Mastering Intentional Leadership: Where's Your Energy Really Going?
Heather McGonigal opens this episode by naming energy as a resource with real limits, and Barbara Schindler builds out the framing they use at Leadership With a Twist: mindset, intention, and self-awareness. The conversation grew out of coaching a client returning to work after maternity leave, someone who suddenly had to get specific about where her hours and attention were going, work versus family versus herself. Heather and Barbara use that real situation to unpack something every leader deals with, whether their circumstances are changing or not. Energy leaks happen quietly, usually through worry, rumination, or carrying a hard meeting's emotional residue into the next task.
They introduce the pause as the tool that catches a draining pattern before it spreads, and they're specific about the dose: 90 seconds to two minutes, not a long break. Barbara shares her own ritual, making a cup of tea, as a way of creating space to process before moving on. They also walk through what they call the advanced power of the pause, giving a tense team situation 24 hours before deciding whether it needs your intervention at all, because distance often changes what you see.
The second half of the conversation covers building end-of-day and end-of-week reviews as agreements with yourself. Heather shares a client example of a Friday note that previews the coming week's priorities for herself and her team, and her own flexible Friday practice, structured meetings early in the week and open space at the end to finish on her own terms.
Key Takeaways
- Energy is a limited resource, and leadership starts with managing your own on purpose.
- A 90-second to two-minute pause interrupts an energy leak before it compounds into a drained day.
- Daily and weekly self-agreements build a rhythm that steadies you when the workload doesn't cooperate.
Action Steps
- Build a 2-minute end-of-day check-in: where did my energy go, and what does tomorrow need?
- Try the advanced pause. Give a tense team situation 24 hours before you decide to act on it.
- Set a flexible Friday, or an equivalent open block, to close out your week on your own terms.
Questions to Reflect On
- Where did my energy actually go today, and where did I intentionally direct it?
- What agreement could I make with myself that would steady me during a chaotic week?
- Am I pausing to process, or am I carrying yesterday's meeting into today's work?
Want to build habits like these into your leadership rhythm? Book a complimentary coffee chat: https://www.empoweringleadershipteams.com/coffeechat
About the Hosts: Coach Heather and Coach Barbara are the lead Executive Coaches of Empowering Leadership Teams. They specialize in helping entrepreneurial businesses and their teams meet the moment and become the most empowered they can be to work together and achieve optimal results. With deep expertise in leadership development, team dynamics, and navigating organizational transition, they bring practical, actionable wisdom to leaders facing the challenges of today's rapidly changing business environment.
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