Leadership Overhead – When Direction Adds Drag

Leaders should create clarity – not complexity.

Leadership Overhead, the organisational version of Induced Drag, arises when senior teams send mixed messages, set too many priorities, or fail to operate as one voice. The result is confusion disguised as busyness.

In the LIFT Model, this links to all three Pillars:
• Purpose: Leaders must share one Core Imperative.
• People: Teams depend on Trust and Synergy to follow confidently.
• Process: Alignment and Approach keep leadership consistent and credible.

When leadership cohesion breaks, drag cascades through the system. Mid-level managers hesitate. Teams overcompensate. Strategy loses clarity.

The antidote is focus and unity. Limit priorities to what truly matters. Use shared frameworks for communication and decision-making. And model the discipline expected from the rest of the organisation.

When leadership operates with alignment and trust, it creates lift across the system. Teams move faster because direction is clear and stable.

Ask yourself:

Are we, as leaders, creating flow – or resistance?

Call to action:

Wingman’s High Performance Strategy Programme helps leadership teams align strategy, behaviours, and focus. Reduce the drag at the top – and everything below moves faster.