Your Next Clear Move
Welcome to Your Next Clear Move™—the podcast for leaders, professionals, and high-capacity humans who are done “getting ready” and ready to move.
I’m Debbie Peterson, Leadership Readiness Expert, and in each episode I deliver grounded insight, clarity-driven mindset strategies, and one actionable step to help you stop the drift and lead yourself forward.
This isn’t about fixing what’s broken. It’s about reconnecting to what matters—and making decisions that align with who you are and how you want to lead next.
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Your Next Clear Move
Overcoming Overwhelm: How to Focus on What Matters Most as a New Leader
Feeling the weight of your new leadership role and unsure how to navigate the chaos? Discover how transforming overwhelm into clarity can elevate your leadership game. On this episode of the Getting to Clarity podcast, I'm Debbie Peterson, and I'll guide you through the Clarity Compass Framework, a tool designed to help you find your true purpose, prioritize effectively, and focus on what genuinely matters. We'll tackle the common pitfall of the busy mindset and explore how to cultivate trust within your team, push projects forward, and create vital space for strategic thinking—helping you lead with confidence and intention.
In the next chapter, we dive into strategies for achieving leadership clarity and making a significant impact in your role. You'll gain actionable tips, tools, and techniques to enhance your leadership skills, aligning your actions with core goals to drive meaningful results. I share insights on how to focus on what truly drives success and satisfaction in your leadership journey. For further resources, visit www.debbypetersonspeaks.com, and if you find value in this episode, please rate and recommend us on iTunes or your preferred podcast platform. Here's to gaining the clarity you deserve and the success you seek.
Hey, hello and welcome back. I am Debbie Peterson of Getting to Clarity, and this is another episode of the Getting to Clarity podcast. This is the place where you come and get the tips, tools and techniques that you need to create more success in your leadership with less sacrifice in your life. And today we are talking about overcoming overwhelm, especially as a new leader, understanding how to focus on what matters most. So stay tuned.
Speaker 3:Welcome to the Getting to Clarity podcast the place where busy leaders discover how to create more success in their leadership journey with less sacrifice in their life.
Speaker 2:Here's your host, debbie Peterson, of Getting to Clarity.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 1:So you know, if you're about to take on a brand new leadership role, or maybe you just stepped into one, you are likely no stranger to feeling overwhelmed. You know the excitement of new responsibilities. It often goes hand in hand with the weight of juggling competing priorities. Everything competes, it seems like. So you might feel like you need to have all the answers to prove yourself as you also manage expectations from every direction. If you can relate to that deep breath, exhale, overwhelm will not last, and it's a feeling and a signal that something has to change. So, actually, clarity and focus are the antidotes to overwhelm. So when you are clear about what it is that you're doing, the purpose of what it is that you're doing and why that truly matters, then the noise begins to fade. It's not about doing more, it's about doing what matters most. So there's something I call the leadership overwhelm trap, and it is perhaps the single most common trap that new leaders fall into, and that is the need to do it all. You know, when you start in a new leadership role, it's pretty easy to get sucked into a pattern of chasing every opportunity, answering every email, saying yes to every request. But this quote unquote busy mindset isn't going to get you anywhere, but spinning your wheels, and it also has the ability to just wear you down and make you doubt yourself, think that you're not good enough, and that is just not true. So the good news is you don't have to stay there, you don't have to do it all, and, as a matter of fact, trying to do everything is a surefire way to dilute any impact that you are trying to make. So what makes a great leader isn't how much they do, it's their ability to focus on the things that drive the results and the things that align with their purpose, their team's purpose, the project's purpose, it doesn't matter. So when you find focus, it allows you to move forward intentionally. So you naturally have to stop and realign the direction.
Speaker 1:So I have a tool called the Clarity Compass Framework, and that's where it comes into play. So I want you to imagine you've got a compass and you're holding it in your hand. If you don't know what a compass is, google it your hand. If you don't know what a compass is, google it. Old-fashioned tool, but very, very accurate at giving you direction, and that's what the Clarity Compass does. So imagine that North, your true North, is your purpose or your why for what you do, or it's the purpose or the why for the project that is going on, or the purpose or the why for the team. Okay, so every action that you take should align with that purpose or that why, and it guides you to move closer to the goals that count. So, instead of chasing everything, you are focused on the right things.
Speaker 1:So here's how you get started. Just ask yourself a simple question what's really important here? And this is a deceptively simple question, but that does not mean it's not powerful, because it can slice through the clutter and separate you from urgent distractions versus important priorities. So maybe for you, it's about building trust in your team. That is, as a new leader, that is a focus of yours. You understand why that is so important, right? Maybe it is moving the needle on a key project. Maybe you've been brought in to accelerate the closing of a key project. Maybe you've been brought in to accelerate the closing of a key project, so that is what's most important. Or maybe it's carving out some time to strategize, that you need to do some deep thinking about where the department goes next or where you go in your leadership. So, whatever it is that you're focusing on. Let that guide your actions.
Speaker 1:Next, once you're clear on that, you want to consider the tasks, the commitments, the goals that are currently filling your calendar and your plate and your schedule. Look at them and are they aligned with what is most important to you in your leadership with your team about the project? And you may find yourself in a place where you have an opportunity to let go of things that don't serve, so you can delegate things, you can defer them to later, you can say no. There's a concept, say no, and these, although simple, can be really powerful strategies to just kind of get some energy back that has been lost in the overload. So it's about a mindset shift and for me that's clarity.
Speaker 1:Clarity isn't just a strategy, it is a different way of thinking. It is a mindset shift because too often overwhelm comes from the belief that you, to be successful, need to take on everything, that you need to touch everything, manage everything. But leadership isn't about control, it's about influence. So when you begin to frame your life around what it is that you can influence your life, your work, instead of what you can control you would be amazed at how this simple realization gives you a sense of influence and empowerment. So suppose you're feeling overwhelmed by managing a project that has a really tight deadline coming fast. So, instead of trying to focus on every little detail, turn your attention on those areas where your leadership will serve to make the biggest difference. So that may mean that it is giving your team some more clarity about what is important, about the vision Maybe they're not all the way there Making sure that they have what they need, that you can pave a way around any obstacles that they may encounter. And when you do this around any obstacles that they may encounter, and when you do this, then you often feel less overwhelmed, and sometimes they get to stretch a bit and their confidence grows. So overwhelmed can be really tricky to get out of.
Speaker 1:Let's start by keeping things small. That's a great first step as a practical step to regain clarity. But even more than that, do something as simple as a brain dump. Get it all out. Get everything out onto a piece of paper the projects, the meetings, the worries, the to-dos, everything that you have swirling in your head. Get it onto paper because once you do that, you can prioritize it, you can do something with it. You can see patterns where things are critical and patterns where your time is being wasted. You can see the things that are aligned with what truly matters and what then can be set aside for the time being. So this in itself creates relief and it gives you clarity when everything is whirling in your head, when you do something like a brain dump, but when you set it in front of you, it is a powerful way to be able to manage it.
Speaker 1:Another strategy is blocking out time to perform deep work, that deep thinking. If you're being pulled in all kinds of directions as a new leader, but you don't give yourself the space and the grace to think about it, you're chasing everything. So take just an hour and focus on your top priorities, focus on why they're being done Okay, and then find the items on the to-do list with the team that are most important in achieving that. So protect this deep thinking time fiercely and convey to everybody else that that's what you're doing. Convey to your team hey, I'm taking some time to strategize, and then they see you walking the talk and they have permission to do it themselves. So leading with clarity. When you do that, when you have this sort of mindset, then you inspire people around you to do the same thing. So your focus and your calm become contagious, instead of the chaos where you're reacting to every fire, and you're instead choosing where you're going to put your energy. And not only will you be more effective, but the relationships you get to build when you approach this authentically helps to strengthen relationships with your team and with your peers. They will notice you walking this talk and it will help them to cut through the noise as well.
Speaker 1:So this is a process. It's not a one and done Overcoming overwhelm. It didn't happen in a day, it's not going to go away in a day, but it not a one and done Overcoming overwhelm. It didn't happen in a day, it's not going to go away in a day, but it is really one worth pursuing. So, with the right mindset and the right tools, you can shift from feeling stuck to making more meaningful progress. And as you step into your leadership role, remember this clarity isn't a destination, it's a practice. Each day, you get to decide to focus on what matters most and to lead with intention. So I hope this helped you, and for more tips, tools and techniques on how to get clarity and make a bigger impact as a leader, head on over to my website at wwwdebbypetersonspeakscom. Until the next time, here is wishing you all the clarity that you deserve. Take care and bye-bye for now.
Speaker 2:Thank you for listening to this episode of the Getting to Clarity Podcast with Debbie Peterson.
Speaker 3:If you enjoyed this show, please rate and recommend it on iTunes or wherever you enjoy your podcasts.
Speaker 2:To learn more about how you can bring Debbie and her transformational clarity leadership strategies to your organization, visit DebbiePetersonSpeakscom.
