Why Rest Is Your Secret Leadership Weapon
Hello Reader,
I recently sat down with my colleague Gillian to talk about something we don't discuss enough in healthcare: rest. Not vacation-level rest (though that matters too), but the kind of intentional pauses that help us lead more effectively every single day.
Here's what surprised me most about our conversation—rest isn't just about feeling better. It's about performing better.
The Neuroscience Is Clear
When we're in chronic fight-or-flight mode, our decision-making suffers. We snap at colleagues. We miss important details. We jump to conclusions without gathering all the data.
Rest—and I'm talking about micro-moments of intentional pause—recalibrates our nervous system. It shifts us from reactive to responsive. From scattered to focused.
I learned this viscerally during the pandemic. The higher the stakes, the more essential rest became. In critical care, we have to stay metacognitive even when chaos surrounds us. The more intense things get, the calmer we need to become internally.
Building Rest Into What You Already Do
You don't need to add hours to your day. You need to be more intentional with the moments you already have.
I once watched a surgeon who practiced mindfulness meditation while scrubbing before procedures. She told me it made her more thoughtful and deliberate in the OR. That simple ritual—transforming a routine task into a moment of presence—changed everything.
Here are some practical ways to build micro-resets into your day:
Transition times matter. Take two minutes before you enter the hospital and two minutes after your shift. Breathe. Notice your surroundings. Set your intention for how you want to show up.
End meetings early. Give everyone five minutes back. Use that time to complete action items and five more minutes to decompress. Look out a window. Walk to get fresh air. Your team will thank you, and you'll show up better for what's next.
Single-task when it matters. If you're on clinical service, be fully present with patients. If you're handling administrative work, focus on that. We do no one any favors by splitting our attention. People can tell when we're not fully there.
The Visioning Connection
Athletes visualize plays before executing them. When they win, they often say they've "seen it a million times" in their minds.
The same principle applies to leadership. When we mentally rehearse difficult conversations, presentations, or procedures, we're literally creating neural pathways. Functional MRI studies show that imagining an action fires the same neurons as doing it.
If you're a healthcare leader, you're a professional athlete. Treat your mind like one.
Before important meetings, I still take time to think through the stakeholders, the dynamics, the potential outcomes. It's not about controlling everything—it's about showing up prepared and intentional.
When You Feel Stuck
Sometimes we get caught in reactive loops. Someone frustrates us, and we snap back. A problem feels insurmountable, so we shut down.
The question I ask my coaching clients: How can you lengthen the time between stimulus and response?
For some people, it's breath. For others, it's physical movement or prayer. Find what works for you and practice it.
I've learned to notice when emotions rise in my body. That awareness creates space. Instead of immediately doing something, I step back and see the whole room—like running a code where my job is to understand the system, not just execute tasks.
Why This Matters for Your Team
Nobody wants to be led by someone who's emotionally volatile. Our teams need leaders who can harmonize varied perspectives, who respond with empathy rather than react with judgment.
Emotional regulation doesn't mean suppressing feelings. It means creating enough space to see options we'd miss when we're flooded.
When we assume we're right without gathering all the data, we close ourselves off to solutions. Curiosity becomes impossible. And curiosity might be our greatest superpower in healthcare.
The Bigger Picture
We've talked about micro-resets (two-minute pauses) and medium resets (walking outside, taking real breaks). But sometimes we need macro-resets too—dedicated time to step back and assess whether our career and life are aligned.
That's why we created our Leadership Reset Retreat in January. It's designed for healthcare leaders who want clarity, accountability, and a vision plan for the year ahead. Not because strategic planning is complicated, but because we rarely give ourselves permission to do it.
If you're interested in learning more, click here.
Your Turn
What helps you reset during your day? I'd love to hear what's working for you. Reply to this email or comment on our YouTube video.
Remember: If you can't find curiosity and moments of joy in your work, you need more than a micro-reset. You might need to step back and ask bigger questions about what's happening.
But start small. Start today. Find one moment to pause, breathe, and show up as the leader you want to be.
P.S. Have a topic you'd like us to explore on the podcast? Reply to this email with your questions or challenges.
🎧 Listen to the podcast sneak peek episode below and listen to the full episode on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Podbean, or Amazon Music.
What's inspiring us this week:
Becoming more brave. Becoming a better learner. Caught up with my favorite podcasts: This podcast with Adam Grant and Brene Brown...enough said!
The Practice: Celebrating Wins
We get more of what we focus on. The practice of gratitude and celebrating the goodness of life is the first step in changing our brains, mindsets, and circumstances for the better.
Book Club #2 in the books! Reading Radical Candor by Kim Scott had so many leadership lessons: cultivating relationships and delivering feedback, and many more. Catch the replay of the book club in our free medTHRIVE Connect area on Circle app.
If you aren't part of our FREE medTHRIVE Connect area, you need to be! This is where we will be hosting free webinars, events, book clubs, and you will be the first to know. Sign up here. And take us on the go! medTHRIVE Connect is hosted on the Circle app, available to download on iOS and Android.
Stay mindful and keep leading,
Lillian
Founder & CEO
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