Frances Powell: Executive, Presentation & Performance Coach, Speaker

You don’t need to run yourself empty to justify a break.

Most people wait until they have nothing left, then try to recover from there.

But by then, everything already feels heavier than it should.

Clear thinking, good decisions, and patience are things that come from having enough in the tank, not from forcing your way through.

Give yourself space while it’s still easy to access it 🤗🌻

My day off is simple:

🐾 Walk my dog
🧘🏻‍♀️ Go to the gym or do yoga
👩🏻‍🐰‍👩🏼 Spend time with friends OR...
🤭 Take myself out on a solo date
✈️ Travel, when I can

That's it! Nothing groundbreaking, I know 😅

And I won't pretend I follow it perfectly. I still catch myself working when I said I wouldn't.

But I keep coming back to it anyway.

Because if you don't decide how you rest... work will decide for you.

There is no leftover time.
You either plan for rest, or you don't get it.

So build a day off you actually want. Even a simple one 😄

It's what makes the workweek easier to face.

What does your day off look like? 🤍

Urgency is not a strategy. Neither is reacting fast.

But that's exactly what's mostly happening now.

Decisions made while:

💭 Still replaying the last hard conversation
😵‍💫 Rushing between calls with no buffer
🤯 Chest tight, mind already three steps ahead

And then 3 days later, the decision feels off.
Because it was made from the wrong place.

When the nervous system is running the show, clarity doesn't stand a chance.

Just too much noise, too little space, too fast.

The gap between what happens and how you respond?
That's where your BEST thinking lives.

Most of you already know this, but you just don't protect it.

👉🏻 One question that usually cuts through most of it:

✅ What am I actually responding to right now?

Usually, it's not the thing in front of you. It's the fear of what happens if you get it wrong.

Seeing that difference is the work.

Just know you're capable of it. 💫

🔔 Follow for more on building real executive presence.

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You don't need to feel ready to start. You need to move anyway.

A lot of people think confidence comes before action.
Something you build, THEN start.

It’s not. 🙅🏻‍♀️❌

Confidence is the result of showing up.
Especially when you’re unsure.

If you want to lead with real confidence, focus on these 👇🏻

1️⃣ Pay attention before you speak.
2️⃣ Back your words with consistent action.
3️⃣ Invite perspectives that challenge you.
4️⃣ Hold your ground when decisions get uncomfortable.
5️⃣ Rest when needed.
6️⃣ Figure things out as you go, not after you feel ready.

You don’t need to feel ready.

You need to trust that you’ll handle what comes next.

💌 P.S. This is a topic I share more deeply in my weekly newsletter.

→ https://f.mtr.cool/fompowwakt

🔔 Follow for more on building real executive presence.

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The real productivity hack: leave your desk 🚶🏻‍♀️🌴

The best ideas never come from staring harder at the problem. Sometimes, they come after a walk! 🤭

(Of course, walks aren’t the only answer. Showers, laundry, balcony staring all count too!)

What's your version? 🤍

P.S. This is a topic I share more deeply in my weekly newsletter.

→ https://f.mtr.cool/inamxmwwgb

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The biggest lie in leadership:

Get more efficient and the burnout goes away.

So leaders optimize everything.
But still wake up exhausted. 🫠

Burnout doesn't come from doing too much.

It’s about prolonged depletion without recovery.
And high-functioning leaders don’t break.

They start normalizing a lower internal baseline:

❌ Smaller appetite for risk.
🗯️ Less patience for people.
🫥 Less joy in the work they used to love.

Nothing obvious changes day to day.
Which is exactly why it gets missed.

Efficiency helps ex*****on.

But it doesn’t rebuild capacity.

And most leaders aren’t inefficient.

They’re just operating at a sustained output level with no real recovery built in.

Which is why “just be more efficient” never actually fixes burnout.

💌 P.S. This is a topic I go deeper on in my weekly newsletter.

Subscribe to my newsletter!
→ https://f.mtr.cool/ihynmurmhq

🔔 Follow for more on building real executive presence.

executivecoach

Nobody actually manages stress.

They just tolerate it at a level they've normalized.

That's a different problem.

Tolerance means your threshold rises.

You need more rest to feel rested.
More wins to feel okay.
More certainty before you can make a call.

For leaders, the slow creep of that looks like:

→ Taking longer to decide simple things
→ Replaying conversations that don't matter
→ Waking up exhausted before the day starts

Nobody flags this.

Because the work still gets done.

But you are not performing at your ceiling.

You are performing at the ceiling stress allows.

So the audit is simple:

1️⃣ What are you tolerating right now?
2️⃣ What decisions are you avoiding?
3️⃣ What's costing you more than it should?

The stress doesn't have to disappear.

You just have to stop mistaking tolerance for fine.

💌 P.S. This is a topic I share more deeply in my weekly newsletter.

→ https://f.mtr.cool/zapweykwqh

🔔 Follow for more on building real executive presence.

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In a world that celebrates hustle culture, I take a trip to France.

Not whenever I want. 😆 When I can.

And yes, I see the irony of a leadership coach who teaches regulation also needing to actually go somewhere to regulate.

But every time I do, I come back more grounded, more present, better resourced for my clients and my life.

Rest isn't a reward for finishing everything.

It's part of staying effective.

So whatever brings you back to yourself, do that. 💫
Travel. Walk. Journal. Switch your phone off.

Your work doesn't need a more exhausted version of you.

It needs you whole. 😉

(Dropping some more Paris throwbacks! 📸)