In a recent conversation, a leader came in overwhelmed.

Not just him—his team, too.

Everything felt heavy. Priorities kept shifting. Work depended on other teams that weren’t aligned. Decisions were delayed. Progress felt slower than it should have been.

He was trying to hold it all together.

But much of what was creating the pressure…
he didn’t actually control.

As we unpacked it, the issue wasn’t effort or capability.

It was that his energy was going toward things he couldn’t change—
other teams’ timelines, unclear dependencies, competing priorities.

So everything started to feel harder than it needed to be.

We didn’t solve it by pushing through. We shifted the focus.

What do you actually have control over?

Setting clear goals.
Aligning on what success actually looks like.
Identifying dependencies and building the relationships needed to move work forward.
Breaking down silos where he could influence connection.
Asking in one-on-ones: “What roadblocks can I remove for you?”
Telling people the what, not the how—and stepping back.

Nothing about the external environment changed overnight.

But his leadership did.

And that changed how the work moved.

Control isn’t about managing everything around you.
It’s about focusing on what actually moves the work forward.

Reflection: Where might you be spending energy on things you don’t actually control?