I kept thinking about that final line from last week.

Not saying anything is also a decision.

Once I saw that clearly, it was hard to unsee.

The silence was no longer neutral.

It felt like a weight.

And the more I thought about it I gradually realized I didn’t need a strategy or a framework.

I needed a conversation.

And before I scripted the conversation, I needed a stance.

Most high-performing teachers don’t need to be pushed.

They need to know where the boundaries are.

Because when you’re wired to care deeply, every open loop feels like a moral obligation.

And adding supports doesn’t always help.

One thing that might is subtracting pressure by giving permission.

Permission could sound like:

Most importantly:

That kind of clarity protects professionalism.

We recently read Essentialism in the Mastermind, Greg McKeown’s great book about learning how to focus on the most important priorities by doing less.

Essentialism in schools sometimes involves difficult choices:

When leaders don’t make those choices explicit, our most capable people make a predictable one instead: they try to do it all themselves.

And that’s where exhaustion lives — in unresolved priority.

Subtraction is uncomfortable.

Risky, even.

It exposes assumptions about accountability, expectations, and judgment.

It’s also deeply stabilizing.

Subtraction says:

The focus is on naming standards that truly matter right now.

This kind of leadership rarely happens in grand gestures.

It happens in quieter moments, sitting across from someone who carries a lot, noticing the pause before they answer, and being willing to name what can be set down.

Not all at once.

Not perfectly.

But clearly, and out loud.

Subtraction requires care.

It asks leaders to see energy as finite, to treat attention as precious, and to accept that clarity often arrives through what we choose to remove.

This is about creating conditions where people can keep doing good work without emptying themselves in the process.

If this tension feels familiar, you’re not alone.

These are the exact kinds of conversations we work through inside the Ruckus Maker Mastermind — lived leadership moments, with real people and real stakes.

And if this piece leaves you reflecting on someone in your own building, that’s not a failure of leadership.

It’s the beginning of one.

Some of the people carrying the heaviest load will never ask you to lighten it.

They’ll assume the expectations are fixed, and that the solution is to work harder, stay later, or absorb more.

That’s where leadership matters most.

This week, look for the person who:

Then, instead of offering another strategy or workaround, offer clarity.

Try language like:

Permission works best when it’s explicit.

Silence leaves people guessing.

Guessing is exhausting.

Subtraction isn’t avoidance, it’s prioritization.

When leaders name what can be set down, they protect energy for the work that matters most.

The rest can wait.