Her calendar was full but her voice quiet. She was so used to “getting on with it”
She was everywhere. Going for back to back meetings, trying to squeeze in as much as possible within the day.
Keynote speeches. Board meetings. Team huddles.
Her calendar was stacked with back-to-back commitments, each one proof of her value.
But in the quiet moments — rare as they were — she noticed something unsettling:
Her own voice had gone missing.
When Busyness Becomes a Disguise
In leadership, busyness gets celebrated.
We equate full calendars with importance, relevance, impact. Those full calendars basically mean we are still valued for our opinions and feedback,
But what happens when the schedule that once gave you purpose starts to drown out your perspective?
Then You stop asking what matters. You start singing your clients song.
You start performing what’s expected of you. No value add from you.
That is the Quiet Cost of Overcommitment.
Her voice wasn’t gone because she didn’t have opinions.
It was quiet because she didn’t have space.
Space to think instead of react. To reset.
A space and time to remember and to reconnect to why she started leading in the first place.
More importantly a space to say “no” without guilt.
The result?
A leader present everywhere — but missing from herself.
The First Pause.
When she finally carved out a pause, the realization landed hard: She wasn’t tired from doing too much.
Just tired from doing too much that no longer served her purpose and passions.
Her calendar was full.
But her inner life was running on empty. At this point her fuel gauge had already past the “E”.
That is why Leaders lose their voice.
The higher you rise, the easier it is to confuse visibility with authenticity.
You might even start saying what’s needed and you start mirroring what’s rewarded.
And slowly, without noticing, you stops voicing what’s true.
Reclaiming the Quiet Voice
The turning point wasn’t a radical overhaul.
It was subtle: A commitment to hear herself again before committing to anything else.
Asking, “Is this mine to carry?”
Reframing, “Does this align with who I’m becoming?”
Practicing the smallest act of sovereignty — a deliberate pause
Her voice didn’t return in a roar.
It returned in a whisper — steady, honest, but unmistakably hers.
Final Thoughts
Your calendar can be full and your impact hollow.
Leadership that looks impressive from the outside can still feel misaligned inside.
If you’ve stopped hearing yourself amid the noise,
don’t wait for the world to quiet down.
Make space. Listen in. Reclaim the voice you didn’t realise you’d lost, find out how to here.