The AEC Leadership Podcast Leading High-Performing Professionals Without Burnout – Ep 364
Jan 2, 2026
In this engaging discussion, Frankie Bercobin, an executive coach renowned for her work with ADHD leaders at companies like Google and Airbnb, dives into the intricacies of high-performing leadership. She uncovers how stress impacts executive function and emphasizes the importance of a strengths-based approach. Frankie shares practical strategies, like leveraging storytelling, and highlights self-compassion as key to sustained success. She also offers insights on how organizations can better support diverse leadership styles for a healthier work environment.
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Executive Functioning Is The Work Engine
- Executive functioning controls attention, memory, planning, initiation, and emotion regulation.
- Stress reduces available executive-function 'slots' and sharply limits what leaders can reliably do.
Executive Challenges Are Often Contextual
- Executive-function challenges can be situational, cyclical, or context-dependent, not only ADHD.
- Postpartum, promotions, or layoffs can transiently reduce executive capacity for many high performers.
Peak Performance Is Not The Daily Standard
- High performers confuse peak capability with expected average performance.
- Variability in executive function makes peak performance sporadic and fuels shame and unrealistic expectations.