Welcome to Leadership Insights! Each week, we curate transformative leadership insights and add our own expertise to help you lead with purpose and impact. Whether you’re a seasoned executive or an emerging leader, you’ll find actionable wisdom in every edition.
Last week, a CEO told me she’d finally cleared her calendar of unnecessary meetings. “I have more time now,” she said, “but I’m still exhausted.”
Here’s what we discovered: She’d been managing her time, but ignoring her energy.
Time management asks: “How do I fit more in?”
Energy management asks: “What’s actually draining me?”
This week, I’m challenging you to become an energy detective. Track not just where your time goes, but where your energy leaks:
- Which meetings leave you depleted versus energized?
- Which people are energy givers versus energy vampires?
- Which tasks feel heavy versus light—regardless of how long they take?
Here’s the practice: Identify three energy leaks this week and plug them. Cancel one meeting that drains you. Delegate one task that feels heavy. Set a boundary with one energy vampire.
Your leadership capacity isn’t limited by time. It’s limited by energy. Let’s reclaim yours.
You know what the most expensive energy leak is?
The behavioral pattern you can’t see.
The one that makes you:
- Step in to solve problems your team should handle (because you need it done “right”)
- Postpone strategic work for operational fires (because urgency feels safer than ambiguity)
- Work on tasks below your pay grade (because delegation feels riskier than doing it yourself)
These aren’t time management problems. They’re pattern problems.
And you can’t see your own patterns—they feel like reality, not choices.
That’s why I created the Pattern Recognition Session.
It’s a 90-minute intensive where I help you see the invisible behavioral patterns draining your energy—and give you the exact tools to interrupt them.
I’ve beta tested this with two executives. The feedback has been transformative.
Now, I’m looking for 3 more executives to go through it at a beta rate: $1,500 (regular price will be $3,500).
This is for you if:
- You’re a C-suite or VP-level executive.
- You recognize yourself in the energy leak examples above.
- You’re ready to see what you can’t see on your own
Email me: cynthia@cynthiacorsetti.com | Subject: Pattern Recognition Beta
Tell me: Your role, and one pattern you suspect is draining your energy (even if you can’t fully name it).
3 spots. 3 weeks. First-come, first-served.
This Week’s Posts We Love
LinkedIn Spotlight by Cristina Grancea
This week’s LI spotlight is a powerful reminder that the best leaders stay students. Cristina Grancea beautifully captures how curiosity, humility, and being open to challenge often unlock better decisions and better results. I see this come up often in my coaching sessions: growth accelerates the moment ego steps aside. Take a minute to read her post and ask yourself—where could staying teachable change the outcome for you this week?
Image- From LinkedIn Group
Click Here to Check Out The Full LI Post
Podcast Spotlight: “How the best CEOs are meeting the AI moment” from The McKinsey Podcast
This week’s podcast spotlight dives into a question many CEOs are wrestling with: why hasn’t AI delivered the ROI we expected? In this episode of The McKinsey Podcast, Eric Kutcher reframes the moment: AI is less about technology and far more about business transformation. I love the reminder that this is a true leadership “legacy moment,” not a plug-and-play solution.
Check Out the Full Episode Here
Recommended Resource
The Power of Full Engagement by Jim Loehr and Tony Schwartz
This book challenges the assumption that time is your limiting factor as a leader.
Loehr and Schwartz argue that energy management—not time management—determines sustained high performance. Drawing from their work with world-class athletes, they demonstrate that strategic recovery is as critical as strategic effort. You can’t sprint a marathon, and you can’t lead at full capacity without intentional renewal.
This aligns with a pattern I see consistently in client work: the executives who last aren’t the ones working the longest hours—they’re the ones who understand their energy cycles.
Recommended Reading
“Managing Energy, Not Time: The Key to Success in Today’s Workplace” by Jonathan H. Westover, PhD
This article makes the case that traditional time management is solving the wrong problem.
Dr. Westover breaks down the four dimensions of energy (physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual) and offers practical strategies for managing each. The focus on renewal rituals—small, consistent practices that restore rather than deplete energy—is particularly valuable.
The core insight aligns with what I see in executive coaching: high performers don’t just manage their calendars, they manage their energy sources and energy drains with the same rigor they apply to their budgets.
From the CARE to Lead® Archives
Three Steps to Stop Interruptions in Their Tracks!
Ever notice how constant interruptions quietly drain your energy—and your team’s focus? To stay on theme, we are revisiting a simple, practical approach to protecting deep work and reducing the productivity leak we’ve all felt. From daily communication lists to shared “deep work windows,” these small shifts can make a big difference in how your day (and energy) feels.
Closing Thoughts
Your energy is your most precious leadership resource.
Not your time. Not your title. Not your budget. Your energy.
When you’re depleted, everything suffers—your decisions, your relationships, your impact. When you’re energized, everything elevates.
This week, I’m asking you to do one thing differently:
Identify one energy leak and plug it. Just one.
Cancel the meeting that drains you. Delegate the task that depletes you. Set the boundary you’ve been avoiding.
Then notice what happens. Notice the capacity that opens up. Notice the clarity that returns. Notice the leadership that emerges when you’re not running on fumes.
Your team needs you energized, not exhausted.
What’s the one energy leak you’ll plug this week? Hit reply and tell me—I read every response.
Thank you for being part of our leadership community. We’re dedicated to helping you lead with Clarity, Authenticity, Responsibility, and Engagement. Until next week, keep raising the bar on your leadership journey!
Whenever you’re ready, here are ways to take your leadership to the next level:
- 1-Hour Executive Breakthrough Session: Get unstuck fast with a focused 1-hour breakthrough session designed to solve your most pressing challenge and create an actionable path forward. Click here to schedule your session today!
- Executive Mastery Coaching: I work privately with senior leaders on an annual, access-first basis. Bi-weekly strategy sessions plus unlimited access between sessions means you’re never leading alone. Hit reply to this email if you’d like details.
- CARE to Lead® for Teams: If your organization is ready for more innovative, future-focused conversations, let’s design a custom CARE to Lead® experience. This is where bigger questions become real results. Click here to schedule an exploratory call.
