Old Habits Killing Leaders

The short 10-second takeaway

What made you successful last year could make you irrelevant next year.
Adaptable leaders don’t just learn, they unlearn. And fast.

Sean built a billion-dollar business. Then everything changed… and he didn’t: Markets moved, customers evolved, financials shifted. But he stuck to what had always worked.

Until it didn’t.

Then the team lost confidence, decisions got slower, momentum stalled. It wasn’t a knowledge gap. It was a habit trap: leadership-by-autopilot that no longer matched the terrain.

Why old habits silently wreck new outcomes

In stable times, habits are assets. In volatile times, they become anchors dragging performance down. Here’s what most seasoned leaders miss:

🧠 Habits built in certainty break down in chaos
🧠 Routines feel safe, but can blind you to better paths
🧠 Even high performers cling to comfort under pressure

In a changing world, default leadership = outdated leadership. The very patterns that built success… now block it.

What modern leadership really demands

It’s not about throwing out everything. It’s about knowing what to keep AND what to kill. Great CEOs, CTOs and founders I got to work with understand the importance of:

✅ Dismantle systems that no longer serve
✅ Let go of pride-based processes
✅ Build capacity instead of control
✅ Make space for speed, not just structure

Unlearning is a skill. And just like strategy or finance, it can be practiced, refined, and made your edge.

4 patterns to drop before they break your company

If you want to stay sharp, here’s what to eliminate this quarter:

1. The Hero Syndrome
   You solve everything yourself. Instead, build systems that solve things without you.

2. Annual Planning Paralysis
   You wait for a big yearly reset to adapt. Instead, review direction monthly, stay nimble.

3. Meeting Creep
   You think alignment = more calls. Instead, design async updates, use meetings for decisions onl

4. Command and Control
   You equate oversight with quality. Instead, empower ownership, define outcomes, not checklists.

Leadership is now a subtractive game

In complex times, more effort is not the answer. More clarity is. You don’t need more dashboards. You need fewer blind spots. You don’t need more frameworks. You need fewer assumptions.

Your real competitive edge? Knowing when the game has changed and having the courage to change with it

👇 Want help mapping what to keep, what to kill, and how to install the right habits for high performance under pressure?

Reply to this email or message me on LinkedIn to apply for our High Performance Leadership 5 Day Challenge. Last few seats left for next month.

Talk soon,

Michaela