The Leadership Work That Drains You (And the Work That Doesn’t)

Have you ever sat in a meeting watching your colleagues fire off brilliant ideas while you sat there thinking, What is wrong with me?

Maybe later—on a walk, in the shower, somewhere quiet—the ideas finally came. Flowing effortlessly. But by then the decision had already been made, and it was too late.

Or maybe it’s the opposite.

You can read a situation and instantly know whether an idea will work, while your brilliant colleague stares back when you ask, “What do you think?”

Here’s what I want you to know: nothing is wrong with you.
And nothing is wrong with them. 

You’re just experiencing what Patrick Lencioni and the Table Group call the difference between your Working Genius, Working Competency, and Working Frustration.

Working Genius: Full Charge

Your Working Genius is the work that feels like breathing. 

You don’t think about it. You just do it, and you do it well. You could spend all day here and finish with energy to spare. In fact, you probably assume everyone finds this kind of work easy. (Spoiler: they don’t.)

For some leaders, their genius shows up in spotting an opportunity before anyone else in the room. For others, it’s rallying people around an idea, finishing what others start, or immediately knowing whether something will actually work.

Wherever your genius lies, this is where you create the most value with the least friction.

Working Competency: Half Battery

Your Working Competency is work you can do and often do well, but it comes at a cost. 

You start capable, but within an hour or two, you can feel the drain. Too much competency work leaves you exhausted without knowing why.

Working Frustration: Dead Battery

Your Working Frustration is the work that depletes you almost immediately.

You need to start on full charge, because you’ll run out fast.

For me? Administrative work involving spreadsheets. The moment I open one, I can feel my energy disappear. That’s not laziness—that’s misalignment.

And every leader has areas like this.

The mistake many leaders make is assuming frustration is a weakness they just need to push through.

But more often, it’s simply work that sits outside how they are naturally wired to produce.

So, what does this mean for you?

Take a moment and honestly ask yourself:

• What work energizes me most?

• What do I consistently procrastinate?

• What leaves me depleted at the end of the day, even when I got things done?

Most leaders don’t need a new strategy, a new tool, or more hustle. 

They need clarity. They need to understand where they naturally create energy and value, and where they’re forcing themselves to operate outside that space.

Because the goal isn’t to become good at everything.

The goal is to lead in a way that allows you to spend more time in your genius and less time pretending your frustrations are something you can simply will your way through.

That kind of awareness is often the beginning of the hard and good work of leadership.

Next week, we’ll look at what this means inside your team—because when leaders understand the genius, competency, and frustration of the people around them, everything changes.