BRAVE • FOCUSED • BRILLIANT The Inner Game of Creative Leadership Whether you lead a team, your peers, or your clients, managing your inner game is essential if you want to end up where you intended. (Otherwise, you might find yourself far from where you set out to go.)

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Do you feel tired? I've been talking to a lot of leaders lately who just... almost inexplicably... feel exhausted. It's not like the workload is any more. It's just dealing with uncertainty, pressure, and emotional heaviness. (And yes, I'm tired too, and I'm just back from vacation!)

Let's face it: the demands of leadership, external expectations, and the unending pursuit of “more, better, faster” can simply wear you down.

The result? Ambitious goals are achieved, but there's an undercurrent of burnout or emptiness. And in those moments, we are especially susceptible to drifting off course. We knuckle down and get it done, but we stop asking what it should be.

This week's Daily Creative episode features interviews with Klaus Kleinfeld (former 2x Fortune 500 CEO and author of Leading To Thrive) and Eric Liedtke (Brand President at Adidas and Under Armour, and founder of Unless Collective.) Below are some of the insights I took from the episode.

Are you chasing what you think?

What are you chasing? This is a question that I routinely ask myself in my quarterly checkpoints, and I sometimes find that I've been running after things that I don't even want, often because it's what I think I should want.

It’s easy to set your sights on the next promotion or title out of habit, social pressure, or financial reward. Both Klaus Kleinfeld and Eric Liedtke discovered that true bravery is about taking a hard look at the life and work you’re building—and changing direction when the path doesn’t align with your core values.

Liedtke, for example, left what many would call a dream job to build something that matters to him on a deeper level. “When you start to look at the impact you’re having, you can’t unhear and unsee that stuff. So I did what I could... but I wanted to solve for a different issue and I like to build things and take on big challenges.”

So... what are you chasing right now? And, is it what you intended to chase?

In a contest between your inner game and your talent, your inner game eventually wins.

The most productive thing you can do for your career might be to pause, not to push harder.

Often, we measure our progress by how many boxes we check. Klaus Kleinfeld reveals the hidden power of micro-pauses for creative leaders—rituals, habits, or even tiny breathing exercises—to strategically refocus, recharge, and reclaim energy.

In his words, that's when “Rest time suddenly becomes productive time.”

This approach is not about working less, but integrating purposeful rest to access your best thinking and decision-making.

How could you strategically plan a pause in your day - a moment - to reset?

Talented people may not be thinking big enough because they're trying to do it "right."

The most brilliant ideas rarely arrive when you’re trying to “get it right”—they happen when you give yourself and your team permission to think bigger.

Eric Liedtke’s story is a testament to the power of letting go of the myth that you need “the perfect plan” before acting. By empowering himself and others to tackle big questions, he unlocked ideas and impact well beyond their original scope.

Of where ideas come from, he says it's important to let go of the need to control. Instead, open the filter and forget about "getting it right." He said, “I’ve seen it happen. I didn’t come up with half the ideas... I simply gave people permission to express themselves.”

What bold question or permission can you offer yourself or your collaborators this week to chase better, not perfect?

P.S. If you'd like to hear the full interview with Klaus Kleinfed and Eric Liedtke, they're free at DailyCreativePlus.com. Sign up and you'll get your own private podcast feed featuring bonus content and full interviews with all of our guests.

Todd Henry teaches leaders and teams how to be brave, focused, and brilliant. He is the author of seven books, and speaks internationally on creativity, leadership, and passion for work. ​TODDHENRY.COM​ ​​​​​

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