that feel misaligned with who they are today. A reset helps them step back and ask, Is this still the right path for me?

3. Reset Your Energy and Focus

Without regular resets, decision fatigue clouds your ability to lead with confidence.
Identify micro-resets that restore your clarity—such as brief strategic breaks, restructured work rhythms, or even how you start and end your day.
Make resetting a consistent practice, not a reactive emergency measure.

One of the biggest misconceptions about resetting is that it requires huge, life-altering changes. In reality, even small resets—like changing the way you approach meetings, restructuring your schedule, or setting firmer boundaries—can have a huge impact on your effectiveness as a leader.

How to Know You Need a Reset

If you’re experiencing any of the following, you may be overdue for a leadership reset:

You’re working harder than ever to prove your value in an uncertain work environment.
You’re reacting instead of leading proactively more often than you'd like
Decision-making feels draining rather than empowering.
You feel disconnected from your purpose or unsure if your work still aligns.
No amount of "pushing through" seems to regain your focus.
You feel stuck in a cycle of overwhelm, burnout, and recovery—only to start the cycle again.
You feel like you’ve lost your spark—the passion that once fueled you has been replaced with obligation.
You feel more frazzled than satisfied at the end of the day.

The Reset: Your Leadership Reboot

The best leaders don’t just work hard—they know when to reset.

Imagine what leadership would feel like if you weren’t constantly running on empty. What if, instead of waiting for burnout to force you into a break, you had a built-in system for resetting before exhaustion sets in?

The Reset is designed for high-achieving women who need a structured way to pause, recalibrate, and step back into their leadership with more clarity and energy.

Through guided reflection, strategic recalibration, and micro-resets that create real change, The Reset helps leaders reclaim their energy, refocus their leadership, and move forward with renewed purpose.

📥 Want a simple framework to start your own leadership reset? Download The Leadership Reset Guide for practical strategies you can implement today!

About Linda Rhoads

With over 30 years of leadership experience, Linda now works with high-achieving women who feel overworked, overwhelmed, or misaligned with their leadership path. As a certified executive coach (PCC), she helps leaders move beyond self-doubt and outdated leadership expectations to lead with confidence, authenticity, and impact.

Her work focuses on leadership presence, personal fulfillment, and stepping into leadership on your own terms—all without sacrificing who you are.