Leadership in any role, for example, as a senior / staff / principal engineer, a tech lead, or an EM, has the tendency to cause stress and overwhelm from time to time. With this topic, I would like to open the conversation with other leaders in the field on how to go through such stages and what are the practical tools to help. Leading teams can be stressful, especially when overthinking, perfectionism, or constant decision-making is happening. I will drive the conversation around understanding why such spikes happen and how unclear communication for example a simple slack message may trigger mental burden. I’ll share practical leadership tips to stay grounded, avoid negative spirals, and use AI as a support tool for help (and cases where AI should be skipped entirely).