The Cost of Skipping the Pause

Balance as leadership capacity

Over the past few weeks, I’ve had the same conversation with a few different leaders. Each of them is working hard, has a calendar that is overflowing and are managing a backlog that seems urgent and never-ending. In one way or another, they’ve said something like, “I can’t really step away right now, the team depends on me” or  “I need a break, but there’s too much going on”.  Leaders end up here because they care about the work and the team. At the same time, this is where leadership impact can start to slip.

 Lesson from the trail

I was on a trail run over the weekend. The course followed a figure-eight route that runners had to complete twice, with an aid station at the intersection. That meant crossing the same aid station four times in total, with roughly five or six miles—about an hour—between visits. Early in the run, I felt strong. And because I knew I’d see the aid station again soon, I was tempted to just keep going. Stopping felt unnecessary, maybe even inefficient, since another chance to recharge would come along before long.

 But I didn’t skip it. I forced myself to stop for a few minutes, get some water, slow my heart rate, and reset. That small pause made the rest of the run meaningfully better. My pace evened out, my energy stayed consistent, and I finished stronger than I would have if I’d relied on momentum alone. Two other runners at roughly my fitness level chose to skip the aid station a couple of times and ended up finishing well behind me.

 The leadership lesson is pretty obvious.  When energy is high and things are moving, it’s easy to convince ourselves that balance can wait and that we’ll recharge later, when the pressure eases or we catch up on the backlog. But skipping those small moments of rebalancing has a cost. Not always immediately, but inevitably.

 Things to look for

Often, the first place that cost shows up is in judgment. Leaders may notice that their energy seems low or inconsistent even though the work is still important. Decisions may feel rushed and are often meant made to clear the backlog rather than with curiosity or discernment that can lead to better decisions. Conversations can shorten and become transactional. Listening takes more effort. More and more decisions seem to land on the leader’s desk, not because the team isn’t capable, but because it feels faster or easier to just handle them personally.

This erosion of discernment shows up clearly in situational leadership. Burned-out leaders tend to lead by extremes: micromanaging highly capable, experienced team members, or over-empowering newer ones before they’re ready. In both cases, the issue isn’t intent—it’s misalignment. When energy is low, patience thinner, and perspective narrowed, matching leadership style to the situation becomes more difficult.

These patterns are important signals. Much like passing an aid station multiple times on a long run, they’re opportunities to notice what’s happening and decide whether to pause.

 The importance of balance

This is where balance matters, not as “time off”, but as a capacity builder and a leadership superpower. A leaders impact is reduced when they are depleted. Leverage shrinks as more decisions flow through a single person. Alignment gets fuzzy when everything feels urgent. Resilience erodes without recovery. Balance isn’t separate from these elements; it’s what keeps impact, leverage, alignment and resilience firing together.

 The encouraging part is that restoring balance doesn’t require dramatic change. While its not a quick fix for systemic burnout, even fifteen minutes a day, used intentionally, can help leaders reset their energy and sharpen their judgment. A short stretching, journaling, or simply stepping away from a screen long enough to think can be enough. Other things like a happy hour with friends or stretching our mind by learning a new skill have been shown to have a disproportionate impact on leadership effectiveness. 

Like stopping briefly at an aid station, these small pauses don’t slow progress, they make what comes next more sustainable.

The bottom line

Leadership is an endurance sport. Enduring leaders aren’t the ones who skip every aid station because they believe momentum will carry them through. They’re the ones who know when to slow down just enough to sustain energy, clarity, and impact over the long haul.

Balance isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s part of the work.