The Real Reason You’re Working Too Hard

Apr 9, 2025

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What are the hidden costs of micromanaging and overworking on team morale and business outcomes?

This episode explores the main reasons why leaders often work too hard, including lack of trust, fear of failure, ego, habit, and being too busy to delegate. Bill argues that overworking is not a badge of honor but rather a sign of inadequate team building.

Topics explored in this episode:

(0:26) A Case Study in Micromanagement

* A new CEO's micromanaging during a company sale led to longer transition times and negative impacts on team morale.

(2:54) The Five Reasons Why Leaders Overwork

* The five main reasons include lack of trust/perfectionism, fear of failure, ego/hero syndrome, habit (founder syndrome), and—you’ll have to listen to or watch the episode to find out the fifth!

* Ego can drive leaders to seek out crises in which they can be the hero.

(6:59) The Impact of Overworking

* Why overworking indicates a failure to build and empower a team.

(8:22) Shifting Your Mindset

* Identifying the reasons for overworking is the first step toward changing those behaviors.

(9:26) Creating a New “Why”

* Leaders can invent a new "why" to motivate themselves to adopt healthier work habits.

* Coaching can help leaders shift their mindset and behaviors to build stronger teams and scale effectively.

Bill Gallagher, Scaling Coach and host of the Scaling Up Business podcast, is an international business coach who works with C-Suite leaders to achieve breakthrough growth.

Join Bill in the Growth Navigator Coaching Program: https://ScalingCoach.com/workshop

Bill on LinkedIn: https://www.LinkedIn.com/in/BillGall

Bill on YouTube: https://www.YouTube.com/@BillGallagherScalingCoach

Visit https://ScalingUp.com to learn more about Verne Harnish, our team of Scaling Up Coaches, and the Scaling Up Performance Platform, which includes coaching, learning, software, and summit. We share how the fastest-growing companies succeed where so many others fail. We help leadership teams with the biggest decisions around people, strategy, execution, and cash so that they can scale up successfully and beat the odds of business growth.

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