The H2 Leadership Podcast

We are leading in one of the most anxious moments in recent history. The attention economy, the age of outrage, nonstop news cycles, and the pressure to have an answer for everything — it's a lot. And most leaders are moving from confusion straight to action without ever stopping to get clarity. In this episode, Alan Briggs shares five necessary skills he believes every leader needs right now. Not hacks. Not productivity tips. These are the deeper practices that keep you grounded, tethered, and leading with conviction instead of anxiety, even when everything around you feels like it's spinning. This is fresh teaching from Alan. He describes it as something that was crystallizing for him in real time. And if you've been feeling the weight of these anxious times in your leadership, this one is for you. What You'll Learn: Why the antidote to overwhelm is not certainty — it's clarity, and how fighting for even 5% of it shifts everything What it really means to listen to understand — and why this skill matters most when change is highest The gift of Sabbath and micro-rest that most leaders have left unwrapped for years How to discern when and how to respond to crisis — and why you are not a PR firm required to comment on everything Why you need to audit who and what you're listening to — and what to do when your inputs are producing bad fruit The most counterintuitive leadership shift Alan has seen in a decade: trading winning for faithfulness What changes when you lead from conviction and Spirit-guided wisdom instead of pressure and anxiety Key Insight: When overwhelm is high, the antidote is not certainty — it is clarity. And when you fight for even a small amount of clarity, overwhelm and clarity have an inverse relationship. One goes up, the other comes down. Reflection Questions: What would change if you led from conviction and Spirit-guided wisdom instead of pressure or anxiety? Of these five skills, which one do you most need to lean into right now — and what's one step you can take this week? Resources Mentioned: Right Side Up Journal — coaching companion tool (available on Amazon) Want More? For coaching, resources, and tools to help you lead as a Healthy + High Impact leader, visit www.h2leadership.com.

You're not behind. You're just running too fast. Most leaders think the answer to overwhelm is speed—more efficiency, tighter schedules, faster execution. But what if the real problem isn't that you're doing too little? What if it's that you're running at an unsustainable pace that's hurting you, your family, your work, and your team? In this final episode of our Five Spheres of an H2 Leader series, we're tackling pace, how fast you're running, why you're running that fast, and what it's costing you. Most leaders execute from anxiety and shame, not focus and clarity. They're running FROM something instead of running TO something. And when you run too fast for too long, everything suffers—your health, your relationships, your creativity, and your team's culture. Alan breaks down the difference between personal activation (how fast you're running) and communal activation (how fast you're driving your team to run). And he introduces the concept that changes everything: effectiveness over efficiency. What You'll Learn: Why most leaders execute from anxiety and shame instead of focus and clarity—and how to shift from running FROM something to running TO something Personal activation vs. communal activation: how your pace directly impacts everyone around you (whether you realize it or not) The efficiency trap: why focusing on "doing all the things as fast as possible" kills creativity, presence, and quality Peter Drucker's definition of effectiveness: doing the right things well—not all the things quickly How to identify if you're running at a sustainable pace: the 1-10 self-assessment and why most leaders overestimate their capacity Four things that suffer when you run too fast: your health (cardiac issues, stress, sleep), those you love (presence, connection), your work (creativity, quality, enjoyment), and your team (culture, morale, burnout) The seasonal awareness principle: why some sprint seasons are okay—but only if you know they're seasons with a beginning and an end Why hurry is literally killing you: the science on how chronic rushing impacts everything from heart health to weight to sleep quality The communal cost of your pace: how your speed becomes your team's speed—and why your anxiety cascades down the org chart Sabbath as the killer app: one day a week where you get to just be human, not a leader—and why this weekly rhythm recalibrates your entire pace The scarcity mentality test: if you find yourself saying "there's never enough time to ___," you're running from scarcity, not toward clarity How to move from efficiency (doing all things fast) to effectiveness (doing the right things well) Why you're probably not behind: the lie that you need to run faster, and the truth that you need to run smarter The Right Side Up Journal: a 10-minute daily practice to focus your day, prioritize what matters, and remember that your son's basketball game tonight is more important than your task list Key Insight: You have way more influence than you think. The people around you are watching how you run, feeling your anxiety, and absorbing your pace. When you slow down, you give your team permission to breathe. When you focus on effectiveness over efficiency, you create space for creativity, presence, and quality. When you Sabbath weekly, you remind yourself—and your team—that the world runs just fine without you grinding 24/7. Reflection Questions: How sustainable is the pace you're running at right now? (1-10) What would your family say about your pace? What would your team say about the pace you're setting? Are you running FROM something (anxiety, shame, scarcity) or TO something (purpose, clarity, mission)? What are the 3-4 right things you should be doing right now—and are you doing them well, or just fast? Series Context: This is the fifth and final episode in our Five Spheres of an H2 Leader series. The five spheres are: Influence - How you wield your relational and positional power Health - How you live integr

We're so busy watching everyone else—scrolling feeds, comparing ourselves to other leaders, checking what the competition is doing—that we've become incredibly others-aware and dangerously self-unaware. Self-awareness isn't a buzzword. It's the difference between walking into a meeting grounded or bringing your frustration, anxiety, and chaos with you—and watching it cascade to everyone around you. Here's the truth: as goes the leader, so goes the team. Your mood changes rooms. Your anxiety creates anxiety. Your groundedness brings clarity. In this episode, we're diving into the third sphere of leadership that most people ignore: how your emotions, your wiring, and your weaknesses are impacting the people you lead. Whether you realize it or not. Since Daniel Goleman published his work on emotional intelligence, self-awareness has been everywhere. It's in every leadership book, every conference, every corporate training. But here's the irony: we're at an all-time high for talking about self-awareness and an all-time low for actually practicing it. Why? Because we're too busy being others-aware. Always looking at what everyone else is doing. Always comparing. Always feeling behind. This episode cuts through the noise and gives you three practical aspects of self-awareness that will change how you lead: What You'll Learn: Why being "others-aware" is making you dangerously self-unaware—and how to fix it Social contagion: the psychological reality that your mood spreads to your team whether you want it to or not The space between stimulus and response—and why mastering this one thing prevents unnecessary blowups How to identify your emotional triggers before they derail your day (and a real story of how this saved a family evening) Why context determines the course: how your energy and encouragement levels shape every conversation Your assets vs. your liabilities: understanding what work energizes you and what work drains you Patrick Lencioni's Working Genius framework and why it's a game-changer for understanding your wiring The six types: geniuses, frustrations, and competencies—and how to identify yours Why it's not the amount of work burning you out, it's the type of work (and what to do about it) Drains and fills: how to design your days around what gives you energy Why some leaders love conferences and others absolutely hate them (it's all about wiring) How to build a team that complements your strengths and covers your weaknesses Key Insight: Most leaders think they're burned out because they're doing too much work. The reality? You're doing the wrong type of work for your wiring. If you spent eight hours a day doing spreadsheets when you're wired for ideation, you'd be burned out in weeks. If you're wired for details and you're forced to brainstorm all day, same result. Self-awareness means knowing your drains and your fills—and designing your role around both. The Three Aspects of Self-Awareness: Emotions - How my emotions impact others Assets - What energizes and fulfills me (my wiring, my geniuses) Liabilities - What drains me (my frustrations, my weaknesses) Reflection Questions: What is one situation that brings you emotions that are unhealthy or unfair to the people around you? What are a few assets or parts of your wiring that you need to be utilizing more in your role? What are some liabilities you need to name to your team—and how can you do less of those things? A self-aware leader can serve others well with full awareness of who they are and who they're not. This is identity work. You cannot be all things. You are not good at all things. And you cannot compare off somebody else's paper and expect to lead like them. Resources Mentioned: Patrick Lencioni - The Six Types of Working Genius (book and assessment available at workinggenius.com) Right Side Up Journal - Coaching companion tool (available on Amazon) Daniel Goleman - Work on emotional intelligence Want to go deeper? We offer Working Geni

Leader, welcome back to 2026. We're going straight at it. Instead of starting the year with goal setting alone, we're going beneath the surface to who you are as a leader. Because here's the reality: you have way more influence than you think — and how you wield that leadership influence shapes everything around you. This episode kicks off our new series on The Five Spheres of an H2 Leader, starting with Influence. Over the next five episodes, we'll unpack the foundational areas every Healthy + High Impact leader must pay attention to: Influence, Health, Self-Awareness, Design, and Space. Today, we're tackling the first sphere: how to use your influence to build empowering cultures instead of toxic leadership environments. The Tale of Two Leaders One leader I coach lives under the shadow of an insecure boss who constantly needs attention and affirmation. This sharp, competent leader has been slowly diminished over time — beaten down by someone who doesn't comprehend their own influence. The other leader I coach does the exact opposite. They're constantly asking, "How can I raise my team up? How can I get them to shine?" They form a protective line so their people — especially young leaders — can succeed. Beat down or lift up. That's the question. Do the people around you feel diminished by your presence, or empowered by it? What You'll Learn About Leadership Influence: Why your mood and emotional presence change the atmosphere of every room you enter The difference between wielding influence to diminish vs. multiply team effectiveness How unexamined leadership authority wounds people (even when you don't mean to) Why creating empowering cultures requires regular rhythms, not one-off gestures Practical ways to delegate effectively and raise others up without losing organizational effectiveness How to prevent leadership burnout by building trust-based team dynamics The 70% rule for when to hand off responsibilities and empower team members Three Steps to Healthy Leadership Influence: Comprehend the power you have — Ask your team how your leadership impacts them (both positively and negatively) Find tangible ways to raise others up — Give credit, take blame, empower decisions, delegate authority Stay grounded with a posture of service — Regularly, not just once a year. This is how sustainable leadership works. Signs You're Using Influence Poorly: Your team hesitates to bring you problems or bad news People wait for you to make every decision (no empowerment) You walk into meetings grumpy and the whole room shuts down Team members don't feel trusted until they've "earned it" High turnover or quiet quitting in your organization How to Build an Empowering Culture: Start with trust instead of making people earn it (Stephen Covey's "Speed of Trust" principle) Use the 70% rule: If someone can do it 70% as well as you with upward momentum, hand it off Give credit publicly, take blame privately Bring others with you to high-visibility opportunities Create decision-making frameworks so your team can act without you Reflection Questions for Leaders: Who are you actively empowering right now? How are you specifically doing that? Do people around you feel lifted up or beat down by your leadership? What would your team say about your emotional presence? Memorable Quote: "The leader who does not comprehend their influence is bound to wound the people around them." What's Next in This Series: Next week, we dive into Sphere 2: Health — why leaders who don't take care of themselves can't sustain impact. If you want to lead with clarity instead of chaos in 2026, this series is your foundation. Take Your Next Right Step: Visit h2leadership.com for leadership coaching, team consulting, and resources to help you lead as a Healthy + High Impact leader. If this episode served you: Rate and review the podcast Share it with another leader dealing with team dynamics or leadership burnout Subscribe so you don't miss the rest of the s

Feeling stuck, overwhelmed, or like everyone needs you all the time? You're not actually stuck, you just need a way out. Alan Briggs shares 4 practical pathways to break free and lead with clarity in 2026. Happy New Year—and welcome to Episode 500! When we started this podcast, it was just a wild idea. 500 episodes later, we're more convinced than ever: leadership doesn't have to cost you everything. You can lead well and live well. To kick off 2026, Alan tackles something most leaders are feeling but few are naming: leadership claustrophobia—that squeezed, stuck sensation where everyone needs you all the time and there's no way out. Here's the truth: You feel stuck. But you're not actually stuck. Alan walks through the four feelings that keep leaders trapped—overwhelmed, myopic, exhausted, and behind—and gives you a clear, practical pathway out of each one. This isn't theory. It's the same framework Alan uses with the leaders he coaches every day. If you're heading into 2026 saying "everyone needs me all the time," this episode is your reset. What You'll Learn The 4 Leadership Traps + Their Pathways Out: → Overwhelmed? You're lacking creativity. The pathway out is space—build gaps into your calendar so your brain can think again. → Myopic (stuck in the weeds)? You're lacking perspective. The pathway out is vantage—schedule a Think Day and lift above your leadership. → Exhausted? You're lacking freshness. The pathway out is recovery—Sabbath and vacation aren't luxuries, they're necessities. → Behind? You're lacking urgency. The pathway out is constraints—small deadlines create the momentum big goals never will. Key Takeaways "You feel stuck, but you are not actually stuck. You have options. You can change things." The shift from victim to designer: stop reacting and start creating pathways out. When clarity goes up, overwhelm goes down. Think Days: a quarterly rhythm to get above your leadership and solve the big problems you keep kicking down the road. Sabbath and vacation are always important, never urgent—you won't feel like you need them until you should have had them three months ago. Constraints create urgency. Without deadlines, we procrastinate. Without sub-goals, we drift. Timestamps 00:00 — Welcome to 2026 + Celebrating 500 Episodes01:30 — What is Leadership Claustrophobia?02:45 — The lie: "Everyone needs me all the time"03:30 — From Victim to Designer04:15 — The 4 Feelings That Keep Leaders Stuck04:45 — Overwhelmed → Space07:00 — Myopic → Vantage (Think Days)10:00 — Exhausted → Recovery (Sabbath + Vacation)13:30 — Behind → Constraints (Deadlines + Tracking)17:00 — Recap: Which trap are you in? What's your next step?18:30 — What's coming in 2026 Reflection Questions Which of the four traps are you most stuck in right now: overwhelmed, myopic, exhausted, or behind? What's one practical change you can make this week to create space, vantage, recovery, or constraints? When was the last time you took a full day just to think? What would it take to put a Think Day on your calendar this quarter? Resources Mentioned Anti-Burnout by Alan Briggs: Amazon Link Right Side Up Journal: Alan's tool for weekly reflection—looking backward, inward, and forward. Connect With H2 Leadership Website: www.h2leadership.comCoaching: Ready to break out of leadership claustrophobia? Book a Breakthrough SessionPodcast: www.h2leadershippodcast.com Help Us Reach More Leaders If this episode helped you, take 30 seconds to rate, review, and share the podcast. It's the best way to help other leaders discover H2. Happy 2026. Let's keep climbing. The H2 Leadership Podcast is your practical resource for becoming a healthy and high-impact leader. New episodes every Thursday.