Susan DrummCEO Advisor & Executive Coach | Leadership Change Agent

Are you Leading or Surviving?

16 May 2025 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:52

A short spoken YouTube piece by Susan Drumm that contrasts ‘leading’ with ‘surviving’ leadership patterns. Drumm argues high achievers often rely on survival habits (taking control, fixing problems, avoiding conflict) that initially produce results but later limit team growth; she urges leaders to notice when their strength becomes a ceiling and to ‘break the pattern’ to create new possibilities.

Chapters

If you're the kind of leader who prides yourself on being the rock, the driver, the one who holds it all together, check this out. That pattern, it got you here. But it might be what's holding your team back. High achievers often build success on habits that started in survival. Taking control, fixing everything, avoiding conflict. And it works. Until it doesn't. Because what protects you might be limiting them. Your team doesn't get to step up. They just learn to work around your pattern. Leadership isn't being the hero. It's about knowing when your strength becomes your ceiling. So ask yourself, am I growing or just repeating what's familiar? You don't need to let go of who you are. You just need to break the pattern. Break old patterns, create new worlds.