Don't Leave Your Most Valuable Resource on the Shelf: A CEO's Guide to Inner Resources
Hello, this is Jayme Dill and welcome!
As a leadership coach working with CEOs and business owners in high-growth companies, I've noticed a fascinating pattern. While leaders constantly search for additional resources to meet escalating demands, they often overlook their most crucial asset: themselves.
In the fast-paced world of business leadership, where demands typically outstrip available resources, it's ironic that many leaders dismiss or underutilize their internal resources. Yet here's the truth: as a CEO, you are either your company's most valuable asset or its biggest liability. The question is - are you utilizing yourself appropriately?
The Reality Check
Let me share a story that illustrates this point. Recently, I worked with a C-suite executive whose company was undergoing a major transformation. They brought in consultants, and the entire executive team faced intense pressure to deliver results quickly. My client, despite being a strong player, showed classic signs of resource depletion: some days they were completely aligned and energetic about the mission, other days they appeared disengaged and exhausted.
Now, you might think, "Well, that's just being human. We all get tired and have our ups and downs." Exactly! And that's precisely what I mean by managing your inner resources. When fatigue sets in, when ambivalence creeps up, when emotional resilience wanes, or when our mindset loses its edge, what do we do?
The Common Pitfall
Nine times out of ten, leaders look externally for solutions. They try to control conditions or influence others to feel better about the situation. They seek external fixes for what is fundamentally an internal resourcing challenge. This approach, while common, misses the mark entirely.
What Are Inner Resources?
Think of inner resources as your leadership power grid. They include:
Emotional Intelligence
Your ability to recognize, understand, and manage your own emotions, as well as sense and respond appropriately to others' emotions.
Mental Clarity
The capacity to think strategically and make sound decisions, especially under pressure.
Resilience
Your ability to bounce back from setbacks and maintain perspective during challenging times.
Self-awareness
A clear understanding of your strengths, limitations, triggers, and patterns.
Energy Management
The skill of maintaining and replenishing your physical and mental energy.
Vision & Values Alignment
A strong connection to your core values and purpose that guides decision-making.
Adaptive Mindset
The flexibility to adjust your thinking and approach as circumstances change.
The Well-Resourced CEO: What It Looks Like
When a CEO is operating from deep inner resources, you'll notice distinctive patterns. They maintain composure during crises, offering steady leadership when others might panic. Their teams often describe them as having a "calm presence" that instills confidence. These leaders can deliver difficult messages with both clarity and empathy, whether announcing major changes or providing critical feedback.
One of my clients exemplified this understanding perfectly. As a CEO preparing for critical PE investor pitch meetings, they took a 3-day spa retreat the weekend before—rather than scrambling to perfect their deck. They knew from self-awareness that being rested and relaxed would make them more effective. The investment paid off.
Warning Signs of an Under-Resourced Leader
When CEOs aren't tapping into their inner resources, certain patterns emerge:
Decision fatigue sets in quickly, leading to delayed or poor choices
Emotional reactions become more frequent and intense
Communication becomes inconsistent or unclear
Vision and strategy start to blur under day-to-day pressures
Team morale suffers as the leader's stress ripples through the organization
Physical signs appear: disrupted sleep, decreased energy, difficulty focusing
Innovation and creativity decline as survival mode takes over
Developing Your Inner Resources
The good news is that inner resources can be developed and replenished. Here's how to start:
First, recognize that your response to circumstances and others is your responsibility. This is a self-leadership opportunity. The way you think, feel, and respond to challenges isn't about external conditions - it's about your internal resources. Those who rise to excellence take this very seriously.
Second, tune inward. I know this can feel uncomfortable, especially for leaders who've spent 90% of their careers focusing externally on producing results, moving faster, and doing more. The idea of pausing to reflect on questions like "How am I thinking about this situation?" or "How am I feeling?" might seem foreign. And don't get me started on the four-letter word that makes most CEOs squirm: REST.
The Path Forward
If this internal focus is new to you, expect some discomfort. If you're already skilled in this area, use challenging situations where you notice yourself depleted or not on your A game as opportunities to go even deeper. The key is recognizing when external challenges create an inner challenge and to apply inner tools and skills -- not to look externally to fix the challenge alone -- and in doing so you will build your inner resources and baseline foundation -- in other words, you grow, expand and evolve.
Conclusion
Remember, in the demanding world of business leadership, your inner resources often determine the difference between merely surviving and truly thriving. The question isn't whether you have these resources - it's whether you're accessing them fully and replenishing them regularly.
The most successful CEOs I've worked with treat their internal resources as seriously as they treat their company's financial resources. They monitor them, protect them, and strategically invest in growing them. How are you investing in yours?