Getting Senior Leaders to Optimal Performance and Sustainable Growth Without Burnout

You’re capable, experienced, and used to handling pressure. Yet certain moments quietly destabilise even strong leaders.
► When you step into a new role and realise the rules have changed
► When a restructuring, missed promotion, or sudden shift knocks confidence more than you admit
► When performance still looks “fine”, but decision-making feels heavier and slower than it should

These moments don’t look dramatic from the outside. 
They look like coping.

And this is where many leaders hesitate —
waiting for clarity to return on its own,
until the cost shows up as loss of judgment, credibility, or energy.

👉 This is where my work begins.
I partner with senior leaders and leadership teams during high-stakes transitions — where clarity, authority, and direction matter more than speed.

My clients typically come to this point when they need to:

✔️ Make clear, grounded decisions under pressure 
✔️ Re-establish authority and presence in a new or changing role 
✔️ Navigate career transitions or restructuring without loss of momentum 
✔️ Lead teams through complexity, transformation, or sustained change 
✔️ Perform at a high level without sacrificing health, focus, or integrity

I bring 17+ years of experience from Fortune 500 organisations (P&G, General Mills, GSK, Syngenta), combined with professional executive coaching and mentoring (ICF PCC, EMCC SP). 

I understand the realities of senior leadership — competing priorities, political complexity, and the expectation to “hold it together” while everything shifts.

My clients often describe the biggest shift not as improved performance alone — but as clearer thinking, steadier confidence, and the ability to lead without constantly operating in reactive mode.

If you’re navigating a meaningful transition — whether you’re still in role or between chapters — and sense that waiting is no longer the right strategy, you’re welcome to message me here on LinkedIn to explore whether working together makes sense.

— 
🌐 tatianarueff.com 
📩 tatiana@tatianarueff.com 

For organisations, I also design and deliver senior leadership workshops and keynotes on leading through high-stakes transitions — enabling sustainable performance, clarity, and resilience under pressure.

Tatiana Rueff

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞
𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐚𝐜𝐭.

Most of the leaders I work with aren’t stuck 
because they are not thinking enough.

They see what’s no longer working.
They understand the implications.
They have ideas to test.
They’ve thought it through - repeatedly.

What’s missing isn’t insight.

It’s a space where clarity turns into decisions,
and decisions turn into movement -
without rushing, proving, or forcing outcomes.

Some moments don’t need more effort.
They need the right kind of containment.

P.S. If something you’ve been circling feels ready to be addressed, this is the kind of transition that benefits from the right container.

Partnering with Leaders through High-Stakes Transitions | Clear Decisions & Sustainable Growth under Pressure | Executive & Leadership Transition Coach (ICF PCC) | Ex-Fortune 500

Tatiana Rueff, Executive and Leadership Transition Coach, standing in a snowy mountain village, looking calmly at the camera, with alpine houses and snow-covered peaks (Mont Blanc) behind her on a clear winter day.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧
𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞.

Between roles many leaders feel an invisible clock ticking.

They don’t want to rush.
They don’t want to repeat old patterns.
But they also don’t want to get stuck.

So they stay busy instead.

Networking.
Thinking.
Sending applications daily.
Scrolling LinkedIn.

Yet the discomfort isn’t really about time.
It’s about not having enough structure for the transition.

Without that, even thoughtful leaders start doubting themselves.

This is where transitions quietly stretch longer than necessary -
not because skills are missing,
but because support is.

P.S. Being between chapters isn’t a gap to fill. 
It’s a phase to take seriously.

A quiet home office with a wooden desk by a window, a beige leather chair slightly pulled back, an open laptop displaying emails, a notebook and pen, a coffee mug, and a digital clock showing 13:30, suggesting a paused workday and time passing.

𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐚 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐤𝐞.
𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐧.

And waiting won’t make it calmer.

Many people are waiting.

Waiting for the market to improve.
Waiting for work to slow down.
Waiting for life to feel easier before they finally breathe again.

They hope the waters will calm.

But life is rarely a quiet lake.
Most of the time, it’s a wavy ocean - 
unpredictable, demanding, alive.

And while you’re waiting for perfect conditions,
your life is still passing by.

Sustainable growth doesn’t come from hoping the waves disappear.
It comes from learning how to surf.

From building balance, clarity, and resilience 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 you -
so you can navigate change without burning out
and even enjoy the ride.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦.
𝐖𝐚𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐩 𝐢𝐬.

P.S. Where in your life are you still waiting for “better times”?

Guiding Senior Leaders & Teams Through Transitions | From Pressure to Clarity, Confidence & Sustainable Growth | Executive & Leadership Transition Coach (ICF PCC) | Ex-Fortune 500

A split image contrasting two approaches to challenge: on the left, a person stands at the edge of a turbulent ocean, watching the waves; on the right, a surfer actively rides a large wave, moving with strength and balance.

𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐱𝐡𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 
𝐈𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭.

Many senior leaders don’t collapse.
They continue performing.

What changes first is something quieter.

Decisions take longer.
Recovery takes more effort.
Quality thinking time disappears.
Weekends bring more screen time than joy.

They tell themselves it’s temporary.
That pressure comes with the role.

Sometimes that’s true.
Often it’s a signal.

Sustainable growth isn’t about pushing less.
It’s about noticing when the cost is no longer worth the output.

That moment is easy to rationalise away -
until it forces a decision later, 
under worse conditions.

P.S. If the price of “doing well” has been rising for a while, it might be asking for your attention now.

Tatiana Rueff, executive and leadership transition coaching, seated on a wooden balcony overlooking snow-covered mountains and alpine houses, appearing thoughtful and composed in a calm winter setting.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚
𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐞𝐥𝐬𝐞 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐢𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞.

Scroll through LinkedIn on any given day and you’ll see it.

New role announcements.
Promotions.
Bigger titles.
Public celebrations of progress.

Most people could make these updates invisible - 
but they don’t.

Because being seen, acknowledged, and validated matters.
That’s human.

What we don’t talk about enough is the other side of those posts.

The quiet comparison they trigger in leaders who are already carrying a lot.

𝘈𝘮 𝘐 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘣𝘦𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘥?
𝘞𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘺𝘦𝘵?
𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘐 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘱 l𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘺 𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦?
𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘮𝘺 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦?

These questions don’t stop early in a career.

I hear them from VPs, CEOs, and founders -
especially in moments of transition.

The problem isn’t ambition.

The problem is the false idea that there’s a universal success ladder we’re supposed to follow.

There isn’t.

Careers are not straight lines.
They pause, accelerate, reset, and sometimes fall apart - 
often for reasons far beyond effort or talent.

When you measure yourself against someone else’s highlight reel, you risk seeing personal failure where there is none.

You’re not late.
You’re not early.

You are where your life has brought you - 
and you still get to decide what comes next.

𝐏.𝐒.  Which “should” have you been carrying that no longer serves you?

Man lying in bed at night looking at his phone, reflecting on social media comparison and career self-doubt.

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 
𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐨𝐧.

It’s not because you’re unprepared.
Or lacking confidence.
Or suddenly less capable.

It’s because you’re stepping into a system that already exists -
with unspoken expectations, inherited dynamics, 
and histories you didn’t create.

You’re being read before you fully understand the context.
Your decisions matter before you’ve had time to see the full picture.

And the pressure to “add value quickly” is constant, 
even when no one says it out loud.

Most leaders respond by accelerating.

They work harder.
They say yes more often.
They try to prove themselves early.

But early overcompensation is how misalignment starts.

The leaders who land well do something different.

They slow their thinking before they speed up their actions.
They take time to understand what’s really being asked of them, 
not just what’s written.

They decide what not to change yet.

This isn’t about confidence.
It’s about orientation.

The first moves you make set patterns that last far longer than people expect.

P.S. If you’re stepping into something new and feel the pressure to get it “right” quickly, that’s not a flaw. It’s the moment.

A professional woman stands by a large window overlooking a lake and mountains, reflecting quietly before stepping into a new role.

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬.
Very few talked about what that reaction reveals about leadership.

When Emmanuel Macron wore sunglasses indoors at Davos, 
the world listened - and still speculated.

And this is the interesting part:
an explanation had already been given.

It was presented as a benign eye issue -
nothing strategic, nothing symbolic.

Still -

Memes spread.
Commentary escalated.
The company behind the sunglasses saw its share price jump 28%.

Not because eyewear matters -
but because when a leader breaks an unspoken norm, 
explanation alone doesn’t stop interpretation.

This happens inside organisations every day.

A leader goes quiet.
Delays a decision.
Shows up differently than expected.

Even when there is a rational reason,
the system keeps reading signals.

Stories fill the gap:

– “Something’s off.”
– “A restructuring is coming.”
– “There must be more going on.”

The real risk for leaders isn’t deviation.
It’s assuming clarity has been received just because it was provided.

Strong leadership isn’t about over-explaining.

It’s about recognising when perception has momentum -
and choosing whether to actively frame it, hold it, or redirect it.

Because whether you intend it or not,
people are always reading the signals.

PS: Where have you seen a small, unintended leadership signal take on disproportionate meaning?

A pair of blue-tinted aviator sunglasses on a light background.

𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐬.

Many leaders value reflection.

They think deeply.
They notice patterns.
They see what’s no longer working.

And then… they wait.

They tell themselves they’re “not ready yet”.
That they need a bit more time.
That there’s something urgent to take care of first.
That they’ll figure it out.

But insight has a shelf life.

What starts as awareness slowly turns into friction.
The same questions resurface.
The same tension returns, just louder.

At some point, not acting costs more than acting.

The tricky part is that nothing breaks immediately.

You keep functioning.
You keep thinking about it.
You keep living your life.

But over time, the cost shows up elsewhere -
in energy, focus, and the quality of decisions.

That’s when waiting stops being a pause
and starts shaping the outcome.

P.S. If something has been unaddressed for a while, this might be the moment it’s asking for a different response from you.

A man at a home office desk looks at an hourglass as time passes, reflecting on decisions and waiting.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 90 𝐝𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝𝐥𝐲.
𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐟𝐭.

Most leaders prepare hard for interviews.
Very few prepare for what comes after.

They step into a role already moving.
With inherited dynamics they didn’t design.
And expectations that aren’t fully spoken.

So they compensate early.

They try to add value fast.
They change things quickly.

And sometimes… 
they lock in patterns they later have to undo.

The leaders who land well don’t rush alignment.
They create space to think before they accelerate action.

That window is brief.
And often underestimated.

P.S. If you’ve recently stepped into a new role and feel the pressure to move fast, this is the moment I help leaders slow their thinking before their actions lock in.
You don’t need to navigate it alone.

A silhouetted man standing indoors by a window, looking out at blurred car lights moving quickly through the night, suggesting contrast between stillness and speed.

𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐛𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫
𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐩𝐚𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐠𝐡 𝐚 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐞.

Many senior leaders look like they’re doing fine.

They deliver.
They show up.
They keep things moving.

But privately, the cost is rising.

More effort to stay focused.
More recovery time after non-stop meetings.
Less space to think clearly.

They tell themselves:

“𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦.”
“𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴.”
“𝘖𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦.”

High performance can mask misalignment for a long time.

Until one day, the question shifts from

“𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘐 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴?”
to
“𝘋𝘰 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺?”

That’s not weakness.
That’s information.

P.S. Where has “pushing through” quietly become your default?

𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐝𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬. 
Poor positioning is.

Most senior leaders don’t struggle because transitions take too long.
They struggle because they stay too broad for too long.

Time itself isn’t the problem.
Ambiguity is.

When your message sounds like:

“𝘐’𝘮 𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘯.”
“𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘥𝘰 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴.”
“𝘐’𝘮 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦.”

You make it harder for others to place you -
and easier for the wrong opportunities to absorb your energy.

At senior level, clarity isn’t a constraint.
It’s a service.

The leaders who land well don’t rush.
They narrow deliberately - often with support - 
long before urgency starts making decisions for them.

The right support doesn’t just protect the outcome.

It sharpens positioning 
and that’s what changes the timeline.

If this resonates, you’re already thinking at the right level.

A narrow mountain path running along a green ridge under a clear blue sky, with steep slopes on both sides, symbolising focus and deliberate career progress.

𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬𝐧’𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐚𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐬. 
𝐈𝐭 𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐞𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐝𝐲𝐧𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐜𝐬. 

When an organisation goes through transition - 
a leadership change, restructuring, strategy shift - 
the impact isn’t limited to roles or org charts. 

Team dynamics change first. 

What I often observe is not open resistance, but subtle shifts: 

– Decision-making slows 
– Ownership becomes blurred 
– Informal leaders go quiet 
– High performers start self-protecting 

On the surface, work continues. 
Underneath, alignment erodes. 

This isn’t a people problem. 
It’s a leadership transition problem. 

Teams need clarity on: 

– what still matters 
– what has changed 
– where decisions now sit 
– and what “good performance” looks like in the new context 

Without that, leaders spend months compensating with more meetings, more pressure, and more effort - 
often burning out their best people in the process. 

Sustainable leadership in transition isn’t about pushing harder. 
It’s about stabilising the system so people can perform again. 

That’s the work I do with leaders and organisations navigating change.

An empty leadership meeting room in a modern office with panoramic views over Zurich, representing organisational transition, decision-making, and the need for leadership clarity.

𝐌𝐨𝐬𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭.

They notice when something starts to feel off.
When the role demands more than it gives back.
When effort increases but clarity doesn’t.

What’s harder is knowing how to respond in that moment.

Do you pause and think it through alone?
Do you give it time, hoping the pressure will ease?
Do you reach for an external perspective or structured support early enough?

I see very capable leaders make very different choices at this point.

And those choices quietly shape how long transitions last and how costly they become.

I’m curious what tends to be true for you in practice, not in theory.

When you realise something in your career is no longer sustainable, what do you tend to do first?

The author can see how you vote. Learn more

If your business is making money but still isn’t delivering the upside you expected, you’re likely at an inflection point, not a failure.  Many leaders of established, growing businesses reach a stage where revenue is strong, the company is multi-million, and yet the business still depends too heavily on them to function well. Decisions stall without you. Execution varies. Cash flows, but never quite settles.You didn’t do anything wrong.Growth simply exposed what never fully moved into the system.This is where symptomatic fixes stop working.More sales, new tools, or another leadership program won’t transform a business where judgment, decision rights, and accountability are still concentrated at the top. The result is effort without relief, an itch you can’t scratch no matter how hard you work.That’s where my work begins.I work with leaders of established small and mid-market businesses who are ready to move from personal oversight to organizational reliability.  Performance, people, and profit no longer depend on the owner being everywhere at once.The work is strategic and practical: seeing the system as it actually operates, diagnosing what’s constraining performance, and designing corrections that fit the reality of your business. Nothing is added for the sake of growth, scale, or sophistication. Some of that work we do together. Some is implemented directly. Some requires specialist expertise brought in deliberately for speed and impact.This is not coaching, motivation, or incremental optimization.It’s business strategy at the intersection of performance, people, process, and profit, applied at the moment where growth alone is no longer enough.Most leaders begin by getting clear on what’s really holding their business in place.From there, the right path becomes obvious.If you’re at that point, you’ll know how to start.(Clarity Call available in Featured.)

Frances Strickland

Growth doesn’t just add volume.
It adds pressure.

Decisions multiply.

Coordination gets heavier.
 
Small mistakes stop being small. 

And the margin impact shows up before anyone understands why.

That pressure doesn’t arrive all at once.

It shows up as volume increases.

More team members mean more coordination touchpoints.

More volume means errors cost more to fix.

It overloads them.

At first, founders absorb the load themselves.

At 10 clients, the founder can handle most calls personally.

At 30 clients, decisions stack faster than one person can process.

Work waits.

Bottlenecks form.

People escalate instead of decide.

The business slows to match the constraint.

As teams grow, informal coordination stops working.

Small teams coordinate informally.

Larger teams need structure.

Without it:
Information doesn't flow.
Handoffs break.
Duplicated effort rises.

What felt seamless at 5 people becomes chaotic at 15.

The real damage isn’t visible at first.

It shows up in the cost of fixing mistakes.

Mistakes at low volume are cheap to fix.

Mistakes at high volume compound quickly.

A pricing error on 3 projects costs hours.

The same error on 30 projects costs weeks and erodes margin across the portfolio.

And the response is predictable.

They add more rules.

More meetings.

More oversight.

Creating more drag.

More delay.

More frustration.

Growth doesn’t simplify unstable businesses.

It multiplies the cost of every weakness.

More revenue.

More cost per dollar earned.

Lower profit per hour worked.

Businesses don’t fail from growth.

They fail because they weren’t ready for it.

Growth without stability doesn't create leverage.

It creates complexity you can't manage.


#strategy #business #creativity #innovation #richbutbrokenomorewithfran

Frances Melvina Strickland 

Helping leaders of 7-figure SMBs build predictable performance and profit

Growth doesn't fix instability.

It multiplies it.

Revenue can rise while profit predictability falls.

More clients.

More work.

More stress.

But margins thin.

Chaos rises.

Business owners chase growth thinking it will solve current problems.

It doesn't.

Expansion without day-to-day reliability amplifies every weakness in the 
business.

Growing before stabilizing is like adding floors to a building with a cracked foundation.

The structure collapses under its own weight.


#strategy #business #creativity #innovation #richbutbrokenomorewithfran

Growth doesn't fix instability, It multiplies it.

Here's why slow decisions are so expensive:

Work doesn't move in straight lines.

It waits.

While it waits:

• People context-switch

• Information decays

• Momentum breaks
• Quality drops

Then, when the decision finally comes, it often arrives late enough to create rework.

Multiply that by dozens of decisions a week.

That's not inefficiency.

That's margin erosion baked into the operating rhythm.

What actually happens:

Someone needs approval to move forward.
They ask.

You're in meetings, handling something else, or buried in other decisions.
They wait.

While waiting, they shift to another task.

When your answer finally arrives, they've lost context.

They have to rebuild their thinking.

The work that should have taken 30 minutes now takes two hours.

Spread across your organization.

The cascade:

One slow decision doesn't just delay one task.

It delays everything downstream.

Schedules slip.

Deadlines compress.

Rushed work produces errors.

Errors require rework.

Rework consumes margin.

The business truth:

Businesses with decision drag don't look chaotic.

They look busy.

But busy is not productive.

And it's rarely profitable.

Profit comes from flow.

Decision drag destroys flow.

When judgment bottlenecks at the top, the entire system slows to match the 
constraint.


#strategy #business #creativity #innovation #richbutbrokenomorewithfran

Decision drag doesn't look dramatic.

It looks like normal business conversation:
"Let me check."
"Run it by me."
"We'll circle back."

And it quietly destroys profit.

Every delayed decision slows throughput.

- Increases rework.
- Adds hidden cost.
- Trains hesitation.

By the time owners notice, they're already deep in the weeds again.

Answering questions they thought were handled months ago.

The issue isn't intelligence.
It's where decisions live.

When decisions default upward, margin collapses downward.
And no amount of hustle fixes that.


#strategy #business #creativity #innovation #richbutbrokenomorewithfran

Decision delays cost more than you think.

Availability is not leadership.

I learned this the hard way.

Early in my career, I believed being available was what great leaders did.

If my team needed me, I was there.

Questions? Answered.

Problems? Solved.
Fast.

I thought I was accelerating performance.

What I didn't see was what I was training:
People stopped deciding.
They started delivering problems instead of solutions.

Eventually, they told me directly:
- "We need you to stop solving everything so we can think."
- That moment changed how I understood leadership.
- Speed without restraint doesn't scale judgment.
- It replaces it.

When leaders confuse responsiveness with effectiveness, they become the system's crutch.

And crutches feel supportive…
until you realize no one can walk without them.

If stepping back makes your business wobble, it's not because people can't perform.

It's because they've never been allowed to.

Watch the video to hear the full story.
If this feels uncomfortably familiar, it's worth a short conversation.

Start with a 30-minute call. You'll walk away knowing exactly where dependency is preventing capability from developing. Link is in the comments.



#strategy #business #creativity #innovation #richbutbrokenomorewithfran

Burnout doesn’t arrive as exhaustion.

It arrives as system shock.

I didn’t recognize it the first time it happened to me.

My first factory startup was chaotic by nature. That part wasn’t surprising. 

What was damaging was the lack of clarity and decision flow.

No decisions could be made without the President or the Executive Vice President. Strict reporting lines. Everything routed upward.

On paper, it looked like leadership.

In practice, the system couldn’t think.

I had access to both leaders, which should have helped. Instead, it put me in the middle of conflicting priorities and quiet power struggles, with no shared judgment and no stable decision logic.

Only pressure.

When I left the organization, my body collapsed within 48 hours.

Not emotionally.
 
Physically.

It felt less like getting sick and more like shedding what my system had been carrying for too long.

That’s when it became clear.

Burnout wasn’t caused by workload or resilience.
 
It was caused by a system that forced people to compensate for missing structure.

When judgment has nowhere to live but inside humans, humans pay the price.

Burnout isn’t the failure.

It’s the signal.

And it almost always points to design.

Saturday feels like the right day to sit with that.

Frances Strickland in a quiet, reflective moment, looking downward with her hand resting on her chin, wearing a red sweater in soft natural light.

Your business isn't truly profitable if it only performs when you're everywhere inside it.

That's not leadership.

That's dependency dressed up as dedication.

I see this pattern constantly:

Revenue looks solid.

The team is busy.

Clients are served.

And yet, 

The moment the owner steps back, performance slips.

Decisions are slow.

Quality wobbles.

Profit gets thin.

That's not a people issue.

It's a design issue.

When a business depends on one person's judgment to function well, profit is fragile by default.

Because profit isn't created by effort.

It's created by repeatable decisions made at the right level.

If your business needs you everywhere to perform, it's not scaling.

It's surviving on borrowed attention.

And that's an expensive way to operate.

Swipe through to see how owner-dependency quietly destroys margins.

Most owners don't realize this is the constraint until it starts costing them their health, their margins, or both.



#strategy #business #creativity #innovation #richbutbrokenomorewithfran

Partner to Established SMBs to Regain Control, Predictable Profits, and Their Lives | Fortune 500 Insights Brilliantly Sized for SMBs | Structure • Leadership • Flow | Rich But Broke No More | The Fixer

Real profit doesn’t depend on One Person.

Why owner-dependent businesses bleed profit quietly.


Here’s what actually happens when everything runs through you:
• Decisions stack up
• Work waits instead of flowing
• People hesitate instead of acting
• You become the slowest, most expensive process in the system

Not because you’re bad at what you do, but because no human can carry that much judgment without distortion.

So people escalate decisions they could make, wait for clarity that never arrives fast enough, and optimize for safety instead of outcomes. 

Meanwhile, you’re answering questions instead of building capacity.

This is how margins erode, momentum stalls, and founders burn out while “being helpful.”

The business isn’t broken. It’s overloaded.

Every decision that defaults upward creates:
Delay → more context-switching
Hesitation → slower execution
Rework → compounded cost
Dependency → weakened capability

Profit doesn’t disappear overnight. It leaks out through delay, hesitation, and over-reliance on the founder to make calls the team should own.

Leadership structures that funnel all decisions to the top don’t protect quality. 

They create bottlenecks, and bottlenecks don’t just slow delivery, they quietly destroy margins through inefficiency you don’t see until the damage is done.
If your team can’t move without you, the issue isn’t their capability. 

It’s the system design that never gave them decision ownership.



#strategy #business #creativity #innovation #richbutbrokenomorewithfran

Most leaders think they have a delegation problem.

They don't.

They have a decision ownership problem.

If everything still funnels to you, you didn't delegate responsibility.

You outsourced execution.

The difference matters:

Execution without judgment doesn't scale.

It stalls.

Because execution is just motion.

Judgment is what determines whether that motion creates value or waste.

When you delegate tasks but keep decisions, you create a system where:

People do the work

But wait on you to think

What that looks like operationally:

Your team completes deliverables.

Then stops.

Waiting for your approval to proceed.

Waiting for your input on the next move.

Waiting for your judgment on what's good enough.

They're not leading work.

They're managing tasks on your behalf.

The structural reality:
If your team is "doing the work" but still waiting on you, you're not leading a business.

You're running a help desk.

And help desks don't generate profit.

They manage demand.

The leadership shift required:
Decision ownership means people don't just execute.

They evaluate.

They adjust.

They own outcomes, not just outputs.

When decisions live with the people doing the work, flow accelerates.

When decisions funnel upward, everything slows to match your capacity.

The constraint:

You can only make so many decisions per day.

If your business requires more decisions than you can handle, growth creates 
gridlock.

That's not a people problem.

It's a design problem.

If this feels uncomfortably familiar, it’s usually a signal worth paying 
attention to.

Link is in the comments.


#strategy #business #creativity #innovation #richbutbrokenomorewithfran

Episode 12: Flash-back! Tonia, where are you now?

In this special flashback episode, we’ll explore Tonia’s journey, from the past to where she is now, and how she’s been a powerful force in helping others—me included—stop hiding and get seen.

Tonia’s insight and dedication to leadership are a true testament to the power of supporting others in their personal growth.

Frances Melvina Strickland, 🔸️Roeland VanderHelm and 2 other attendees

Episode 12: Flash-back! Tonia, where are you now?

Watching Queen and Max always reminds me how systems really work.

Max knows exactly when it’s time to eat.

If I don’t move fast enough, he doesn’t bark.
He doesn’t whine.

He goes to his crate, flops down, and starts chewing his ball.

The ball squeaks.
That’s the point.

At first, I get irritated.
The noise.   
The timing.

But the pattern is simple.

He’s hungry. 
I delayed.
So the system adapted.

Not gracefully.

He chews harder.
The noise escalates.
He’s not solving the problem.
And I still haven’t moved.

Nothing is “wrong.”
But everyone’s uncomfortable.

Eventually, I feed him.
The squeaking stops.
The system settles.

Not because he changed.

Because I did.

Frances Strickland interacts with her two small dogs outdoors, holding a yellow ball while they stand on leashes facing her near a wooden play structure.

Episode 11:  More than Mechanics - Fit Presenter Speaking

World Class speaking coach and author Mike McQuillan and I have a rich exchange about what it takes to deliver a talk that captivates your audience.

Frances Melvina Strickland and 1 other attendee

Episode 11:  More than Mechanics - Fit Presenter Speaking

taplio

The Battle

Tatiana Rueff

Frances Strickland

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreTatiana Rueff's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreFrances Strickland's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Tatiana Rueff

Frances Strickland

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Tatiana Rueff's LinkedIn Performance

Performance ScoreFrances Strickland's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreTatiana Rueff's LinkedIn Performance