Back-to-Basics: How Leaders Rebuild After Change and Burnout

Since early 2020, leaders and teams have faced nonstop change, stress, and instability. Instead of strategic planning and steady growth, most organizations have been stuck in survival mode. Goal-setting is deferred, layoffs and hiring freezes push teams to the brink, and even the most foundational routines—like inventory audits or team huddles—have fallen by the wayside.

With seemingly no end in sight, many organizations have inadvertently “normalized abnormal”.

But it doesn’t have to be that way.

This is the moment to go back to basics.

Let’s reframe this chaos as a signal that it is time for a reset. Take this opportunity to reflect, recalibrate, and rebuild with intention. Here are three essential areas leaders can assess and improve—with help from executive coaching or internal reflection—to support better outcomes going forward.

1. Reevaluate Your Core Operations

When was the last time your team paused to reflect on how work actually gets done? More than six months? More than a year?

Chances are the systems and routines you’re relying on haven’t been reviewed or improved in quite a while. This back-to-basics toolkit is a helpful place to start to support leaders in evaluating operations from a place of clarity—not crisis.

Below is additional context for each of the three simple tools that kick off your back-to-basics process review:

• Waste (for Office Processes) – These eight wastes represent common pain points in our work. Any time you experience one of these in your process, that is an opportunity to pause and ask, “How might we remove this annoyance?” or “How might we prevent this from happening?”

 

•   The Four Rules of Work Design – This framework, adapted from Spear and Bowen’s Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Productions System, is like a cheat sheet for how to fix your processes, or design them “right” the first time.

 

• Fishbone Diagram (Ishikawa) – Once you’ve identified a problem in your process, this classic quality improvement tool is a helpful way to begin to understand and visualize potential cause-and-effect.

Tip: Don’t try to fix everything at once. Start with one process or pain point and build momentum from there.

2. Reset Your Self-Care and Leadership Routines

Leaders are human. And after years of blurred boundaries between home and work, many are running on fumes.

Zoom fatigue. Constant reactivity. Low morale. These are not just operational issues—they’re human ones. Your ability to lead depends on your energy, mindset, and habits.

If you’re not feeling like the best version of yourself lately, you’re not alone. Many clients report feeling disconnected—from their teams and from their purpose.

Ask yourself:

• What does balance look like for me?
• What actually restores my sense of purpose?
• How do I want to feel after a day of work?

These are not always easy questions to answer. Sometimes leadership coaching can offer an outside perspective to your routines and processes that help you shine light on shadows you didn’t even know existed.

Remember, you can’t pour from an empty cup. Rebuilding healthy habits is not a luxury—it’s a leadership skill.

 

3. Rebuild Your Team Dynamics

Team structures have shifted dramatically in the past few years. Maybe you’ve hired someone new, lost a key player, changed leaders, or faced rapidly evolving customer expectations.

Even one of these changes can throw off alignment. And if you’ve experienced several? It’s time to revisit team culture and expectations.

Use this time to strengthen:

• Clarity of roles and responsibilities
• Meeting norms and participation
• Communication during tension or conflict
• Feedback practices
• Visibility on goals and deadlines
• Decision-making processes

Executive coaching or team development sessions can give you the language, tools, and neutral space to tackle these issues productively.

Team culture isn’t “set and forget.” It’s a living system that needs regular care.

Final Thought: Start Small, Stay Consistent

Whether you choose to audit your workflows, carve out real downtime, or finally address unspoken tension in your team, every step you take builds toward a healthier, more effective organization.

It’s the little things that are vital. Little things make big things happen.         – John Wooden

If you’re ready to take that next step but aren’t sure where to start, we’re here to help—with coaching, facilitation, or simply a fresh perspective. Reach out and let’s discuss how we can help.