A conversation with Kate Sotsenko on self-leadership, sustainable work, and what it means to be “good busy”.
When Kate Sotsenko ⏱️ talks about productivity, she doesn’t glorify the grind. Instead, she reframes it. As a productivity leadership coach and founder of TheGoodBusy.com, Kate works with senior leaders to cut through overwhelm and regain clarity so they can focus on what really matters.
But her story isn’t just about sharper goals or better time management. It’s about asking the deeper question: what are you actually busy with?
On the Fall Forward Podcast, Kate explored how leaders can rethink busyness to build sustainable performance, while creating a model to optimise our team effectively.
Listen to the ‘Busyness Dilemma’ below 👇
When busyness backfires
Kate knows first-hand the cost of unchecked busyness. Early in her career, she drove herself to burnout.
“I realised I was far more in control than I thought. The problem wasn’t being busy. It was being busy with the wrong things.”
That experience became the foundation of her coaching philosophy. For Kate, the distinction isn’t between busy and not busy, but between good busy and bad busy.
“Good busy moves you forward and energises you. Bad busy scatters your energy and keeps you stuck. The difference is intention.”
The culture of more and faster
So why do so many leaders end up in “bad busy”? Kate points to culture.
“We live in a world that rewards more and faster. The instinct is to take on more goals, more projects, more activity. But without clarity, you dilute focus. You end up everywhere at once, but nowhere that matters.”
She recalls one senior leader with 14 objectives in a single performance review: “It was impossible. When everything is a priority, nothing is.”
Activity can look like progress. But often, it’s just a distraction in disguise.
Productivity in leadership
Kate challenges leaders to think differently about productivity. It isn’t about managing time better. It’s about making better decisions.
“Good productivity is recognising those trade-offs and being deliberate about them. If you can’t lead yourself in that, how can you lead a team?”
This is what she calls self-leadership. Leaders who model focus, prioritisation, and discipline send a powerful signal to their teams. “Your people copy you,” she explains. “If you’re scattered, they’ll be scattered. If you’re intentional, they’ll follow that too.”
For senior leaders, that means setting clear finish lines for projects, for meetings, for strategy, and then respecting them.
“Good enough isn’t about lowering standards,” she clarifies. “It’s about creating sustainability, for yourself and your team.”
One of Kate’s most practical tools is the idea of good enough.
“In our culture, we’re conditioned to always chase more – faster, bigger, better. But if you never define what’s good enough, you never stop. You burn out chasing a moving target.”
Relationships matter more than activity
One of the biggest casualties of relentless busyness is relationships. Kate warns that leaders often neglect them, both at home and at work.
She points to research from Harvard’s long-term study of adult development, which found that strong relationships are the most consistent predictor of long-term well-being. “That includes workplace relationships,” she adds. “But when leaders are too busy, connection is often the first thing to go.”
The result? Weaker teams, less trust, and eventually lower performance.
“Your team is your mirror, If you want them to prioritise wisely and invest in each other, you need to show them how.”
Creating clarity under pressure
Of course, senior leaders can’t escape pressure. But Kate argues that the best response isn’t to speed up. It’s to pause.
“When you’re under pressure, the instinct is to do more. Instead, stop and ask: What’s working? What isn’t? What should we do less of? What strengths are we underusing?”
Those questions create clarity, the real antidote to overwhelm.
