What if your leadership was fueled by what you truly love?

Every Friday evening, many of the executives I work with ask themselves the same question:
“What did I actually accomplish this week?”

The eye immediately goes to the to-do list, the goals achieved, the negotiations closed, the meetings held.
But rarely to another question, simpler, almost intimate:

What did I truly enjoy this week?

Not what you got done.
Not what you ticked off.
Not even what you succeeded at.

But what you enjoyed. Felt. Savored.

It sounds like a small question. Yet it changes everything.

Why this question is anything but trivial ?

As a leader, your brain is constantly fueled by pressure.
You live in projection mode, anticipating the next milestone, keeping the ship on course, making decisions in real time.
Leadership is about holding the helm… but it’s also about knowing when to gain altitude.

And that lift doesn’t come only from financial results or KPI dashboards.
It comes from what truly nourishes you.

Neuroscience confirms what intuition has always suggested: when we reconnect with what we love, the brain releases dopamine, the neurotransmitter of drive and motivation.

A Vanderbilt University study showed 10 years ago that the most resilient leaders have higher dopamine activity in the ventral striatum, the brain’s center for initiative and perseverance.

But here’s the challenge: every day, our brains process five times more negative than positive information. The result? The limbic system goes on high alert. Perspective shrinks. Decisions become defensive rather than intuitive.

This isn’t about “positive thinking.”
It’s a strategic choice: to consciously feed your brain with what elevates you.

Training your leadership brain

It may also be a the Sensory Anchor conscious breath in the middle of a meaningful moment : when you experience a pleasant moment, pause and take three deep breaths. Your brain will associate that feeling with calm and you’ll be able to return to it when needed.

Or lastly, the momentum ritual, deliberately starting your day with something that sparks joy. : begin your day with something that genuinely fuels you (reading, silence, a walk, music). A simple choice that sets the tone for your energy and resilience.

This week, here’s what I loved: swimming in Lake Geneva at 6am, when the world is still asleep and silence becomes a treasure, reviewing three strategic plans with clients and helping them sharpen their communication,visiting an industrial site for a human and inspiring encounter, taking an hour to write these lines and share some clarity with you. Each of these moments felt like a pocket of hot air, the kind that makes a balloon rise quietly, effortlessly.

And you ?

What did you love this week?
And what if this simple question became a strategic leadership ritual in your own practice?

Because leadership is never just about rational decisions.
It is the subtle art of knowing where to place the flame, when to adjust the sail, and how to let yourself be carried by what truly elevates you.