What Real Recovery Looks Like When You’re Still Leading

Recovery isn’t about stepping away from everything. Most of us don’t have that luxury.

Recovery is showing up differently. It’s reworking how you lead while you’re still healing.

After my strokes, I didn’t vanish. I was still teaching, leading, and mentoring, but behind the scenes, everything had changed.

My speech patterns were different. My energy came in short waves. My focus took more effort. And I wasn’t willing to fake my way through it.

So I stopped waiting to feel “normal” again and started leading from where I was.

Recovery, in real life, looks like:

• Giving your body what it needs without apologizing.

• Asking for help before everything falls apart.

• Being honest about what you can handle today.

• Releasing shame about not being who you were before.

• Including rest and reflection as part of your productivity.

You don’t have to disappear to recover.

You just have to stop pretending you’re fine when you’re not.

You can heal and lead at the same time. It takes intention, but it can be done. I’m living proof.

This week’s reflection:

• Where are you still forcing yourself to push through?

• What would it look like to lead with grace instead of grit this week?

If your workplace expects high output but hasn’t made space for recovery, we need to talk. I help organizations build leadership practices that honor the human behind the role.

Click here to schedule your FREE 15-minute discovery call.

🗓️ Start every Monday with a new way to lead and live more intentionally.

✅ September kicks off a powerful new series: Silent Struggles of High Performers: What No One Sees but Everyone Feels