Feeling overwhelmed by competing priorities? Working after bedtime because your strategic work keeps getting pushed to the margins? You’re not alone.

In this episode of Lead the Room, hosts Briony and Lyndsey tackle one of the biggest challenges facing purpose-driven leaders: how to prioritise effectively when everything on your plate feels urgent.

If you’re leading a team turnaround while trying to maintain your human-centered approach in a KPI-focused environment, this episode is for you. Briony and Lyndsey share three practical, research-backed strategies you can implement in 15 minutes or less to shift from reactive firefighting to responsive, strategic leadership.

You’ll learn:

How to use the Impact vs Effort Matrix to identify your high-impact work and eliminate time drains

The crucial difference between being reactive and responsive — and why urgency is a feeling, not a fact

How to implement the Expectations Email: a weekly 10-minute practice that sets boundaries, manages stakeholder expectations, and protects your time for transformational work

Why responding immediately doesn’t demonstrate professionalism — it demonstrates a lack of boundaries

How to make your human-centered, strategic approach visible in environments that prioritise quick wins over sustainable change

This episode is perfect for managers, team leaders, and emerging leaders who are passionate about people-first leadership but struggling with overwhelm, burnout, or the constant pressure to do more with less.

Connection at work gets dismissed as a "soft skill." But here's the truth: human connection is a survival skill. Without it, even the most capable teams burn out during transformation.

⁠Download our 3 habits, 3 weeks, 0 burnout guide here.⁠⁠

In the final episode of our sustainable leadership series, Lyndsey and Briony reveal why burnout isn't caused by hard work - it's caused by feeling alone in that hard work. Learn three connection habits that prevent isolation and build resilient teams:

• The 15-Minute Human Check-In (daily conversations that aren't about tasks)
• The Real Question Practice (specific questions that create real conversations)
• Connection Rituals (weekly team practices purely about connection, not work)

This isn't about forced fun or toxic positivity. It's about intentional practices that help people feel seen, heard, and like they belong - the basic human needs required for high-performing teams.

Perfect for transformation leaders managing distributed teams, navigating burnout risk, or stuck in surface-level status updates when their teams need real support.

Download the free complete 3-part habits workbook covering achievement, joy, and connection.

Complete the series: Listen to Episodes 1 (Achievement) and 2 (Joy) for the full sustainable leadership framework

Think joy at work is a luxury when you're drowning in transformation chaos? Think again. In episode 2 of our sustainable leadership series, Lyndsey and Briony reveal why joy isn't optional - it's the fuel that prevents burnout during long-term change.

⁠Download our 3 habits, 3 weeks, 0 burnout guide here.⁠

Discover why "if it's hard, it should feel miserable" is destroying your team's momentum, and learn three practical joy habits you can implement this week:

• The Joy Audit (15-minute one-time exercise to identify what actually brings you joy)
• Daily Joy Blocks (intentional 15-minute slots for your own enjoyment)
• Bright Spot Team Rituals (weekly wins that shift your team culture)

This isn't toxic positivity. It's intentional, evidence-based practice that reduces burnout and increases performance. Joy doesn't happen by accident - you have to create it.

Perfect for transformation leaders tired of the "just push through" mentality who want to lead change in a way that's both effective and sustainable.

Download the free 3-part habits workbook in the show notes.

Episode 3 coming next week: Connection habits for sustainable transformation leadership

Leading a multi-year transformation? Feeling crushed by the sheer volume of change? You're not alone. In this episode of Lead the Room podcast, Lyndsey and Briony share the first of three essential daily habits that help transformation leaders sustain momentum without burning out.

Download our 3 habits, 3 weeks, 0 burnout guide here.

Discover why "just be more resilient" is terrible advice, and learn three practical, science-backed achievement habits you can implement today:

• The 3 Wins Close Out (4:55pm daily ritual)
• The One Thing Forward technique (morning priority setting)
• The Progress Wall (weekly visual tracker)

These aren't "nice-to-haves" - they're scientifically proven essentials for maintaining the mental and physical stamina needed for long-term change leadership.

Perfect for: Technology transformation leaders, change managers, delivery leads, and anyone responsible for driving complex organizational change over 12-24 months.

Download the free workbook in the show notes to implement all three habits this week.

Next Episode: Joy habits for sustainable transformation leadership

Forget "new year, new you" – this episode is about the reality of coming back to work in January without the energy everyone expects you to have.

Hosts Lyndsey and Bryony get honest about returning from the festive break feeling exhausted rather than refreshed, and why that's completely okay when you're leading transformation. If you're crawling back into the office wondering what your password is, this conversation is for you.

In this episode, we share our biggest leadership learnings from 2025 and how we're approaching 2026 differently – with more boundaries, self-compassion, and realistic expectations. Plus, we kick off a new mini-series on building sustainable transformation without burning out.

• Why the "new year, new you" narrative doesn't work for transformation leaders
• How to lead with consistency even when you're feeling isolated or doubted
• The power of setting boundaries and protecting your personal pace
• Why daily habits matter more than January motivation
• How to show yourself compassion as a leader in new roles or situations
• The importance of closing out leadership roles intentionally
• Practical strategies for managing pace and avoiding team burnout

What You'll Learn:

What You'll Learn:

• Why leaders struggle to genuinely switch off during holidays

• How to set up before your break so you can actually disconnect

• The digital detox strategy that removes temptation

• How to return from your break in a sustainable way

• Why role modeling healthy breaks matters for your team culture

Three Key Takeaways:

1. The Pre-Break Handover – About a week before you finish, document: What might come up and how to handle it, what decisions your team can make without you, who's the point person and what authority they have. Share this with your whole team and explicitly tell them you will NOT be checking emails or messages.

2. The Digital Detox Setup – Delete work email and messaging apps from your phone completely. Set a proper out of office that clearly states you're not checking anything and directs people to your point person. Tell your family you've done this so they can hold you accountable. Optionally, set up auto-delete for incoming emails.

3. The Return Ritual – Don't check email the night before you return. Block out your first morning back with no meetings for catch-up time. Scan emails for only urgent/important items. Have a 30-minute check-in with your team. Don't apologize for having been away—thank your team instead. This models healthy boundaries for your whole team.

Resources:

• Download our free "Transform Your Team In 15 Minutes" guide at here.

• Follow us on Instagram: @leadtheroomcoaching

• Email us: hello@leadtheroom.co.uk

How to Set Your Team Up for January Success | Stop the New Year Chaos

Dreading January 2nd when you'll have no idea where to start? You're not alone. The average leader spends the first 3 weeks of January just getting oriented - by which time you're already behind on Q1 goals.

In this episode, Briony and Lyndsey share the 3 counter-cultural strategies that will transform your January. Spend just 3-4 hours in December planning, and come back refreshed, clear, and ready to lead.

Get our 15 minute team transformation guide here.

Get the podsheet here.

You'll learn:✅ The December Download - how to document everything before the break so nothing lives in people's heads✅ The January Energy Map - planning your first 3 weeks based on realistic energy levels (not fantasy productivity)✅ The January Intention Ritual - setting intentions vs resolutions to transform how you show up as a leader

Topics covered: January planning, team leadership, leadership strategies, work energy management, team priorities, leadership intentions, New Year planning for leaders, avoiding January burnout, team alignment strategies

Stop winging it in January. These practical strategies take just hours to implement but transform your entire quarter.

Monday morning. You open your calendar and your stomach drops. Back-to-back meetings from 9am to 5pm. Seven meetings. When are you actually supposed to DO the work?

The average leader now spends 23 hours a week in meetings—more than half your working week. And most of those meetings? Completely unnecessary, involve too many people, or could be done in 15 minutes instead of an hour.

This episode shares how Lyndsey and Briony each reclaimed up to 10 hours a week by fundamentally changing their relationship with meetings.

Get our FREE planner here to help you take back control of your week.

Three Practical Strategies You Can Implement This Week:

Strategy #1: The Meeting Audit – Track every meeting for one week and ask four questions: What was the purpose? Did it achieve that purpose? Did it need to be a meeting? Did it need ME specifically? Most leaders are shocked to discover 15-20 hours of unnecessary meetings. Use this data to change your relationship with meetings going forward.

Strategy #2: The Default No Policy – Reverse the burden of proof. Instead of accepting unless there's a reason to decline, your default is no unless there's a compelling reason to say yes. Before accepting any meeting invite, ask: Is the purpose clear? Do I specifically need to be there? Could this be achieved differently? Push back politely when answers aren't clear. Reclaim hours every single week.

Strategy #3: Timeboxing for High-Impact Work – Block 2-3 hour chunks in your calendar for your highest impact work: strategic planning, transformation projects, difficult conversations, proposals. Protect these blocks like they're meetings with your CEO. Label them specifically so you know what you're working on. Train yourself and others to treat these as non-negotiable.

Why This Matters: What happens between meetings? You stay late to do actual work. You work weekends. You burn out. Meanwhile, the transformation work you're supposed to be leading—the strategy, the coaching, the thinking—never happens because you're too busy being in meetings ABOUT the work instead of DOING the work.

Since going remote/hybrid, meetings became the default way to communicate about everything. Leaders feel like if you're not in meetings, you're not working. But the most important work requires uninterrupted deep work time, not being pinged from one meeting to the next.

Pro Tips:

• Do the meeting audit once a year or when you start a new role (at 3-month mark)
• Buddy up with leadership peers to take turns at corporate meetings
• Make timeboxed slots private appointments so people don't know you're declining for "meeting with yourself"
• Offer alternatives when protecting your time: "So-and-so on my team would be well-placed" or "I can't do that time but here are alternatives"

The Bottom Line: You have more agency than you think. Start small. Experiment. Most leaders get zero pushback when they start being intentional about their time because when you DO show up to meetings, you're prepared, purposeful, and impactful.

No permission needed. No six-month change program. Just take control of your calendar.