A different kind of tired

I’ve had a great, but exhausting week!

At the start of the new leadership programme – Lead the Way, with Aviva in Perth, there’s a familiar pattern emerging.

People arrive mid-afternoon, often after an early start and a long journey.

They mostly arrive with a little travel tiredness, having transitioned from back-to-back meetings into something unknown.

After all, they’ve just stepped away from the buzz of their day jobs, where decisions are constant and time is tight.

So, we slow them down.

It’s one of the quiet, yet very special gifts of this programme: two full days where they’re not doing the day job, rather, they’re encouraged to think differently.

Reflecting.

Paying attention to themselves and others in ways they usually don’t have time for.

A New Tired

And yet by the end of those two days, my discovery this week is they’re still tired, just in a completely other way.

It’s not the tiredness of logistics or deadlines.

It’s the stretch that comes from working with new models, testing fresh ideas, and forming new connections, not only in their minds, but with each other too.

It takes a great deal of effort to tune into those emotions, to have honest conversations, and explore their own leadership habits.

It’s also the kind of tired that comes from meaningful work.

And somewhere in all that effort, I have witnessed many who start to see a shift in mindset.

A quiet clarity.

The occasional Aha moment where something lands differently and opens up in a new way.

It’s not always comfortable, but it is purposeful. And for many, it’s long overdue.

So yes, they do leave tired.

But it’s a good tired, for each of them.

A stretched, thoughtful, worthwhile kind of tired.

And from what I’ve seen, it’s the kind that stays with you.

When was the last time you were stretched in a way that felt meaningful?