A mid-level healthcare leader came to coaching feeling defeated. His goal? To bring calm, predictability, and structure to a team operating in post-pandemic chaos. But after months of trying, he was burned out, frustrated, and on the verge of giving up.

His organization was overwhelmed, reactive, and emotionally drained—and he was trying to fix it all, alone.

The Conversation That Shifted Everything

During our coaching session, he shared his goal:

“I just want this place to be calm and predictable again.”

That’s when I had to offer him a truth he hadn’t yet faced:

“I have bad news. Chaos isn’t going away. Something broke after the pandemic—and we’re not going back.”

He looked stunned. Then I added:

“But while we can’t control chaos, we can learn to work within it. You don’t need to control the fire. You just need to stop letting it burn you.”

That’s when it happened:
His eyes lit up.
The tension dropped from his shoulders. And he smiled.

“That’s it. That’s what I needed to hear.”

In that moment, his leadership posture changed—from trying to fight chaos to learning how to navigate it with clarity, self-trust, and resilience.