Our series on leadership mistakes now addresses a pitfall that is often mistaken for a virtue: overworking. Many leaders wear their exhaustion as a badge of honour. Long hours, weekend emails, and a perpetually full calendar are frequently seen as proof of dedication and drive. Yet this belief is not just misleading—it is actively destructive.

The sixteenth mistake is overworking yourself and, by extension, your team. It is a pattern that drains energy, stifles creativity, damages health, and ultimately holds your business back from achieving its full potential.

The Badge of Honour That Became a Burden

I will be honest with you. In the early days of my own business journey, I believed that working long hours, including weekends, was the key to success. I wore it as a badge of honour, convinced that my willingness to outwork everyone else would propel me forward. Sleep was optional. Rest was weakness.

But here is what I learned the hard way: overworking did not accelerate my success. It delayed it.

When you are perpetually exhausted, you cannot think strategically. You react instead of lead. You make poor decisions, overlook obvious problems, and lack the mental bandwidth to implement the very changes that would move your business forward. Overworking does not make you more productive; it makes you less effective.

The Ripple Effect on Your Team

Your team is watching. When you send emails at midnight or work through weekends, you implicitly set a cultural expectation. Even if you never demand the same hours, your team feels the pressure to match your pace. They begin to believe that rest is a luxury they cannot afford.

This is not only unfair; it is counterproductive. People need time to relax, recharge, and think creatively. It is in the moments of quiet reflection, away from the relentless demands of the inbox, that the best ideas often surface. By denying your team this space, you are not driving higher performance; you are actively suppressing it.

Your team does not have the same level of ownership and responsibility as you do. That is by design. Respect their boundaries. Honour their need for rest and balance. A well-rested, fulfilled team will consistently outperform a burnt-out one.

The Distinction Between Hard Work and Overwork

Let us be absolutely clear: hard work is essential. Building a successful business requires sustained effort, resilience, and commitment. There is no shortcut around that.

But there is a profound difference between disciplined, focused hard work and compulsive, unsustainable overwork. The former is strategic; the latter is self-destructive.

  • Hard work is purposeful and directed toward high-impact activities. It includes rest, reflection, and recovery as essential components of sustained performance.

  • Overwork is reactive and unfocused. It confuses motion with progress and busyness with effectiveness.

Finding the Balance That Builds Long-Term Success

Achieving long-term success is not a sprint; it is a marathon, and beyond that, a lifelong pursuit. You cannot run it at maximum speed every day without collapsing before the finish line.

True leadership requires the wisdom to recognise that your most valuable resource is not time, but energy. Protecting your own energy and that of your team is not a sign of weakness; it is a strategic imperative.

Give yourself permission to stop. Take the weekend. Leave at a reasonable hour. Be present with your family. Trust that your business will not collapse because you chose to rest. In fact, it will grow stronger.

When you model balance, you give your team permission to find theirs. And a balanced leader with a balanced team will always, in the long run, outperform the exhausted, overworked alternative.

Catch Up on the Series: