03 Are You Ready for Sustainable Leadership?

Are you doing all the “right” things—but still feeling exhausted, overwhelmed, or unfulfilled in your leadership role? In this episode of Joyfully Unstoppable, we’re unpacking the truth about sustainable leadership—and why the version of leadership many of us were taught is quietly burning us out.

You’ll learn:
 🌿 Why high-functioning burnout is so common among women leaders
 🌿 What sustainable leadership actually looks and feels like
 🌿 The powerful mindset shifts that move you from hustle to alignment
 🌿 Why it’s not your fault if leadership feels too heavy—and how to lead differently
 🌿 How the Frantic to Flourishing program helps you lead with confidence, clarity, and joy

If you’re craving a new way to lead—one that honors your values, energy, and voice—this episode is for you.

Joyfully Unstoppable—helping women reconnect with what matters most.

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Transcript

0:06

Welcome to Joyfully Unstoppable, the podcast for women who are ready to lead boldly, live lightly, and reclaim their joy. Whether you're leading a team, a classroom, a boardroom, or your own big, beautiful life, I'm so glad you found us. I am your host, Becky Ham leadership coach, speaker and founder of Women Lead Well. After years of high level leadership, I discovered that success doesn't have to come at the cost of your peace, your values, or your wellbeing. Each week, we'll explore what it means to lead with clarity, confidence, and authenticity. Even in a world that tells you to hustle harder and prove your worth, you carry a lot. Let's help it feel lighter. Now, if leadership has ever felt like it's costing you more than it's giving back, you found yourself exhausted, stretched too thin, or wondering how you can keep it all up, you're in the right place. Because today we are challenging the idea that burnout is just a part of the job.'cause my friend, it is not. There's another way to lead a way that honors your energy. Your values and your wellbeing. I know it feels impossible, but it's true. Let's talk about what it means to lead in a way that actually sustains you. Now, let's be honest, so many women in leadership are struggling silently. On paper. Things might look great. You're getting results, you're hitting your deadlines, you're leading meetings and teams, even big teams, and you're getting results, but you are constantly on edge, exhausted, overwhelmed. Maybe even resentful. I get it. I've lived it. I remember nights where I would lay in bed, replaying every conversation from the day, wondering if I said the right thing. If I had done enough, if I came across in the way that I should, I kept raising the bar on myself thinking that was what good leaders did that you never drop a ball, you never disappoint. You always be on, you always be available to everyone and be responsive so you can take advantage of opportunities. But that version of leadership. Is not sustainable. It's performative. It's leadership based on proving your worth rather than owning your value and it leaves you depleted. The truth is that many of us were taught to lead like machines. Productive, predictable, always on, but we're not machines, we're human. We have seasons, rhythms, limits. We have needs leadership that denies that. Truth isn't strong, it's brittle. Now if leadership feels heavy, it's not because you're doing it wrong, it's because you've been carrying it in a way that was never meant to be sustainable. And that's what we're here to change. So what is sustainable leadership? At its core, it's leadership that honors your nervous system, your values, your energy, your long-term vision. It's about creating a life and an approach to leadership. That you don't have to recover from. Sustainable leadership isn't about scaling back your ambition. It's about shifting your approach. It's moving from hustle. To rhythm from proving to presence, from control, to trust you, trust your people, you trust your process. It's grounded in capacity, not constant output. It's about doing less for the sake of value. It's about doing what matters most in a way that aligns with who you are. Let me give you a picture. Think of yourself not as a factory, but as a garden. Now factories run 24 7 and they only use external energy. They wear out. They break down. They need constant maintenance gardens. They thrive in cycles. They flourish with the right balance of work and rest, sun and shade, pruning and blooming. My friend. You are not a factory, you are a garden. And now sustainable leadership means tending to yourself with that same kind of care. It means aligning your decisions. Your energy and your boundaries with your values. It means creating systems that support you, not systems that depend on you being at full capacity a hundred percent of the time. Efficiency is important, but it is not everything. When you lead in this way, not only do you thrive, you team and your work, you magnify your impact. Now, unsustainable leadership doesn't just lead to burnout. It leads to disconnection. You lose sight of what you love about your work. You lose your voice. You start to wonder if leadership is even worth it. It, it sure ain't fun. And on top of that, there's the emotional toll, the guilt when you try to rest, the anxiety that won't shut off at night. The sense that you're always behind. That's not leadership, that's survival. We've been conditioned to believe that exhaustion is a badge of honor, right? I mean, that's the American thing, that being overwhelmed is just part of being in charge. It is a lie, and it's one we don't have to keep believing. Let me say this clearly. If you are tired, it doesn't mean you're failing. It means you're listening. Your body, your mind, your spirit. They're telling you something, and the sooner you pay attention, the more power you have to create change. Sustainable leadership is possible and it's not something you have to figure out on your own. If any of this is resonating, you are probably already on the edge of transformation. Now. Here are some signs. You're ready for a more sustainable approach. You crave clarity, but constantly feel pulled in too many directions. You might have a to-do list, but urgent popups crowd out the meaningful progress, right? You're getting things done, but you feel disconnected from your deeper purpose. You come to the end of your day worn out, but you don't necessarily feel like you've actually accomplished anything. You wanna set boundaries, but you feel guilty or you're not sure how to do it. There's this little voice in the back of your head telling you that you should be able to do it all and be available to everyone 24 7. You're tired of being high functioning, but low fulfillment. You just want it to feel good again. You've accomplished a ton, but you wanna feel like yourself doing it now. If you're nodding along right now, please know you are not broken. I. Like you're seeing what work, what's working, and you're starting to imagine what's possible, and that is powerful. That's the first step, and that's exactly why I started Joyfully Unstoppable. It's a podcast to help women in leadership reconnect with their values, their voice, and their vision, and lead in a way that actually feels good. It's not just about mindset, it's about embodiment. It's about nervous system regulation. Yeah. And it's also about building new rhythms. Setting those healthy boundaries and creating systems that support you inside the podcast will help you move from over-functioning to aligned delegation.'cause you don't really have to do it all. Go from reactive to rhythmic. Rebuild your confidence from the inside out. Stop needing external validation to feel like a leader. We will help you lead from a place of strength and softness, my friend. You don't need another productivity hack. You need a new relationship with your leadership and with yourself. And Joyfully Unstoppable is here to help you create exactly that you deserve to lead well and live well. Now if this episode has sparked something inside of you, I'd love to invite you to download my free guide to creating a weekly reset routine. It's a powerful first step toward leading in a way that sustains you. You'll find the link below in the show notes because sustainable leadership isn't a fantasy. It is a practice, and you can begin today. My friends. I hope that you are doing well. I hope that this podcast has energized you, encouraged you a little bit. Please like, subscribe, share it with your friends. as always, stay amazing. I'll see you next time.