11 Ways to Keep Work from Overtaking the Life of a Leader

I’ve had the privilege of coaching many leaders across industries and geographies. While their business goals and leadership styles vary, a common thread that often emerges is the struggle to keep work from consuming their lives.

The Economic Times in July 2024 reported that 62% of Indian employees experience burnout, which is thrice the global average. Work-related stress and poor work-life balance were quoted to be the top reasons for burnout.

Despite success, many senior leaders feel pulled in multiple directions, missing out on family, health, or peace of mind. The paradox of leadership is that the higher you climb, the more intentional you need to be in protecting your life beyond work.

Here are 11 practical, experience-tested ways to prevent work from overtaking your life.

Redefine What “Being Available” Means

Many leaders equate availability with effectiveness. But always being reachable is a fast track to burnout. Instead, define clear boundaries around your availability. 

• Set communication protocols with your team regarding after working hour calls and emails.
• Boundaries don’t reduce your leadership instead they amplify it by modeling sustainable performance.

Example: Leaders who have calendar blockers for dinner time at home. Leaders who do not take calls while on vacation. They have an SOS protocol with their main deputy, and that is all they attend to when on vacation. A vacation is the boundary.

Schedule Life First, Then Work

Look at your calendar right now. Is it dominated by meetings, reviews, and offsites? Change the script. 

• Begin each month by blocking time for what fuels you. Schedule your vacations, exercise, dinner with family, and hobbies. 
• Treat these as immovable appointments. When your calendar reflects your values, your life starts to align with your priorities.

Delegate with Strategic Intent

One of the most common traps I see in senior leaders is holding on to too much. Delegation isn’t just about handing over tasks—it’s about empowering others. 

• Assess your schedule weekly.
•  If you don’t trust your team to take over, that’s a leadership development opportunity, but it is not a reason to do it all yourself.

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Build a Personal Board of Advisors

Just as companies have boards, you need your own circle of wise counsel. 

• This might include a mentor, peer leaders, a leadership coach or even a spiritual guide. 
• These are the people who remind you who you are beyond your role, challenge your assumptions, and nudge you back when you drift too far into overwork.

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Example: I am on the board of advisors for 2 organizations. My presence is of support to the CEO and team. I often find myself asking resilience and self-care related questions to the CEO and Founder. I am like the guardrail.

Develop Rituals to Transition In and Out of Work

Without physical boundaries between work and home, many leaders find it hard to switch off. 

• Rituals can help. It could be a walk after work, five minutes of reflection, or changing clothes as soon as you get home. These small routines help you switch off from work and focus on life.
• You could download my compilation of self-practices to enhance your life with simple, actionable tips listed in it. Download your copy here.

Say “No” Gracefully but Firmly

At the senior level, opportunities come disguised as demands—new boards to join, causes to support, side projects to oversee. Every “yes” costs you something. 

• Learn the art of saying “no” without guilt.
•  A clear, respectful “I won’t be able to commit to this right now” protects your time and energy for what truly matters.

Example: I suggest the use of the ‘I wish I could do this’ as a format. It gives me a chance to be empathetic to others’ needs, give my reasons for their consideration, and it keeps me open to requests on future dates.

Clarify Your Leadership Identity Beyond Work

I often ask clients: Who are you if you’re not a CEO, CXO, or founder? It’s a provocative question, but a necessary one. 

• When your identity is fused with your role, stepping away feels like disappearing. 
• Cultivating a multi-dimensional identity, for example, like a mentor, artist, parent, learner, gives you a richer sense of self-worth.

Example: On the Power Up cohorts for women leaders, I have several such fabulous examples of leaders who are authors, stained glass crafters, dancers, interior designers, and podcasters. This other dimension brings great richness to their personality and life. 

Normalize Recovery as Part of High Performance

You wouldn’t expect an elite athlete to train 16 hours a day without rest. Yet many leaders treat rest as a reward instead of a requirement.

• Build recovery into your work rhythm. 
• Short breaks between meetings, digital detox weekends, quiet thinking time, not indulgence, it’s maintenance.

Example: In the past 1 year alone 3 leaders who were in coaching with me have taken a resilience related rest break. 1 is on a 6 month sabbatical, the other on a 1 year break working on passion projects and the last on a 2 months digital break and learning to paint, cook and grow a garden.

Practice Mindful Leadership

Mindfulness isn’t just meditation. It’s the discipline of being present, intentional, and aware in every moment. 

• When you’re fully present in a meeting, you’re more effective. 
• When you’re fully present at home, you’re more connected. I’ve seen even five minutes of mindful breathing between meetings transform a leader’s day.
• Try this centering practice that I use daily to center myself. You can download it here

Measure Success Holistically

What gets measured gets managed. 

• So ask yourself: Are your metrics only business outcomes like profit, growth, market share? 
• Do they also include personal well-being, team culture, family engagement, and community impact? 
• Redefining success broadens your sense of achievement and motivates a better balance.

Lead by Example

Your team watches how you live, not just how you lead. 

• If you send midnight emails, take no vacations, or miss important family moments, they’ll assume that’s the price of leadership. 
•  If you model boundaries, balance, and presence, you give them permission to do the same. Culture flows from the top.

Blog for further reading: 

 

Balance is not a destination; it is an intentional practice

Even the best leaders that I’ve coached struggle with balance. There is no perfect formula. There are seasons of intense work, just as there are seasons of rest. What matters is not perfection, but intentionality. Work-life integration is a conscious, daily discipline the one that starts with the belief that you are more than your title, and your life is worth protecting.

As an executive leadership coach, I’ve seen firsthand how small changes, done consistently, can profoundly shift a leader’s experience of life and work. My invitation to you is simple: pick one or two of the practices above and start today. The results may surprise you, not just in how you feel, but in how you lead.

Share with me about the intentional shifts that you intend to make.

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