Leadership in Triage

How To Lead When You're Always Putting Out Fires

A principal once told me, “I spend most of my time reacting to the day, not leading the direction.”

She wasn’t underperforming. She was simply operating in a rhythm that’s become dangerously normal in many schools. We call it leadership, but too often, it’s triage.

The inbox is endless, the crises come before the coffee, and the work that matters most always ends up pushed to next week, and the week after that. Triage leadership isn’t a personal flaw—it’s a structural condition. And over time, it doesn’t just burn people out—it reshapes what we think leadership is.

Leading under pressure—or performing under it?

Triage isn’t just about urgency. It’s about being trapped in a mode of high-stakes reactivity—where every problem feels like a priority and long-term thinking always takes a backseat. This kind of environment doesn’t just demand energy—it drains clarity.

We call it leadership. But too often, it’s triage.

As research into cognitive load theory shows, when mental bandwidth is consumed by short-term problem solving, leaders are less able to reflect, adapt, or plan effectively (Sweller, 1988; Paas et al., 2003). Instead, we default to the fastest decision available—which is rarely the best one.

And for many school leaders, this becomes the pattern:

• Start the day with intention
• Get caught in the swirl
• End the week wondering if anything truly moved forward

Over time, this erodes not just outcomes—but confidence.

Let’s look at three core shifts that help leaders break this loop—not by ignoring urgency, but by leading through it with rhythm, clarity, and renewed influence.

1. Reclaiming Rhythm in a Culture of Crisis

When every hour feels urgent, rhythm feels impossible. But I’ve seen remarkable change when leaders begin to push back—gently but consistently—against the demand to be everywhere and answer everything. For example, one principal I know began by protecting just one hour each day. No meetings, no inbox, and no hallway check-ins. “It felt selfish at first,” she told me.

This is supported by the concept of decision spacing—the practice of buffering reflection between tasks to reduce reactive decision-making and restore perspective (Masicampo & Baumeister, 2011).

She also implemented a 15-minute “triage window” for her team. Instead of all-day drop-ins, staff brought problems to a fixed space. Most issues resolved themselves before they even got there.

It wasn’t about being unavailable; it was about being intentionally available. And the result was fewer interruptions, better decisions, and slowly, a new rhythm that others began to mirror.

2. Rediscovering Purpose Beneath the Pressure

Another deputy principal I worked with had a calendar that was utterly full. Meetings, reports, emergencies, you name it. She was constantly moving—but deeply disconnected. “I’ve never been this busy,” she said. But here's the thing—leadership isn’t defined by how full your week is.

This is what Maslach and Leiter (2016) call disengaged overextension—a state where high effort is matched by low meaning. It’s a fast track to burnout, but it’s so easily masked by the appearance of productivity.

Triage leadership isn’t a personal flaw—it’s a structural condition.

We began with a question: What are the parts of your role that only you can do? For her, it was mentoring early-career teachers, setting team direction, and having the hard conversations others avoided.

We didn’t clear her calendar—instead, we rearranged it. High-purpose tasks moved to the centre, and low-impact obligations were either delegated or reframed. We also introduced a weekly 20-minute clarity check:

• What did I do this week that actually advanced our values?
• What took time but didn’t move anything?
• What will I protect next week?

Within a month, she reported less resentment and more authority over her own role.

3. From Fixing Everything to Building Capacity

One of the hardest habits to break in triage mode is the instinct to fix. And it makes sense—when everything is urgent, leaders step in. They rescue, solve, and ultimately over-function. But this habit, while well-intentioned, can quietly dismantle a school’s capacity to grow.

One school I worked with was struggling with initiative fatigue. Staff were disengaging. Trust was slipping. The principal was doing more than ever—and it still wasn’t working. So we looked at who held the decisions, and the answer was "he did". He was the final stop for almost every process.

If you’re living in triage mode, it doesn’t always look broken from the outside.

I reminded him the goal isn’t to be the hero, so we made a different move. He identified three decisions per month he could delegate—not just to offload—but to empower. He began narrating the “why” behind his own choices, so others could learn the pattern. He moved from being the driver to being the designer of conditions where others could lead. This aligns with what Senge (2006) calls distributed leadership leverage—the small but systemic shifts that allow energy to multiply throughout an organisation.

And slowly, things changed. Staff began anticipating needs, not waiting for permission. Momentum returned, and the principal began leading, not reacting.

Rewriting the job description

If you’re living in triage mode, here’s the hardest part to admit: It doesn’t always look broken from the outside. You’re productive, visible, and responsive—but you’re also exhausted, reactive, and unclear. And when you’ve been in it long enough, it starts to feel normal. But it’s not, because triage isn’t a leadership strategy.

What it comes down to is often a simple misalignment between responsibility and clarity. You don’t need to overhaul the system, but you do need to start reclaiming the small spaces where you can think again. Lead again. Breathe again.

Because when you shift—even subtly—your team notices, and they begin to shift too. And suddenly, a culture of urgency starts to give way to a culture of trust.

Ready to reclaim clarity in your leadership?

This is exactly what we explore in the Professional Wellness Workshop—a free space I’ve created for school leaders ready to rebuild their influence from presence, not pressure. I’d love to have you join me.

When you register, you’ll also get an advance copy of my new book: Culture of Excellence: The Path to Empowered Teaching, Inspired Learning, and Intentional Leadership

What’s one boundary, habit, or ritual that’s helped you lead more intentionally?

References

Maslach, C., & Leiter, M. P. (2016). Burnout: A multidimensional perspective. In Burke, R. J., & Cooper, C. L. (Eds.), The fulfilling workplace (pp. 77–96). Routledge.

Masicampo, E. J., & Baumeister, R. F. (2011). Consider it done! Plan making can eliminate the cognitive effects of unfulfilled goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 101(4), 667–683. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0024192

Paas, F., Renkl, A., & Sweller, J. (2003). Cognitive load theory and instructional design: Recent developments. Educational Psychologist, 38(1), 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1207/S15326985EP3801_1

Senge, P. M. (2006). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. Doubleday.

Sweller, J. (1988). Cognitive load during problem solving: Effects on learning. Cognitive Science, 12(2), 257–285. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15516709cog1202_4