When I wrote my first piece in this series, I reflected on the idea of moving from working tirelessly to working more impactfully.

At the time, it felt more like a shift in thinking. This next part feels much more real because now I’m trying to actually live it and this is proving harder than I expected!

While I’m getting clearer on what I want the future to look like, my current reality is still very full. Work is busy. Life is busy. The business continues to grow (great!). There are clients to support, a team to lead, candidates to care about, family commitments and the ongoing juggle that comes with trying to do all of those things well.

Ironically, the very thing I’m writing about – moving away from constant sprinting – is also the thing making it difficult to sit down and write this piece.

What does it look like?

What is becoming clearer for me is that this isn’t about stepping away from meaningful work. I genuinely love what I do. But I am starting to think differently about how I want life and work to fit together in the future.

For me, that picture is starting to look like:

  • More time in Wanaka, in a smaller house with less “stuff” and more simplicity
  • Continuing to work – but at a pace that feels more intentional
  • Prioritising my health and fitness in a way that isn’t negotiable
  • Creating more space for family, particularly as my daughter navigates the complexities of being a teenager
  • Making decisions based less on urgency and more on what matters most – trickier than is sounds

The strange comfort of being “soooooo busy”

One thing I’ve realised is how deeply I’ve connected busyness with productivity.

When my days are crammed with meetings and my to-do list reads like the monthly shopping list for a family of ten, there’s a part of me that feels productive, needed and valuable.

When I stop and really reflect on the moments where I’ve added the greatest value – to clients, to our business, to my team (and to my family) – it’s rarely been because I was the busiest person in the room.

It’s usually been because I was thinking clearly, I was focused on the right things, I had the space to be strategic, I was present in conversations that mattered and I made decisions aligned to where we are trying to go.

This is impact. But impact can feel less visible than effort and I think this is one of the hardest mindset shifts for many of us – for me, definitely.

Can you lead well without constantly sprinting?

This is probably the question I’m wrestling with most.

How do I continue to run a business with integrity- to our team, our clients, and the people who trust us with their careers – if I no longer want to operate at full sprint all the time?

The answer I’m slowly arriving at is this. Leadership isn’t about being perpetually busy. It’s about creating clarity, direction, energy and trust.

And perhaps one of the most important things leaders can model is that sustainable success matters too. Not just for ourselves – but for the people around us.

Do I have permission?

I think many of us are waiting for permission to slow down slightly … I certainly have been looking for this. The irony is that nobody else can give us that permission. At some point, we have to decide for ourselves that being constantly stretched isn’t the only measure of commitment, ambition or value.

I am still learning how to do that.

What I am finding out

This shift isn’t easy or linear. Some days I feel clear and intentional and other days I slip straight back into old habits and an overloaded diary.

Notwithstanding this, I am (slowly) starting to believe that quality and impact of our work matters far more than how exhausted we are while doing it. Maybe the real transition from tireless to impactful isn’t about doing less. Maybe it’s about being more deliberate about where our energy goes – and giving ourselves permission to believe that’s enough.

I’m  interested to hear whether you wrestle with this too. How do you balance ambition, responsibility, leadership and still create space for the life you want outside of work?

Leanne Crozier

This is the second in a short series as I consider what it really means for me to move from working tirelessly to working impactfully – and how I am learning to make that shift