When Competence Stops Being Enough

There's something most of us learn early. The way to handle anything is to work harder at it. It built our careers, earned us the seats we now hold, and at a certain point, it stops working. We hit something that doesn't yield. We push harder. Nothing changes. So we add more. More preparation, more hours, more effort. And we get more tired, less effective, and more stuck.

In this episode, Amanda explores why working harder fails at the threshold, what we tend to do instead, and what actually shifts things. She tells the story of a senior team member sitting through another over-prepared meeting, watching her own thinking slowly stop happening. And she names the four shapes the over-doing tends to take, in ourselves and in the leaders around us.

Episode 2 includes:

• The four shapes of over-doing (over-preparing, over-functioning, over-strategising, over-controlling)
• Why the trust between leader and team erodes in both directions when one of these patterns runs unchecked
• The competence curve, and why the strategies that built your career stop carrying you at a certain point
• The science of why uncertainty feels like a threat, and why we reach for familiar tools when nothing is working
• What endurance athletes call threshold pace, and what it teaches us about leadership
• A reflection prompt for leaders who suspect they might be working harder at something that isn't asking for harder work

The Threshold is hosted by Amanda Ramplin, founder of EOS Coaching and a former senior leader at ANZ.

Episodes drop fortnightly. Reflective. Honest. Unhurried.

If this episode landed, the most helpful thing you can do is share it with one person you know who's currently working harder than they should have to, and quietly wondering why it isn't working. And if you have time, leave a review. Your review genuinely helps other leaders find this work.

Find Amanda at eoscoaching.com.au or on LinkedIn at Amanda Ramplin.