.............................................................................................................................When the sky falls, what is your immediate reflex?

Tuesday on the UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders podcast, Troy Hall, PhD I-CUDEand I spoke with Jason Peach, CCE, President and CEO of West Community Credit Union. Jason is a brilliant, highly successful leader, but he walked us through an UH-OH moment that nearly every leader faces at some point: the temptation to deflect.

A few years ago, the Federal Reserve hiked interest rates by over 500 basis points in a single year. It was a historic, unprecedented macro-economic event that dried up liquidity across the entire banking system. Naturally, it put intense financial pressure on Jason’s organization.

When his board started asking tough questions, Jason’s initial instinct was to point outward.

"Look, this is a 50-year historic event. Nobody could have predicted this! The models don’t even test for this!"

And you know what? He was completely right. He didn't cause hyperinflation. He didn't force the Fed’s hand.

But as Jason quickly learned, being right doesn't mean you're leading.

It’s mid-summer, and a distinct energy has settled over the office. Q2 is officially in the rearview mirror, vacation calendars are a jigsaw puzzle of rotating out-of-office notifications, and the remaining team members are battling the inevitable mid-year slump.

As a leader, you know your team needs a boost. So, you do what corporate playbooks have suggested for decades: you order a few pies of pepperoni and cheese, drop them in the breakroom, and send out an all-caps email: "LUNCH IS ON THE COMPANY TODAY! COME HANG OUT!"

You wait for the cheers. Instead, you get a quiet line of employees grabbing a slice, offering a polite nod, and immediately retreating back to their desks to check emails.

The "mandatory pizza party" is officially dead. In 2026, low-effort corporate perks don't build culture. Instead, they reveal a disconnect. If you want to recharge your team’s mental batteries and drive engagement this quarter, it’s time to move past passive freebies and invest in purposeful, experiential team bonding.

There is a specific, intoxicating rush that comes with a new idea or an inspiring keynote speech.

It creates the illusion that major organizational change is just one epiphany away.

Unfortunately, that emotional peak often acts more like a momentary distraction than a roadmap for sustainable growth.

Inspiration is like sugar. It gives you a spectacular rush of energy, but the crash is inevitable and you cannot build a legacy on a sugar high.

Modern professional culture has a massive sweet tooth. We are addicted to quick-fix motivational content and feel-good workshops. But relying on Tik-Tok inspiration to run a company or lead a team is a dangerous strategy.

If you only lead when you feel deeply inspired to do so, your company is in serious trouble.

If you know me, you know I belong out in the field.

Give me a dynamic outdoor training space, a team trying to solve a complex obstacle, or a lively group of leaders looking to build trust, and I am entirely in my element. Put me in a 'boredroom' staring at spreadsheets, line items, and tax structures, and my eyes glaze over within about thirty seconds.

So, early on in business, I did what every leadership book tells you to do:

I delegated it.

I found capable people to handle the finances so I could focus on my strengths out in the field. It felt like the ultimate smart business move. I checked it off my list and looked the other way.

But during our recent conversation on the UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders podcast with our guest Natalie Bouchard, I was hit with a brutal reality check about the psychological line between healthy delegation and delegation to avoid.

It starts with a simple phrase: "I got this."

When a gap opens up in your organization, whether it’s a sudden departure or a dropped ball, the instinct for many leaders is to step into the breach. We want to be the shield that protects our team from the chaos. We think we are being helpful, but in reality, we might be becoming a bottleneck.

In our recent episode of the UH-OH Conversations with Cohesive Leaders podcast, I spoke with Joseph Zahaitis, who shared a story about this exact trap. After losing half of his team in a single week, Joseph tried to shoulder the entire workload himself to keep his remaining staff happy.

He thought he was being a servant leader. He eventually realized he was nearly burning himself out while depriving his team of the chance to step up.

If you know me, you know I’d much rather be out on an adventure, hitting the trail with friends, or catching up with family than sitting behind a desk. I live for those moments of connection. The moments you can’t capture on a slide deck or a spreadsheet.

However, in my small businesses, my natural state hasn't always been Connection before Content. For a long time, my instinct was to skip the pleasantries and get straight to business. I thought that was the most efficient way to lead. What I’ve learned... sometimes the hard way... is that "business only" isn't a great process for long-term success. It might get the task done today, but it won't build the team you need for tomorrow.

Now, things like data and processes are still vital. They’re like the safety gear and the topographical maps we take on a trip. You need them so you don't end up lost in the woods, but nobody goes on a hike just to look at the map. The problem is, sometimes leaders get so obsessed with the map that they forget to enjoy the journey with the people standing right next to them.

I love what I do.

I love the teams we’ve built, the businesses I’ve started, and the mission we have at On Purpose Adventures and Cohesion Culture™ . If you’re a founder or a leader, you likely feel the same way. We pour our sweat, our late nights, and our creative energy into our work.

But there is a dangerous line between loving your work and letting your work define your worth.

I’ve seen it happen too often: a leader’s business hits a rough patch, a project fails, or a transition occurs through no fault of their own, and suddenly, they are spiraling. They don't just feel like they had a bad quarter; they feel like they are a bad person.

That is the Identity Trap.

You have a rockstar on your team.

Someone brilliant, fast, and seemingly irreplaceable.

But lately, you’ve noticed the spark is gone. They’re bored. They’re disengaged.

And as a leader who cares deeply about your people, your internal alarm starts screaming: “I have to do something to keep them.”

In the moment, it feels like leading with empathy.

We look for a shiny object like a new project, a massive challenge, or a pivot in strategy just to capture their interest again.

However, when you make strategic business decisions based solely on the emotional state of a single employee, you aren't leading on purpose. You’re people-pleasing.