It’s not what your health coach tells you: If you walk out of high-stakes meetings feeling like you’ve run a marathon—drained, foggy, or even physically tense—you might assume it’s just the stress of leadership. Maybe you chalk it up to back-to-back calls, too much screen time, or the pressure of making big decisions. But the real cause for the energy drain? You’re overriding your intuition.

The hidden energy drain no-one talks about

Leadership often rewards logic, data, and decisive action. You’re trained to rely on external strategies—spreadsheets, forecasts, market research—to make the best possible decisions. But what happens when the numbers say one thing, and your gut says another?

Most high-achieving women have spent years pushing through their intuitive nudges, dismissing them as irrational or unprovable. The problem? Every time you override your internal knowing, it drains your energy more than you realize.

Here’s what that looks like in real-time:

• You sense tension in a meeting before conflict erupts, but you ignore it. Instead of addressing it, you push through, only to end up managing fallout later. Your body knew, but your mind dismissed it. Energy drain.
• You feel a ‘no’ in your gut but say ‘yes’ out of obligation. Whether it’s taking on another responsibility, agreeing to a misaligned partnership, or hiring someone despite nagging doubts, going against your intuition costs you. Energy drain.
• You override what you know to be true because the data says otherwise. Logic matters, but so does your ability to sense shifts before they happen. When you silence that inner knowing, decision-making becomes exhausting. Energy drain.

Why ignoring intuition makes leadership harder

Your intuition is like an internal GPS. It picks up on energy shifts, body language, and subtle cues that logic alone can’t explain. The most successful leaders—whether they realize it or not—learn to balance data with instinct, and strategy with inner knowing.

But when you don’t trust your own signals, leadership feels heavier. You second-guess yourself. You overanalyze. You leave meetings feeling depleted instead of clear and confident.

A Simple Reset to Reclaim Your Energy

If you’ve been pushing through exhaustion, here’s a simple technique to bring your energy back in real-time:

1. Before and after meetings, place your hand on your heart.
2. Take three deep breaths. This interrupts the cycle of stress and mental override, and brings you back into your body.
3. Ask yourself: Where did I override what I know to be true? Just acknowledging it shifts your energy.

Over time, this practice strengthens your ability to recognize and trust your intuitive signals. You’ll notice decisions come more easily, meetings feel less draining, and leadership starts to feel like flow instead of force.

The most powerful CEOs and leaders aren’t just masters of strategy: They know how to harness both intelligence and intuition. And that’s the edge that sets them apart.

Grab the powerful Corporate Sage resource for leaders to help align your energy for success here. Or if you’re ready to shift into aligned success, join the Wisdom Collective membership here.