The Cost of Compartmentalization

Are you great at showing up for work, but not so great at showing up for the people that you love? Is it easier to lead your team, close a big deal and show up at the office consistently than it is to connect with your wife, be present with your kids or make time for beers with your friends?

For so many outstanding corporate leaders out there, it’s not the boardroom that breaks them — it’s the living room.

It’s walking through the door at the end of the day and realizing you have nothing left to give, so you simply retreat to the bedroom or the office (or the bar down the street). Not because you don’t care — but because the version of you that wins at the office doesn’t exactly know how to survive in the house.

The Emotional Economy of Leadership

The fact is, if you’re truly getting after it professionally, you’re spending a ton of emotional energy throughout your day. And thus, whenever you come home, you’re at an energetic deficit — drained and in-need of a serious recharge, not more emotional needs of others to address.

And yet, our partners, kids, and families don’t want the high-performing version of us — they want the human version. The one who listens, slows down and shows up long enough to make crack a smile and enjoy a simple moment in the kitchen or the backyard.

Because is it really success if it costs you the people you love the most?

Coming Home — For Real This Time

The real work isn’t just what happens in your calendar.
It’s what happens when you come home and choose to stay emotionally present.

It’s noticing when you want to shut down — and staying open anyway.
It’s choosing curiosity over criticism.
It’s giving your family the same presence you give your clients.

And if you’ve built a life around overperformance, that shift won’t happen overnight.
It takes practice.
It takes humility.
And it takes help.

But when you finally start showing up in your relationships — not as a leader, but as a person — everything else in your life begins to re-align.

Because Here’s the Truth

The measure of your life won’t be your title, your income, or your influence.
It’ll be the quality of your relationships — and the state of your heart when you walk through the door.

And that’s not a weakness.
That’s the work.

If you’re a high-performing leader who’s ready to create more connection, clarity, and calm — in your work and at home — I can help.
Visit scottmcelroy.co to start your next chapter.