Big Storms vs. Small Drains: What Really Exhausts Leaders
It’s not the crises that break us - it’s the constant drizzle we never question
Yesterday, I had the opportunity to do some speed mentoring with women athletes at William and Mary, my alma mater. Several of them asked about my first job.
I shared the story of showing up for Day 1… only to be told that the government contract hadn’t been signed and there was no job for me.
As a 22-year-old who had just moved to the DC area, relying on my paycheck for rent, my car payment, and all the costs of being a young adult, it was terrifying.
But looking back, that storm taught me something I still carry today: even when things don’t look like I thought they would, I’ll figure it out.
The big storms in life have a way of putting everything into perspective.
When we’ve made it through something truly hard, a personal setback, a professional crisis, or a leadership challenge that shook us - it makes us wonder why we give away so much energy to the smaller “squalls.”
Did I say the right thing?
Should I have handled that meeting differently?
Am I doing enough in this moment?
Storms show us we can endure. Often, they leave us stronger, more resilient, and clearer about what really matters.
Imagine the energy we could reclaim if we stopped worrying about the drizzle and focused instead on:
What we can control right now
What we can plan for tomorrow
What we can learn from yesterday, without trying to rewrite it
This week brought some drizzle and storms of its own. If I graded myself, I’d give an overall B-: some As, some Ds. And that’s real life. We’re human. We won’t show up perfectly every time.
But endurance means noticing those D-moments, adjusting, and asking:
How much energy am I giving this—and does it deserve that much of me?
We don’t get to avoid every storm. But we do get to decide how we respond, and how much energy we spend fighting the storm or being frustrated by the drizzle.
Leadership endurance is about intentionally using our energy in the ways that serve us best.
What small storms or drizzly conditions are draining your energy today?
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