Good Vibes Leadership with Bernadette Smith

Playing or Competing?

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Summary

This winter, my pickleball game fell apart. I wasn't feeling low — I was still showing up — but I had quietly shifted from playing to competing. Focused on the outcome, the ranking, the score. The fun left. The pressure filled the space. I had pickleball burnout. In a hobby. And it turned out to be a signal about something much bigger than my backhand. In this episode, I share how I got my mojo back — and why the shift from playing to competing is one of the quietest, most damaging things that happens to leaders and their teams.

Takeaways

  • The mojo leaves before the metrics do. Disengagement is quiet. People are still showing up. But something has left — and the signal comes long before anyone names it.
  • Self-imposed pressure is sneaky. I never felt low. I just stopped having fun. That's exactly how it shows up for leaders and their teams too.
  • Playful inclusive leadership requires actually playing. Process over outcome. Curiosity over scorecard. Joy as a feature, not a reward for hitting your numbers.
  • The question isn't whether your people are showing up. It's whether they're still in it. That's the check-in worth having this week.

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    Good Vibes Leadership with Bernadette SmithBy Bernadette Smith