Many leaders tell me they’re overwhelmed.
Too many meetings.
Too many decisions.
Too many people are relying on them.
Too many problems are landing on their desk.
While workload is certainly part of the challenge, I’ve noticed something else.
The leaders who feel the most overwhelmed are often carrying work that no longer belongs to them.
Not because they’re incapable of letting go.
Because somewhere along the way, they became used to carrying it.
The Backpack We Never Unpack
Imagine leadership as carrying a backpack.
When you first step into a leadership role, everything inside feels necessary.
You carry responsibility.
You make decisions.
You solve problems.
You attend meetings.
You jump in when people need help.
At first, that makes sense.
But over time, more gets added.
Someone asks you to review work “just this once.”
A decision gets escalated because it’s easier.
You keep attending a meeting because you’ve always attended it.
You say yes because you want to help.
Little by little, the backpack gets heavier.
The challenge isn’t that any one item is particularly heavy.
It’s that you never stop to ask whether you still need to carry it.
Eventually, even the work that genuinely requires your leadership becomes harder because you’re exhausted by everything else.
Leadership capacity doesn’t come from becoming stronger.
It comes from carrying less.
Why Letting Go Feels so Difficult
One of the most fascinating things neuroscience teaches us is that our brains are wired to prefer certainty.
When you do the work yourself, check someone else’s work, or make every decision, your brain experiences a sense of predictability and control. It feels familiar, and familiarity is something the brain naturally rewards because it conserves energy and reduces perceived risk.
Letting go is different.
Delegating a decision or trusting someone else to complete an important piece of work introduces uncertainty.
Your brain immediately begins asking questions:
“What if they get it wrong?”
“What if I have to fix it?”
“What if this reflects badly on me?”
Even when there is no real danger, these thoughts activate a low-level threat response, making holding on feel like the safer option.
The problem is that what feels safer in the moment often creates a much bigger problem over time.
Every decision you retain, every task you monitor, and every problem you continue to carry consume valuable mental resources.
As cognitive load increases, the prefrontal cortex, the part of the brain responsible for strategic thinking, planning, judgement and decision-making, has less capacity available for the work that matters most.
Rather than protecting your leadership, carrying too much actually diminishes it.
The leadership paradox is this:
Holding on feels easier because of how the brain is wired.
Letting go makes you a better leader because it frees your brain to focus on the work that only you can do.
That’s why creating leadership capacity isn’t simply a productivity strategy.
It’s a neuroscience-backed leadership practice.
The Leadership Shift
One of the biggest leadership lessons I ever learned came when I moved from Human Resources into an Operations leadership role.
In HR, I was the expert.
In Operations, I wasn’t.
My team knew far more about the technical work than I did.
I couldn’t lead by having all the answers because I simply didn’t have them.
At first, that felt uncomfortable.
Then it became incredibly freeing.
Instead of trying to solve every problem, I focused on setting direction, coaching my team, building relationships across the organisation and with government stakeholders, and helping people understand how their work connected to the bigger picture.
Ironically, the less I tried to carry, the more value I created.
That experience fundamentally changed how I think about leadership.
Leadership isn’t about holding onto work.
It’s about letting go of what no longer belongs to you so you can invest your time where only you can make a difference.
“Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.”
— Peter Drucker
Five Questions to Help You Create More Capacity This Week
Rather than trying to become more efficient, try becoming more intentional.
1. Empty your backpack.
Write down everything you’re currently carrying: tasks, meetings, decisions, and problems.
Then ask yourself:
What no longer needs to sit with me?
2. Decide what to do with each item.
For every responsibility, choose one action:
- Stop it.
- Delegate it.
- Defer it.
- Keep it because it is genuine leadership work.
3. Hand it over well.
Delegation isn’t about disappearing.
It’s about transferring ownership with confidence.
Instead of stepping back in, ask:
- What do you think the best next step is?
- I trust you to take this forward.
- Let me know where you need support.
Delegate the outcome, not just the task.
4. Protect the space you’ve created.
Don’t immediately fill your calendar with more operational work.
Invest that time in the work that only a leader can do:
- Set direction.
- Coach your people.
- Build relationships.
- Remove barriers.
- Think strategically.
5. Reflect every week.
Ask yourself:
- What did I let go of this week?
- What did I take back that I shouldn’t have?
- Where did I create more leadership capacity?
Capacity isn’t created once.
It’s created through the leadership choices you make every week.
The strongest leaders aren’t the ones carrying the heaviest backpack.
They’re the ones who know what belongs inside it, and what doesn’t.
So this week, here’s my question for you:
What are You Still Carrying that Your Team is Ready to Carry Instead?
Because every time you let go of work that no longer belongs to you, you create space for the work that truly does.
And that’s where leadership has its greatest impact.