The People Part of Leadership (No One Prepares You For)

The People Part of Leadership (No One Prepares You For)

There’s a moment most leaders recognise. You sit down at the end of the day and think… what did I actually get done? Not what was planned. What actually happened. The conversation that ran over. The issue that landed out of nowhere. The thing you’re still turning over in your head now. And somewhere in that, you realise: this is the work. Not the plan. Not the strategy. The people.

Most leaders don’t struggle with the technical side of leadership. They struggle with the people side, because it doesn’t stay contained. It spills across meetings, into gaps in your day, and into your thinking long after you’ve finished. Conversations don’t just take time, they take thinking.

A 2023 report from McKinsey & Company highlights how leadership roles are becoming increasingly people intensive, with less space between interactions. This isn’t part of leadership anymore. It is leadership.

And here’s where it quietly shifts. You start by leading the work. Then, without really noticing, you start holding it. Taking things on. Carrying conversations. Resolving things quickly because it’s easier. Until your day isn’t shaped by what matters most. It’s shaped by what arrives.

Leadership isn’t what’s in your calendar, it’s what stays in your head afterwards.

That’s the part that catches leaders out. Not because they’re doing something wrong. Because they’re doing what works. But over time, it costs you. Not just time. Thinking.

When everything is coming at you, there’s no space to step back, prioritise properly, or think clearly. So the move isn’t to do less. It’s to lead this part of your role more deliberately. Notice when a conversation is expanding and hold it just enough so it doesn’t take over. “This matters. Let’s focus on what’s most important here.” Notice when you’re stepping in too quickly and shift the thinking. “What do you see as the next step?” Create space for conversations so they don’t take it, and close loops so they don’t sit with you longer than they need to.

And in those moments where something lands with urgency, where you feel the pull to fix it straight away, steady it. “I can hear this matters. Let’s take a moment.” Then ask yourself: is this mine to lead, or am I taking it on?

If you don’t lead the people part of leadership, it will lead you.

Where has the people work started to lead you, instead of you leading it?

Go with clarity this week
Mary-Anne