When the system breathes through you

Every leader knows the feeling, the sudden tightening in your chest before a big decision, the rush to solve what hasn’t yet been named.

It’s easy to assume that stress belongs to the individual. But in truth, leadership is a porous role. The system breathes through you.

When a team is anxious, you feel it before they speak. When the organisation is under strain, you carry it in your body, restlessness, irritability, sleeplessness. It’s not weakness; it’s resonance.

The problem arises when leaders stop noticing and start absorbing. The nervous system becomes a mirror for what the organisation can’t yet process.

Reactivity increases. Patience decreases. Culture shifts without anyone deciding it should.

Awareness is the first recalibration. When you feel tension rising, pause and ask:

Is this mine, or the system’s?​

That single question can restore agency. It allows you to respond rather than react.

Because when a leader steadies their internal pulse, the organisation begins to exhale.