18% of Leaders Have This Saboteur — Do You?

<p>Do you live in a permanent state of frantic panic — forever putting out fires, running on adrenaline, and never quite reaching the strategic work that would actually move your leadership forward? If busyness has become your badge of honour, you may be trapped in the &quot;Constant Firefighter&quot; saboteur.In this episode of Optimising Leader Brilliance, leadership coach and bestselling author Estelle Read unpacks the second most common leadership saboteur — a reactive pattern that affects 18% of leaders and quietly places a false ceiling over your true potential. You&#39;ll discover how a chaotic childhood often wires this hypervigilant, crisis-addicted behaviour, why willpower alone rarely breaks the loop, and how a neuroscience-based approach (Havening) can reset the autopilot itself — so calm, confident, strategic leadership becomes automatic rather than aspirational. </p><p> </p><p>What You Will Learn </p><p>💡 Why you keep treating everyday tasks as emergencies — and the hidden root cause that keeps you stuck in &quot;frantic panic&quot; mode </p><p>💡 How the Constant Firefighter quietly damages your team, blocks your business from scaling, and drives you toward burnout </p><p>💡 Three practical tools to break the cycle fast — the Eisenhower Matrix, a daily 60-minute &quot;strategic firewall,&quot; and the power of de-escalating your language — plus how Havening clears the pattern at a neurological level </p><p>Here’s to your leadership development and personal growth! </p><p> </p><p>Estelle Read   </p><p>Bestselling Author, Leadership Coach &amp; Speaker </p><p> </p><p>Here’s to your leadership development and personal growth! </p><p> </p><p>Estelle Read   </p><p>Bestselling Author, Leadership Coach &amp; Speaker </p><p> </p><p>Timestamps: </p><p>(00:00) Introduction  </p><p>(02:41) The Constant Firefighter Explained  </p><p>(09:17) The Science of Behaviour Change  </p><p>(14:25) Case Study: Breaking the Firefighting Cycle  </p><p>(15:32) Next Steps &amp; Free Resources  </p><p><br></p><p> </p><p>📱FOLLOW OR CONTACT: </p><p>⭐Estelle Read: <a href="https://linktr.ee/EstelleAtBeee" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><u>https://linktr.ee/EstelleAtBeee</u></a> or @EstelleReadCoach </p><p> </p><p>🔧 ACCESS FREE RESOURCES &amp; TOOLS: </p><p>⭐Want a summary of today’s learnings? </p><p>Subscribe to Estelle Read’s blog, <em>The Brilliant Leader’s Notebook</em>, to get the key takeaways from every single episode: <a href="https://mailchi.mp/a0cfa5a8a10c/8chmrywh3r" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><u>https://mailchi.mp/a0cfa5a8a10c/8chmrywh3r</u></a> </p><p>Plus, you&#39;ll get a free bonus 🎁: <br>The <em>Inner Brilliance · Outer Shine Workbook: 10 Antidotes to Imposter Syndrome, Workaholism &amp; Stress</em>. </p><p>Click here to subscribe and download: <a href="https://mailchi.mp/a0cfa5a8a10c/8chmrywh3r" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><u>https://mailchi.mp/a0cfa5a8a10c/8chmrywh3r</u></a> </p><p> </p><p>⭐Find Out Which of the 7 Leadership Saboteurs is Holding You Back by Completing the Scorecard: </p><p><a href="https://estelle-read.scoreapp.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><u>https://estelle-read.scoreapp.com/</u></a>  </p><p> </p><p>⭐Download Estelle’s Free Journal &amp; Self-Coaching Tool: </p><p><a href="https://mailchi.mp/dab4b2568b71/free-inner-brilliance-outer-shine-journal" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><u>https://mailchi.mp/dab4b2568b71/free-inner-brilliance-outer-shine-journal</u></a>  </p><p> </p><p>  </p><p>⭐Access Other Free Resources: </p><p><a href="https://estelleread.com/resources/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener"><u>⁠https://estelleread.com/resources/⁠</u></a>  </p><p>  </p><p>❤️ CAN YOU HELP?</p><p>We bring this show to you for free. You can help us keep growing and going by taking 30 seconds to:</p><p>🔔 Subscribe or follow so you never miss an episode.</p><p>📨 Share the show with a friend.</p><p>✍️ Leave a review to help others find us.