125: When Ops Leaders Let Short Pauses Turn into Full Stops

Find the full episode (plus more cool resources for ops execs) at YourFutureRealized.com/125.  

Out for a run 2 weeks ago I pushed a little too far—and my body called a timeout with a calf strain. One day I was logging miles, the next—nothing. Running’s how I clear my head and find my focus. Without it I’ve felt a little off, restless, honestly. 

I still lace up and step outside each day, just to breathe and remind myself—I’m still a runner, I’m just catching my breath. Those are my little phantom runs.

Sometimes that’s life as a leader, too, especially in ops. You get benched, overloaded with fires and deadlines and suddenly you’re disconnected from the part of you that loves to strategize and lead.

In this episode, you’ll hear how to keep your leadership in motion when you can’t go full out—and how those tiny phantom runs keep you connected to the leader you still are. 

Transcript

Out for a run 2 weeks ago I pushed a little too far—and my body called a timeout with a calf strain. One day I was logging miles, the next—nothing. Running’s how I clear my head and find my focus. Without it I’ve felt a little off, restless, honestly. 

I still lace up and step outside each day, just to breathe and remind myself—I’m still a runner, I’m just catching my breath. Those are my little phantom runs.

Sometimes that’s life as a leader, too, especially in ops. You get benched, overloaded with fires and deadlines and suddenly you’re disconnected from the part of you that loves to strategize and lead.

In this episode, you’ll hear how to keep your leadership in motion when you can’t go full out—and how those tiny phantom runs keep you connected to the leader you still are. Find the full episode (plus more cool resources for ops execs) at YourFutureRealized.com/125. 

Hey Ops Execs,

When Your Drive to Lead Goes Off Track

Here’s the thing: nobody’s in constant stride. Not runners, not leaders. Especially in ops—every day’s another hill, the terrain changes by the hour.

Your superpower is keeping things moving. But that same instinct often turns against you. The minute you skip a reflection, cancel a walk, delay a conversation—you tell yourself it’s temporary. Just until things calm down. But things rarely do calm down.

And before you know it, a short pause in your own wellbeing turns into a full stop. You start to feel behind—on the work, your people, yourself.

I’ve been there. I see it often—sharp, capable leaders who can manage ten moving parts but lose connection with the one thing that actually powers all of that: themselves. Here’s another way you can move through the pause.  

3 Micro‑Moves That Keep You in Motion

It starts by remembering that capable, grounded part of you isn’t gone, it’s still right there, even when you're off stride. If you can tap into that, the pressure to 'start over' can start to melt away, and the question shifts from 'How do I get back on track?' to 'What's one tiny thing can bring me back right now?' — which gives you permission to cut yourself some slack instead of forcing a huge reboot.

Then design your own version of phantom runs: ten minutes of silence before emails, a quick walk instead of a workout, one real check-in conversation, or a bit of journalling.. These rituals keep you connected to your bigger picture. They tell your whole system, 'I'm still here — just at a slower pace today.'

Also you can rewrite your time story. 'I don't have time' usually means 'I don't know how to start small again.' What if five minutes was enough? Often it’s the feeling of connection, not the magnitude of it, that lights the fire again.

Reconnect Before You Restart

I keep learning over and over that progress doesn’t always look like running. Sometimes it’s pausing on purpose. Sometimes leadership is less about pushing forward and more about staying connected while you’re still.

This week, I’ll leave you with a question—something to take on your own phantom run: Where in your leadership (or self‑care) have you let a short pause turn into a full stop—and what’s a micro-dose you can do that would quietly reconnect you to that part of yourself again?

And if this lands close to home — if you're wondering what your phantom run looks like — you don't have to sort it out alone. I'm at yourfuturerealized.com/VIP if you want to talk it through. No agenda. Just someone who gets ops talking with someone who gets ops.

Remember, you can't stop the chaos, but you can change the game — I’ll be right there with you—just taking my own phantom run at my own pace.