Most afternoons, Stacey would pick up her daughter from school and bring her back to the office.
But one day, in a quiet moment, her daughter whispered:
“Mommy, I don’t like coming to your office. Can we go somewhere else?”
This wasn’t the first time Stacey had heard that request.
But somehow, this time hit differently.
Because this wasn’t the first evening her daughter had sat quietly in the corner of her office, coloring or dozing off sometimes until 8:00 p.m.
It also wasn’t the first time Stacey had missed a family get together, a PTA meeting, or a school event in the name of “getting it done.”
And suddenly, it all felt too costly.
She remembered what her friends had warned her:
“You’re doing too much for too little.”
“Stop being so available.”
“You’re going to burn yourself out.”
Stacey was a mid-career professional, recently promoted to a managerial role.
She had worked hard for years to earn this opportunity, and she was determined to prove the naysayers wrong.
So, she said yes to everything.
Stayed late.
Pushed her team.
Took on the tasks no one else wanted.
Made herself constantly available.
Why?
Because deep down, she wasn’t just trying to do a good job
She needed to prove to her manager and to herself that she belonged.
She had forgotten she already own it
And in the effort to show up for everyone else,
She lost sight of the people and the values that matter most.
Leadership doesn’t require burnout.
Growth doesn’t have to cost what you love.
That day, something shifted,
She remembered and started leading differently.
She set clearer boundaries.
She empowered her team instead of carrying it alone.
She stopped saying yes to prove her value and started saying yes to protect it.
She realized she didn’t need to sacrifice everything to be seen.
She just needed to lead from a place of enough.
Because she was already enough.
And so are you.
👉 To every mid-career manager trying to hold it all together
What might change if you led from enough?
Image credit: Canva Pexel
#LeadershipDevelopment #MidCareerMatters #WomenInLeadership #Boundaries #SustainableSuccess #WorkLifeBalance #ManagerLife
