Stepping into a senior leadership role in a new organisation is rarely a clean slate. It is more often like joining a story already in full flow. For Hannah Will, her first year in post felt exactly like that.

“It was like being dropped into the middle of a very complex story halfway through the book, with no glossary or terms of reference.”

Despite a warm welcome, Hannah quickly realised that success would not come from imposing solutions, but from listening deeply, understanding unspoken dynamics, and earning trust through authenticity.

The Moment I Noticed the Disconnect
The time was 3pm. Somewhere around my seventh Zoom of the day, I realized I had missed lunch and misplaced any clear sense of what I was even trying to accomplish that day. All I knew is that I had to be on time for my next meeting. Lately, I’ve been in a position of covering for multiple leaders in my organization. While I feel grateful to be able to do so, my calendar has been filled with back-to-back meetings, and entire days pass where I feel like I’m just bouncing from one task to the next without a moment to pause. Somewhere in the rush, that sense of clarity and direction – the “why” behind the work, started to blur.

It’s not that the work itself changed. It’s that I became so consumed with reacting and moving fast that I stopped feeling grounded in purpose. And ironically, it’s in these moments, when I’m most stretched and overwhelmed, that the need for purpose becomes even more urgent. Without it, the work seems heavier, and I feel more disconnected from myself and others. Accepting this disconnect as the norm can be a risk to any organization. What sets a true leader apart in these moments is turning that awareness into action. For me, it always begins with understanding what enables me to thrive.