Description
About the Session
Running on Empty: The Hidden Risk to Your Hardest Calls
There’s probably a decision sitting in front of you right now that you can’t fully talk through with the people around you.
Maybe it’s a people problem. Maybe it’s a growth decision. Maybe something simply isn’t working anymore—and you know a decision needs to be made.
The challenge may not be that you don’t know enough to make the call.
It may be the condition you’re in when you’re trying to make it.
After more than 25 years working in enterprise HR and organizational strategy, Melissa Rider Carson has spent a career alongside leaders making decisions that carry real consequences—the people calls, the growth calls, and the decisions leaders often have no one inside the organization they can test honestly.
At November’s Lewes Leadership Lunch, Melissa will facilitate a conversation about what happens when leaders are making their hardest decisions while running on empty.
Because exhaustion doesn’t always look like collapse.
Sometimes it looks like impatience. Avoidance. Second-guessing. Reacting too quickly. Holding onto something too long. Or making a decision simply because you no longer have the energy to sit with the uncertainty.
Through conversation, real stories and small-group reflection, we’ll explore where each of us is most likely to wobble when a difficult decision is in front of us—and what helps us regain the clarity, calm and confidence to make the call well.
Together, we’ll explore questions such as:
- What happens to our decision-making when our own tank is running low?
- Where are you most likely to wobble when a difficult call needs to be made?
- How do you recognize when exhaustion, pressure or uncertainty is influencing a decision?
- What decisions are hardest to talk honestly about with the people around you?
- What does it take to keep your own tank above half full when other people are depending on you?
As with every L3 gathering, this won’t be a lecture.
Melissa will bring her experience and perspective into the room, but the wisdom will also come from the people sitting around the tables.
Expect honest conversation, small-group discussion, reflection and an opportunity to learn from other local leaders navigating many of the same pressures.
You may not leave with someone else telling you what decision to make.
You may leave better equipped to make it yourself.
About Melissa Rider Carson
Melissa Rider Carson spent more than 25 years in enterprise HR and organizational strategy, including 19 years at Accenture, before starting her own practice advising business owners and executives on the decisions they can’t afford to get wrong—the people calls, the growth calls, and the ones they have no one inside the organization they can test honestly.
Her experience competing in half-marathons, marathons, triathlons and Ragnar events has also influenced how she thinks about leadership endurance and what happens when we try to make consequential decisions while running on empty.
Melissa lives right here in Lewes.
Know Someone Who Would Enjoy L3?
Some of the most meaningful connections at L3 begin when someone who’s been here invites someone new to join them.
If you know someone who enjoys thoughtful conversation, is curious about leadership, or would appreciate connecting with others in our community, we’d love for you to invite them.
Please share this page with someone who might be interested.
