I was on my pool deck in Miami Beach this morning, working through my deep focus block, when the birds decided to lose their minds.
Loud. Swooping. Completely chaotic. Flying within feet of me. Landing, squawking, puffing themselves up, then doing it all over again.
I went back out to the same deck at 2:45pm after lunch for a mid-afternoon reset, and they were even more intense. One landed directly in the bush next to me and stared me down.
So I did what any reasonable person would do. I took a photo, posted it online, and asked: “What is this bird and why is it so unhinged?”
Meet the Boat-Tailed Grackle and the Leadership Lesson It Didn’t Know It Was Teaching Me.
Turns out, this is one of South Florida’s most common waterfront birds. Bold. Highly intelligent. Loud. Full of personality. (Honestly, relatable.)
And today’s chaos? Late winter and early spring is their breeding and nesting season. The males go into full purpose mode, louder, faster, more territorial, more dramatic. They’re doing exactly what their season requires.
The rest of the year? They forage quietly. They move in loose groups. The calls are softer. The flights are casual. No swooping. No territorial puffing. Just steady, sustainable presence.
They sprint when it’s time to sprint. They rest when it’s not. And they don’t apologize for either.
Here’s What I See Consistently in High-Performing Leaders and Teams:
The ones who struggle most aren’t the ones who lack drive. They’re the ones running at full sprint, every single day, every single quarter, with no seasonal awareness and no real recovery built in.
I’ve been that leader. I’ve watched brilliant CEOs be that leader. The calendar is always full. The urgency never drops. The results start to plateau or worse, the person behind the results starts to break down.
The highest performers I know personally and in the organizations I work with, operate in intentional sprints followed by genuine recovery. They know their seasons. They build for them. And they protect them.
That’s not a soft insight. That’s a performance strategy.
A Few Questions Worth Sitting With:
- What season is your business actually in right now and are you operating accordingly?
- Are you and your team sprinting when you should be consolidating? Or holding back when this is actually your season to be bold?
- When did you last build real recovery into your operating rhythm, not just a vacation, but structural rest?
A very loud, very puffed-up bird flew within two feet of me today and refused to be ignored.
So I stopped. And I listened. And I thought about you.
Whatever season you’re in right now, sprint into it fully, or rest into it completely. But do it on purpose.
With intention,
Carmen Ohling I CEO & Founder, The Amplified Life Company
If this resonated, I’d love to hear from you.
What season are you in right now? Drop it in the comments or email me at carmen@carmeohling.com. Sprint season or recovery season? I’ll reply to every one.
And if you’re a CEO or founder who wants to build a more intentional operating rhythm for yourself and your team, you can book time with me directly HERE.
Looking forward to our conversation.