Fatigue doesn’t always look like fatigue. By mid-October, the change is hard to miss. The mornings are darker. The evenings arrive earlier. Temperatures are dropping. And for people working long shifts, rotating schedules or physically demanding jobs, seasonal changes can add another layer to something leaders should already be watching closely: fatigue. In field environments, we tend to think about fatigue as a safety issue—and it absolutely is. But it’s also a people issue.

Finishing strong doesn’t mean doing everything. October marks the beginning of the final quarter of the year. For many leaders, that means looking at the goals set back in January and realizing there’s suddenly a lot left to accomplish—and not much year left to accomplish it in. The instinct can be to push harder. More urgency. More meetings. More priorities added to an already full list. But this is often when I encourage leaders to do the opposite: pause and prioritize. Tak

The question you ask can change the conversation you have. I recently watched a TED Talk by bestselling author Vanessa Van Edwards about the questions we ask when we're trying to connect with people. Think about some of our defaults: How are you?Been busy?What's new? We ask them automatically and usually get automatic answers in return. Van Edwards suggests changing the question. Instead of: “Been busy lately?” Try: “Working on anything exciting lately?” It's a small shift, b

Being honest about how you're feeling doesn't make you less of a leader. I recently watched a clip from Marc Brackett, Founder and Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, that really resonated with me. He talked about something I see often in my own work with leaders: the belief that leadership means projecting strength—even when you're stressed, anxious, or overwhelmed. I've probably been guilty of it myself. When you're responsible for a team, there's an ins

Sustainable performance is built in routines, not bursts of motivation. By early October, the “back to school” feeling is pretty much over. Nobody is sharpening new pencils anymore. The novelty of September has worn off. We’re simply in it. And that’s where leadership gets interesting. Fresh starts are motivating because they create energy. New year. New quarter. New project. New role. But motivation fades. Rhythm is what remains. The strongest teams I’ve worked with don’t

A new quarter is a good time to stop carrying old weight. October 1 feels like a fresh start. New month. New quarter. New targets. But before adding another list of priorities, there’s a better question to ask: What should we stop doing? Most teams don’t struggle because they have too few priorities. They struggle because new work keeps getting added while old work never goes away. The meeting that no longer serves a purpose. The report nobody really reads. The process cre