You're leading a new team.

You're working harder than you've ever worked in your life.

And somehow, it feels like you're not making any progress.

Here's what I want you to hear: working even harder is not going to fix this.

You have hit the point where brute force won't save you.

It's 9pm and you're still answering Slack messages.

You're sitting in meetings you don't need to be in, because you're worried something important will slip through if you're not there.

You're reviewing every document before it goes out, not because anyone asked you to, but because it feels safer with your eyes on it first.

You're solving problems yourself instead of handing them off, because honestly, it's just faster if you do it.

And you're working more hours this month than last month. But somehow you feel further behind than when the month started.

Here's what's actually happening.

Your current approach isn't working. That's the hard truth of it. But the reason it's not working has nothing to do with how hard you're trying.

The people who fall into this pattern are not people who lack drive. It's the opposite.

They are ambitious. Conscientious. They've been willing to work harder than everyone around them their entire career. And that work ethic is exactly what got them here. It's what got them noticed. It's what got them promoted into leading a new team.

So when something isn't working, when a project stalls, when the team isn't performing the way they expect, their natural instinct kicks in.

The same instinct that's worked their entire career.

Work harder. Push more. Do more yourself.

That instinct isn't wrong. It's just aimed at the wrong problem.

Working harder is the right answer when the mechanics are already sound. When you just need more reps, more hours, more push to get over the finish line.

But when the mechanics themselves are the problem, working harder doesn't fix anything. It just means you're failing faster, and more exhausted while you do it.

I was a white belt. Brand new. Fired up. Not very good at Jiu-Jitsu.

One day in class, I learned a new choke. Simple mechanics. My instructor showed us exactly how to set it up. Then we sparred.

I got my training partner into the choke, just like I'd been shown. And I squeezed.

Nothing happened.

So I squeezed harder.

Still nothing.

My arms were shaking. I was pouring everything I had into this one move. And it still wasn't working. My energy was draining fast. My confidence was falling. My partner's confidence was going up every second he survived.

Here's what I didn't understand yet. My position was off. My angle was wrong. My technique had a flaw in it.

No amount of additional force was going to fix bad mechanics. I could have squeezed for an hour and gotten the exact same result.

My instructor came over and coached me into the correct position. Now the choke worked easily. Quickly.

That lesson took me years of training to fully internalize. When the pressure is on and adrenaline is pumping, the natural instinct is to push harder. It takes awareness and experience to interrupt that instinct.

You've felt this before, whether it's golf, tennis, chess, or something else entirely. A point where trying harder stopped working, and the answer turned out to be better mechanics.

Every behavior I described earlier, the late Slack messages, sitting in every meeting, reviewing every document, solving every problem yourself, is you squeezing harder.

It's more force applied to a mechanics problem.

Think about the document review. You're reviewing it because somewhere along the way it became your job to catch every mistake before it goes out. That's not a discipline problem on your team. That's a mechanics problem in how you lead.

Think about some of the meetings you're sitting in. You're not there because your presence is required. You're there because you're worried about what happens if you're not. That's a mechanics problem in how decisions get made.

You could work twice as many hours next month, and if the mechanics stay the same, you'll be exactly where you are right now. Just a lot more tired.

I want to be clear about something. I am not telling you to work less. I'm assuming you're exactly the kind of person who wants to work hard. That's one of the core attributes that got you this role in the first place. Keep that. Don't lose it.

What I want to change is not how much effort you're putting in. It's how that effort gets applied.

Someone on your team sends you an email before it goes out to a client. "Hey, can you take a look at this before I send it?"

The old instinct is to open it, read it, mark it up, and send it back.

Before you do that, pause and ask yourself a few questions.

What does this person actually need from me to be able to take action on their own? 

Have I made it clear that I consider them the owner of this part of our business? 

Have I given them any reason to think I don't trust their ability to communicate with this customer?

My response is usually something like: "Hey, you've got this. You don't need my review on these communications. I consider you the owner of this piece of our business. Is there something specific you're not sure about?"

I'm not brushing them off. I'm clarifying who is in the driver's seat. I'm letting them know I have confidence in them.

If you skip this and just review the email, you've solved today's problem. But you've also just taught this person that nothing goes out without you. Tomorrow they'll send you another one. And the day after that, another one. You'll still be doing this a year from now.

Asking yourself "what does this person actually need from me?" takes a moment. That's a mechanics adjustment. Less effort for you. Less effort for them.

The same self-reflection shows up in other places once you start looking for it.

Are we working together toward our highest-priority goals, or are we in silos? 

Are we making things more complicated than they need to be? 

Are we focused on the highest-priority problem right now, or spreading ourselves thin? 

Is this something I should own, or something I should hand to someone on the team?

None of these questions take more effort to ask. It's a momentary pause. A quick zoom-out. A chance to spot where the mechanics are off, make a small adjustment, and save yourself and your team a lot of needless effort.

You're a high achiever. You're a hard worker. This has served you well your entire career.

But right now you're hitting your capacity. You're pushing about as hard as you can and it's not working.

You don't need to become a different person. You don't need to stop working hard.

You need better mechanics.

Keep the intensity. Fix the mechanics. Now you and your team are moving.

Best, 

Jeff

P.S. If you've recently taken on a new team and you feel like you're working harder than ever but somehow falling further behind, let's connect on a short call. This is not a sales call. This is a help call. Just a quick look at what's going on and getting you pointed in the right direction. I'm taking all of these calls myself right now, so grab a time while you can. Here's a link to my calendar.

P.P.S. We are moving to a new platform for hosting the Bellamy Letter. If you would like to continue receive this every Wednesday, please click here and opt-in to the new platform. I look forward to continuing to connect with you every week!