Welcome to Week 1 of Leadership Lift — and the first step in building your leadership system.
This week, we ground ourselves in a new way of thinking about leadership, time and attention.
“Leadership is a process of social influence, which maximises the efforts of others toward the achievement of a goal.”
— Kevin Kruse
But real leadership doesn’t happen just because you’ve got a title. It happens when you become intentional about where your energy goes, how you show up, and what you make possible for others.
Where the Sandpit Strategy Comes FromThe Sandpit Strategy comes directly from Justine’s lived experience — leading teams, burning out, and learning the hard way what happens when you stay buried in the work.
She realised she was spending all her time building the sandcastle — doing, fixing, firefighting — and not enough time stepping back to actually lead the sandpit.
That moment changed everything. It became the core of this program.
Why Let Go of the Sandcastles?Most leaders end up in leadership roles because they were great at doing.
They delivered. They got things done. They were trusted to take the ball and run with it — and they did.
But here’s the rub:
What got you here — being an excellent doer — won’t take you to the next level.
Sandcastle building is what happens when you keep leading the way you worked — head down, hands on, solving everything yourself.
That looks like:
Taking on too much
Doing work your team could own
Getting stuck in the weeds
Losing time for reflection, coaching and culture-building
This week isn’t about dropping the ball. It’s about lifting your head.
Not all sandcastles are bad — some are strategic, some are necessary. But leadership means knowing which ones to build intentionally, and which ones to leave.
If you’re going to build a sandcastle, make sure you’re choosing it — and make sure you’re leaving time to lead the sandpit too.
This is your reset — a chance to choose with clarity, not react from habit.
From task-first to people-first.
Neuroscience Insight: Focusing on people activates oxytocin and lowers stress.
This is about letting go of the need to do everything, and anchoring your energy in what matters most:
Leading with presence,
Supporting others to succeed, and
Creating the conditions for clarity and momentum.
And that begins with time.
Time is your leadership mirror — your team sees what you prioritise
Doing everything keeps you small — leadership needs space
Focus is finite — protect it like the asset it is
Not every sandcastle needs your energy. Leadership means knowing which ones to build — and when to step back, so your people can step up
You don’t need more time — you need more clarity. Clarity gives you back your energy, your presence, and your power to lead.
Reclaim at least 1 hour of your time this week.
Download the resource below and pick 1–2 Time Choice Tips based on your Time Thieves audit.
Choose from:
Feeling Overwhelmed
Constant Interruptions
Easily Distracted
Too Many Meetings
Lack of Clarity
Track your shift and reflect on what changed.
This quiz helps you reflect on your weekly workplace experiment, evaluate your outcomes, and reinforce the key concepts. It’s designed to track whether you made the intended sandpit shift.
