UIP- 🎙️ Episode 16: Power Leaks
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[00:00:00] This is unapologetically in Power, the podcast for ambitious women who are done performing and ready to lead from their unapologetic truth. I am Jennifer Damaskos and here. We don't play small in this space. We dismantle burnout, reclaim your energy and activate the unapologetic leader you are always meant to be, so you can lead, earn, and live from your unapologetic self.
Last week we talked about [00:01:00] identity shadows, the unconscious parts of you that quietly run your business decisions. But here's the next layer. Even once you see the shadows, most successful women still struggle with power leaks. What are power leaks? They're the invisible drains on your time, energy, and money that compound daily.
The yes you gave without thinking, that turns into weeks of regret. The offer you priced too low, that leaves you resentful and your client undervaluing your work. The conversations that circle endlessly because you're managing emotions instead of moving the business forward.
And here's the truth, every power leak carries a compounding cost. Not just an exhaustion, but in missed opportunities, not just this [00:02:00] quarter, but in the trajectory of your entire business. I learned this the hard way in what I now call my leaky business year. On the outside, things look strong. Clients were happy.
Revenue was steady. My calendar was full, but underneath I was drained. And when I finally took a closer look, I realized how much I was actually giving away. The client, overgiving Lake was where I said yes to Quick chats that spiraled into unpaid strategy sessions. When I added it up,
it wasn't a couple of hours. It was dozens enough time that I could have created an entirely new program. I had an underpricing leak. I charged less than peers in my space than Overdelivered to make up for it. [00:03:00] Each package may have only been a small gap, but multiplied across a year. It added up to a staggering amount of revenue I never saw.
Then I had an emotional labor leak. I carried the feelings of team members and clients alike, spending hours managing emotions instead of leading strategy. That energy could have fueled big picture growth, but instead it kept me stuck in the weeds and I had an admin leak. I spent late nights formatting proposals and updating spreadsheets work that technically needed to be done, but at the cost.
Of the strategic CEO level decisions that only I could make by the end of the year, it hit me. Burnout wasn't coming from doing too much. It was coming from [00:04:00] giving too much away. And while I can't put an exact number on it, the cost was more than financial. It was the lost momentum, the projects that stayed on the shelf, the opportunities I never pursued because I was too busy patching leaks.
Power leaks aren't personal flaws, though. They're systematic patterns that cost businesses millions. And here's the research that changed how I think about energy management. Gallup's 2023 study. Women leaders are 1.7 times more likely to carry invisible labor loads, managing emotions, relationships, and logistics beyond their actual role.
That invisible work costs companies billions annually in lost productivity. [00:05:00] McKinsey's Women in the Workplace Report, women spend an average of 200 extra hours per year on non-pro promotable tasks for entrepreneurs. That's the difference between staying stuck and scaling Stanford. Research entrepreneurs who don't address energy leaks experience slower growth.
Higher stress and a higher likelihood of burnout or exit. Harvard Business School calls this the hidden tax of entrepreneurship, the untracked cost of undercharging, overgiving, and overworking. Dr. Gay Hendricks adds another layer with his zone of genius research. Most leaders plateau because they stay stuck in their zone of [00:06:00] excellence.
Competent but not energized. Power leaks, keep them trapped there instead of moving into their true genius. And here's the kicker, the leaks don't just drain your energy, they drain your profit, your innovation capacity, and your ability to think strategically about the future. So some of the seven most expensive power leaks.
The first one is the client over giving leak. It looks like extra calls, endless scope creep. Just one more thing to keep them happy. It's cost is hours of unpaid labor that could have gone into creating or scaling. Number two, leak is the underpricing leak. It looks like charging less than your peers, than resenting the work.
Its cost though is steady [00:07:00] erosion of both revenue and confidence. The third leak the team drama leak. It looks like managing emotions, fixing mistakes, carrying the weight of misaligned roles. The cost is hours of leadership energy wasted on management instead of strategy. Number four, the calendar chaos leak.
It looks like back-to-back meetings, zero buffer time, no space for long-term planning. The cost, it keeps you reactive instead of innovative. Number five is your invisible labor leak. It looks like being the default organizer, mediator, emotional support system. The cost is, it drains creative energy needed for business [00:08:00] development.
Number six is the perfectionism leak. It looks like endless revisions, analysis, paralysis, overdelivering on everything. The cost is delayed, launches and missed opportunities. Number seven is the boundary violation leak. It looks like constant availability, immediate responses, emergencies that aren't actually emergencies.
The cost is burnout and diminished authority. Each leak may feel small in the moment, but compounded over a year. They create an invisible task that quietly caps your growth. So today's practical exercise is our power leak audit. The first step, we need an energy audit. So what we need to start asking is where [00:09:00] do you end the day feeling resentful which clients or projects drain you instead of energizing you?
What tasks steal your focus, even though they only take 15 minutes?
Step two is our hidden yes inventory. So where are you saying yes out of guilt, fear, or obligation? What's one yes you gave this month that you already regret?
How many hours weekly are you spending outside of your true zone of genius? So for step three, we need to look at pattern recognition over giving. Undercharging? Managing instead of leading, [00:10:00] delaying because of perfectionism? Write it down. Look for patterns, because once you see the leaks, clearly you cannot unsee them.
And this is exactly why Rise module two, reveal doesn't just stop at shadows. We map your complete power leak profile because you can't plug what you can't see. So inside module two, you'll complete your personal power leak inventory exactly where energy and money are draining a hidden cost calculator, the real impact of leaks on your growth, a leak prevention systems.
Boundaries, processes and team structures that stop leaks for good energy architecture. Designing a business that feeds your energy instead of draining it. Delegation frameworks, getting the right work off your plate without losing [00:11:00] control, because here's what I've learned, you don't need more discipline.
You don't need to work harder. You need to stop leaking power in the first place. The women in Rise don't just patch leaks temporarily. They re-engineer their entire business models, so the leaks never come back. They create systems that protect their energy, like the valuable resource it is. So let me ask you,
where is your business Quietly Bleeding energy right now. What opportunities are you missing because you're too drained to think strategically?
What would be possible if you reclaim those hours, that energy, that focus, the longer you ignore the leaks? The more they compound and the [00:12:00] moment you see them and unplug them, you get your power back. You get your energy back, and you get your future back. And if you're ready for the structure, the tools and the community that helps you not just see the leaks, but eliminate them permanently rise.
Enrollment is open now. This is unapologetically in power. I'm Jennifer Damaskos, and it's time to take your power back from the leaks.
