In our Golden Age of Leadership Development series, we’ve already explored how leadership is a choice and why trust, candour, and care are the foundations of high-performing teams. Now we’re taking on another outdated rule: the belief that relentless drive is the only route to results.
For decades, the mantra was simple: drive harder, deliver faster, aim higher. The leaders who pushed the most got the most. Or so we thought.
But in today’s world, that constant drive is showing cracks. Burnout is at an all-time high, creativity is stalling, and too many talented people are walking away, not because they can’t do the work, but because they don’t want to do it under relentless pressure. Perfection-only cultures burn energy fast; they look decisive, but they usually end in disappointment and disengagement.
The golden age of leadership development is rewriting the rules. Results still matter, but they can’t be the only thing that matters. The leaders thriving now are the ones who know how to balance performance with well-being, and they understand that balance doesn’t slow you down, it makes you unstoppable. (Even leadership diagnostics like the Leadership Circle Profile point to stronger creative competencies in balanced, non-controlling cultures.)
Why Balance is the New Competitive Edge
Old-school leadership told us that success was about keeping your foot down and not letting up. But if the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that endless drive without recovery is a fast track to exhaustion, for leaders and teams alike.
In 2024, Gallup reported that only 21% of employees worldwide are engaged at work, with burnout a major driver of disengagement. The Society for Human Resource Management found that tackling burnout at an organisational level can cut absenteeism by up to 60% (SHRM).
More leaders are realising that when you create space for people to think, rest, and reset, they come back sharper, more creative, and more committed. It’s not about doing less, it’s about doing better.
The Balance Challenge
You can’t just declare “we care about balance” and expect performance to take care of itself. The challenge, and the real art, is knowing when to press forward and when to ease off. When your team needs a deadline to sharpen focus, and when they need space to breathe and think. It also means helping people deliver rather than trying to control how they work: clarity on outcomes, genuine autonomy on approach.
What that looks like in practice:
- Goals with teeth, but freedom in how they’re reached.
- Recovery time treated like any other performance metric.
- Leaders who don’t just talk about balance, they live it.
When leaders do this consistently, balance stops being a buzzword and becomes part of the culture.
The Payoff
The irony is, when leaders stop chasing results at all costs, they often get better results. Teams are more focused. Ideas flow more freely. People stay because they feel valued, for both their output and for who they are. Balance turns short bursts of effort into sustainable performance.
Balanced leadership builds resilience. Not the kind that grits its teeth and suffers through, but the kind that adapts, recharges, and comes back stronger. And in this golden age of leadership development, knowing how to blend drive with recovery might just be the smartest competitive advantage you’ve got.
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