Leadership Is What You Do When You’re Tired

We talk about leadership like it’s a performance.

• Big product launch speeches
• All-hands rallying cries
• Boardroom confidence

But that’s not the real test.
​Leadership isn’t what you perform. It’s what you default to.

When the pressure’s high.
When your energy’s low.
When no one’s watching.

1. Culture is what you allow, not what you preach

When you're tired, what do you tolerate?

• That mediocre hire because backfilling is hard?
• That behavior that doesn’t match your values because they’re a top performer?

Every small compromise is a signal.
And those signals shape the real culture, not the one on the Notion doc.

2. Decisions under pressure reveal values

Leadership choices under stress are your true priorities in action.

• Do you protect speed, optics, or your team?
• Do you chase short-term relief or long-term trust?

Every trade-off you make when the clock is ticking teaches your team what actually matters around here.

3. Default behavior shapes default culture

You have patterns.​
So does your team.

When things go wrong:
Do you jump in and solve?
Do you blame?
Do you disappear?

Default behaviors become institutional.
They teach your team how to respond when stakes are high.

4. Integrity costs energy

Doing the right thing when it’s easy? That’s expected.
Doing it when it’s inconvenient? That’s leadership.

This might mean:

• Holding a tough conversation instead of pushing it
• Pausing a launch to fix the fundamentals
• Calling out misalignment when silence would be easier

That’s what separates managers from leaders.

You can’t lead on autopilot.
And when your team is watching the least, they’re learning the most.
​Lead through your defaults, not your performances.

Want support designing systems that reinforce great leadership even when you’re tired? I’ll help you institutionalize the right defaults.