Insights
The person running the room doesn't get their turn
A pattern that's been bothering me for months.
Leo Judkins, Founder, The iGaming LeaderThere's a pattern I've noticed in almost every leadership meeting: the person responsible for running it gets the least out of it.
They're watching the clock, managing the energy in the room, making sure the right voices get heard.
By the time it comes to them, time is short and whatever challenge they are facing or need feedback on gets a fraction of the attention everyone else received. Sometimes it doesn't get discussed at all.
What I saw in our own Inner Circles
I saw this play out in our own Inner Circles for months. At the start of each cycle, a member would volunteer to facilitate their group's sessions.
They were good at it. The sessions ran well. But one thing kept nagging at me: the facilitator was consistently putting themselves last.
They'd manage everyone else's hot seat with full attention, then squeeze their own into whatever time remained. Some weeks they barely got to the thing they needed to work through.
It wasn't acceptable. So we brought in professional facilitation for our Inner Circles: an executive coach with 15 years in iGaming, with no challenges of her own to bring. Her only job is to make sure every member gets the full benefit of their time.
A pattern beyond how we run sessions
The reason I'm sharing this isn't really about how we run sessions. It's about a pattern that shows up widely at senior level.
The higher you go, the more of your time gets spent managing other people's problems, decisions, and development. You become the person who holds the room together. The one who asks the questions, manages the dynamics, makes sure everyone else is moving.
And your own challenges? They sit in a queue that never gets to the front. Because at your level there aren't many people who'd listen and understand the decisions and challenges you go through.
Most leaders I speak to recognise this immediately. The skills that got them to a senior position — being reliable, putting the team first, keeping things running — are the same ones that leave them perpetually under-served when it comes to their own growth.
The people who break that pattern tend to be the ones who find a space where they are not the one in charge. Where someone else is watching the clock. Where their challenge gets full attention.
When was the last time you were in a room like that?