The Leader Nobody Talks About: The One Who Cannot Stop
Book Giveaway!!
20 copies available!!
Leave a comment on this guest post by Jobert E. Abueva to become eligible for one of 20 complimentary copies of his new book, The Janus Plan: A No-Resolutions Path to Begin Your Year with Intention.
Deadline for eligibility is 09/24/2026. International winners will receive electronic version0
We celebrate the leader who pushes through. We promote the one who outworks everyone. We tell stories about the executive who never quits.
We rarely talk about what that costs.
I was that leader. I ran one of the world’s most recognizable beauty brands across four continents. I was the one who stayed late, took the early call, never said no. From the outside, I looked like exactly what leadership is supposed to look like. Then I couldn’t get out of bed once I burned out.
Momentum is not the same as meaning.
Most leaders confuse the two. They move fast. They produce results. They carry last year’s unresolved tensions into next year’s planning session and wonder why the same problems keep appearing.
The missing practice is neither resilience nor a better morning routine. It is about being honest about where you have actually been before you commit to where you are going.
Three things high-performing leaders quietly avoid:
1. Look at what the year actually revealed. Not the results. The patterns.
What did this year show you about yourself as a leader that you have not yet named?
2. Release what no longer belongs. Most leaders carry commitments that made sense eighteen months ago. They keep them out of identity, not intention.
Ask yourself: Would I choose this again today?
3. Slow down before the next sprint. The leader who never stops never knows if the direction still makes sense.
The leader who cannot stop is not strong. They are afraid of what stillness might show them. That fear is worth examining. What it reveals is usually the most important leadership work that you have not yet done.
What has this year been trying to show you that you have been too busy to see?
Jobert E. Abueva is a global marketing and philanthropy executive, TEDx speaker, L&D keynote and workshop facilitator, and author of The Janus Plan: A No-Resolutions Path to Begin Your Year with Intention (Weaving Influence Press, September 2026). His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Fortune, and Entrepreneur. joberteabueva.com.
meaning creates momentum , momentum does not (always) create meaning ! It can be momentum in the wrong direction ! Old habbits die hard.
I would love a copy of the book.
I love this idea, too often we start the year with momentum but the meaning is lost.
I think that as a leader we feel a lot of pressure to always be producing something. Sometimes the important work comes in the slowing down and taking our time to plan and make sure things are done right. There’s nothing positive about rushing to make quick decisions or changes that fall apart because they weren’t planned out.
Great reminder for all of us!
Slowing down to take stock was an easy lesson to learn the first time I became a leader; it was painfully obvious I was not doing well. As I’ve become a better leader, it’s become harder to notice what the cost is. This reminds me of one of Dan’s recent posts in which he said, “Choose two signs that reveal your operating condition before results do.” That stuck with me.
Great article. It reminds us it’s important to periodically slow down and take a pulse on things. It also makes me think of the saying “work smarter not harder”!!
I will continue to give this thought as the year unfolds.
Great insight and reminder to slow down in our daily lives and look at what is happening
It is important to recognize what we need to let go of. Holding on to things that no longer have much use is a waste of capacity, capacity to do greater more important things.
This line stuck with me: “The leader who never stops never knows if the direction still makes sense”. A leader is responsible to ensure the direction of the organization is toward the shared vision. This can’t happen without times of reflection.
Embracing what was and seeking for what could be. Don’t strip yourself of the commitment, understand why you made the commitment at the time to help yourself move toward the next step.
Its funny that this appeared at this time. I did this exact thing about two months ago. I have re-evaluated a lot of decisions that I have made in the past and moved forward with new ideas and ways of dealing with everyday problems. Thank you for the reminder.
Great 100,000-foot view of what I should do to stay relevant in my current role. As I read, I see parallels with my own performance mentality, which often leads to burnout. Instead of identifying projects that are no longer relevant to the current state, I keep them in my to-dos, which only drains energy from new, market-relevant directives. Thank you for the insight!
I have found that each promotion has delivered more responsibility (work), longer days (and weekends), and an exponential increase in the amount of email that I must manage. I can retire in 7 years, but I am not sure I can make it that long given the non-stop sprint and hamster wheel life that my current position demands. I know there is no silver bullet but I am thankful that those that have gone before us can offer some insight to survive executive positions. I look forward to reading this book.
I would love to read this book and bring it to my growth tribe at work. Does it come with a workbook?
This book sounds quite interesting.
I’ve been working on purpose alignment. While this doesn’t help manage the every rising small fires it does help open time to step away. Leadership is also being comfortable with leaving loose ends – not always having to fix the problem or complete the task that moment.
Leader in progress.
“take time to smell the roses” or ” you can’t see the forest from the trees” seems to be the message I see here. But I’m sure I’m just missing it entirely. I need to read this book to see what I’m clearly missing.
Relatively new leader here but spent a long time in the career I now lead. I tend to keep a ‘wish list’ of items that I’d like to get to someday – these are usually strategically focused. Reading this article was the reality check needed that strategy IS where I should be spending my time, rather than the day-to-day items or reactionary fires.
Thank you for this blog – I would love that book.
I resonate with what I have read describing this book and would love a copy.
Good day to all!. This fits right along with a post Dan recently shared. “You don’t rise to the level of your intentions. You rise to the level of your routines”.
That is me, new to leadership and thinking I have to keep moving and moving fast. Now my body and brain have had enough and want me to slow down. Now I have to learn to be a leader, slower.
This is an impactful post now as we head toward the end of the year to spend more time reflecting.
The point about the leader who never stops really resonates. There’s a fine line between persistence and simply being too busy to recognize when the direction needs to change. Knowing when to stop, reassess, and adjust is every bit as important as knowing how to push forward.
I’m very afraid of what stillness might show me. I don’t think I can do it.
I was so very much this way until I retired but still find myself continually volunteering and in the “heat” of many community needs. I try to step back and find meaning in life and nature.
Great topic – So much can be done if we look at patterns of success to build upon!
Love the idea of looking at the patterns, not the results. I’m in real estate sales and it’s a very cyclical business. I have found that looking at the market patterns allows me to better plan my year – even quarter by quarter as I go through the year and keep consistancy instead of dealing with peaks and valleys. It also helps me keep my foot on the gas all year long.
“Would I choose this again today?” Implementing now!
This is huge: “The leader who cannot stop is not strong. They are afraid of what stillness might show them. That fear is worth examining. What it reveals is usually the most important leadership work that you have not yet done.”
“Slow down before the next sprint. The leader who never stops never knows if the direction still makes sense” is great advice for me, just finished a big project.
I read the vagrant twice, prompting a lot of personal reflection. Now, reading “The Leader No One Talks About”, I am challenged in recent retirement to look further into what I have learned. What are my patterns? How do I want to hone moving forward? Great journaling topics for me now. Thank you!
Refreshing to get off of the timeworn goals and resolutions track!
Very thought provoking perspective. Making time to be still and think are critical for leaders to avoid robotic patterns that show them doing but not thinking.
Thought-provoking, indeed. I love the idea of looking for patterns and trends about the previous year.
Count me in!
So Good! “The leader who cannot stop is not strong. They are afraid of what stillness might show them. That fear is worth examining. “
I love the idea of leaders reflecting on patterns…not results! So often we look at the results but forget to look at long-term results and what it says about us as leaders. That said, I also appreciate the notion, “The leader who never stops never knows if the direction still makes sense.” If I’m always on auto-pilot or not stopping to reflect on the patterns, how DO I know if it still makes sense? Time to do some introspection…
Whoosh….constantly pushing to get through and constantly exhausted from working harder than anyone else. This pattern of not stopping to reflect on he pattern of doing everything myself because when I delegate it’s done wrong is a recipe for derailment of priorities. I’m so interested in this topic in my coaching.
Number 2 hit me… Release what no longer belongs. I pride myself on never answering with “because we’ve always done it that way”. I encourage myself and my teams to ask why, and they show me a better way! I didn’t consider that some things may ‘no longer belong’ period. Need to relook at some things 🙂
Effort that isn’t balanced and focused on the current facts is not merely wasted it can be damaging. One thing I’ve noticed that contributes to this is pride and the unwillingness to admit the bigger picture or how things have changed. This creates the isolation mentioned and only leads to more struggles.
“Would I choose this again today?” What a powerful self reflective comment. I will be placing this on a post-it note on my desk and share it with others. Thank you for the thought today.
Very interesting insight, and food for thought.
You had me at “no resolutions”!
Concepts from Lean Six Sigma and Kaizen may be familiar if you work within a manufacturer realm but applying the same continuous improvement tenets to your own performance and development can be challenging, especially as your work is viewed by or affects others. This book sounds interesting as it may hopefully provide a framework to approach such introspection while maintaining productivity.
I am working on reviewing what we do, meeting we have and why we go through each thing. So many meetings and forms happen just because we always have… streamlining and trying to keep the motivation is always a challenge here.
See the pattern, offload what is not needed, and pause before the next action. Great post
When the momentum becomes the routine, it can “become” your identity. It’s tough to pull yourself out of the momentum. I appreciate the question “What did this year show you about yourself as a leader that you have not yet named?”. For me, this question requires me to reveal things that I need to face…things got done, but we did not move forward.