It’s Wednesday morning. Your calendar’s showing you that you’re double-booked for at least three meetings, your Teams messages are on fire, and one of your team just asked if you’ve “got five minutes?”
You do what many good leaders and managers do - say yes, keep moving and deal with the thing that’s right in front of you. But there is a long-term cost to working like this, on repeat. And maybe it’s only when we step outside that pace - and outside that way of working - that we can see it clearly.
Image: Jo Twiselton
I’ve just come back from Finland, the world’s happiest country (for the eighth year in a row), and where I used to work for a few years back in the 90s. And while there’s no single thing that explains this consistent level of contentedness, here are a few of the things I notice every time I visit, that I think contribute:
It’s easy to access nature - a walk by the sea, a forest, a park, even in the heart of a city.
There’s a deeper level of trust in others – neighbours and strangers (Finns return lost wallets!)
And there’s a real respect for the balance between work, food, rest, and the rest of life.
These are just a few of the everyday things that can create the foundations for wellbeing and make real resilience possible.
Inner strength for resilient leaders…
There’s a Finnish concept I often refer to: sisu. It’s roughly translated as ‘inner strength’, but it’s not about pushing through at any cost. It’s about a quiet, more grounded determination - especially when things around you feel tricky. Resilient leadership often works in the same way: it’s not louder or driving things forward faster, but feels steadier.
If you're navigating a lot of pressure right now - or want to lead with this more grounded strength - this is some of the work I do with leaders and teams. Send me a message if you'd like to talk about what support could look like for you.
When the pressure’s on and everything’s constantly shifting, resilient leaders don’t take the path of working longer hours, talking less, or trying to hold things together by themselves. They work quite differently – not just to protect their own productivity, but to role-model sustainable performance for their teams.
Here’s a few things I see them do:
· They notice pressure early. Not because they’re magically gifted, but because they’ve trained themselves to pay attention to the warning signs in themselves and others.
They prioritise intentional recovery and energy management, even when things are ridiculously busy.
They talk about what’s difficult and not just what’s urgent which makes it feel safer for others to do the same.
Leaders can often respond to pressure by getting too involved - stepping in, ‘over-helping’ and taking on more than their fair share. It can feel like they’re being a team player, but over time, this approach can reinforce a culture where stress is hidden, and self-sacrifice and micro-management become more acceptable.
This often shows up at busy, high-pressure points - when there’s a lot of change around, deadlines are tight or your team is already stretched. It feels quicker and safer to just take things on yourself - “I’ll do it, it’s faster”. But when this pattern is repeated, it builds a loop, where your team starts to feel less trusted and empowered, while you end up taking on even more.
The result? You become the bottleneck, the team holds back, and everyone feels the weight. It’s a perfect storm of hidden pressure and nobody’s working at their best. According to McKinsey, 60% of employees report feeling at least moderately burned out. Leaders aren’t immune to that either.
Something I notice in Finland - where wellbeing is clearly taken seriously - is that leaders build wellbeing into how they lead. Rest isn’t earned by burning out first or trampling over boundaries. That mindset shift is something we can all learn from.
Data makes a difference
That’s where data can really help. I use a tool called Wraw (Workplace Resilience and Wellbeing), a psychometric assessment that helps individuals and teams understand where they are right now in five key areas of resilience. It takes the guesswork out of where to start, and gives people a clear, focused way to strengthen their wellbeing and lead more effectively, especially when the pressure’s
on.
And if you’re leading others - or supporting leaders across an organisation - this can be a really powerful way to open up conversations and target support where it’s needed most.
You don’t have to wait for burnout to arrive to take action. Often the difference between surviving and actually leading can be just one conversation.
Are you curious about where your own resilience levels are or how you’re showing up for your team right now? Book a call and let’s talk it through.