In this Encouraging episode, Weronika Sobolak, Owner of Weronika Sobolak Consulting, shares how to evolve from overwhelmed operator to strategic CEO in stage 5. If you struggle with constant firefighting, team dependency on you, and stalled personal freedom, you won’t want to miss it
You will discover:
– What mindset and structure shifts create true CEO-level leverage
– Why over-involvement in operations kills strategic thinking and growth.
– How to systematically hand off day-to-day decisions to trusted leaders
Episode Transcript
Scott Ritzheimer
Hello, hello and welcome. Welcome once again, to the start, scale and succeed. Podcast, the only podcast that grows with you through all seven stages of your journey. As a founder, I’m your host, Scott Ritzheimer, and today I want to talk to the founder. Yes, just that one of you, no kidding, all those founders out there who are listening, who have who’ve done the work you’ve built a successful company. You’ve got an executive team around you. You’ve reached that CEO stage that we all long for, and while, more days than not, you’re glad it’s not stage four anymore, that pesky disillusioned leader stage that we all have to go through. But that doesn’t mean that stage five is some panacea. It’s far from perfect. You’ll have seasons sometimes because of external circumstances, many times because of internal circumstances where something’s off. Those those times, those seasons, those moments when you’re exhausted in a way that weekends just don’t fix anymore, and it shows up in all kinds of ways. Your fuse is a little shorter. You might find yourself micromanaging people that you hired specifically so you wouldn’t have to micromanage anymore and and this is the part that very few folks talk about, but your burnout isn’t just your problem anymore. When you’ve got a team around you like this, especially a high performing team, that type of feeling is going to leak into every one of your interactions, into your strategic decision making, and even into how they lead their teams in your organization. And so one of the things that we have to pay attention to is not just how we how we keep you from burning out, which is super important, but how we make sure you don’t burn your team out as well, and to help us figure that out and know just how to do it, is the one and only Veronica. And I’ve practiced her name beforehand and still got it wrong, so I’m not even gonna try. But Veronica is a certified executive and life coach and a former global executive from a little company that you might have heard of, Facebook, slash meta. We’ve all heard of it, and she she knows her stuff. She brings 18 years of international experience and a foundation in high stakes global operations to her practice. During her 13 year tenure at meta, she managed initiatives driving over 0.5 that’s a lot of money, billion dollars in revenue, leading strategic partnerships and operations across 30 different countries. Veronica translates this deep operational expertise, which has been honed with living across three continents and teaching it at Fordham University’s business school, and takes that and puts it into actionable strategies for her clients, Veronica is helping leaders, founders and teams to navigate change and transition. She’s here with us today. Veronica, welcome to the show. Glad to have you here. You have led billion dollar revenue teams, something that a lot of our founders could only ever dream of, and you did it well, and you did it for a while across all these different countries, and you know firsthand that that comes with a toll. You’ve experienced some of this burnout we’re talking about, tell us looking back on it now, how did that burnout show up, not just in yourself, but in the people that you were leading before you even realized it was happening?
Weronika Sobolak
Thank you so much, Scott, that’s a great question, and thank you for having me. I love what you do and how you support a community. So thinking about my time at meta and Facebook, which is incredible chapter 13 years. Obviously, I moved countries. I moved from Europe to New York City and Silicon Valley, and just kept experiencing incredible growth because company was growing so fast. And for me, the burnout didn’t show up right away. I think these were really some subtle signs, like decision fatigue, maybe losing clarity and not leading with enough clarity for myself, of course, some of the physical symptoms, like not sleeping well, not having as much energy as I used to to have before. So I think it came down to those two main elements, which is less clarity, decision, fatigue and just on the physical level, I felt like I’m not performing as I used to.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, there’s a I don’t know if you’d call it a tool or a concept, but there’s an idea that I use a lot of times when I’m working with founders to help them figure out, hey, is this just a moment, like, is this just something that’s happening, or is this something deeper and and one of the things I’ll say is, hey, you can go through two weeks of heart, right? You know, something happened. It’s all hands on deck, like, we’ve got a scramble. You lost a big deal. You had an internal problem with some employees. Like, there can be two weeks of hard, but when that becomes two months or two years, that’s not just an external problem. That’s that’s something to really pay attention to. How do you approach that? Having. Been through that burnout now and helping other leaders with it. Is it okay to feel overwhelmed for a day or two? Is it okay to feel overwhelmed for a month or two? What does that look like?
Weronika Sobolak
That is such a great question. And I think as I think about my own story, I was so lucky to have incredible leaders, my own managers, who they were just leading in such an incredible way. And thankfully, when I was feeling a little bit burnout, I think was just a couple of months, thankfully I was I earned my recharge and recharge at Facebook and meta. It’s four weeks off that you get after every five years. So thankfully, I had that period to reassess, or obviously just take a little break, but just reassess, how do I lead and how do I want to lead forward? And I think, of course, this is something luxury. Not everyone would have four weeks off to take, especially if you are a founder. But now looking back at all of that experience, I know that even an hour, an hour with your coach, with your friend, someone trusted, maybe a family member, your brother, an hour will help you gain that clarity. If you can ask that question, is this really the only way? And you know, if you are asking the question, how long you need to feel overwhelmed before you actually reassess. I think it’s very individual, but I would say that, you know, for some people, they can lead that way for many years, and they are kind of burned out for just always on approach. But I would say a little bit of overwhelm is okay, and I think it’s important for us to even take a step back and say that not all of the stress is bad, but too much of our stress for too long, it’s what’s going to hurt you as a founder and probably your company. So the way I think about that stress keeps us on our edge, helps us be ambitious and competitive and think creatively, but too much of it. And I think for me, when I saw when, you know, for me, the moment was really just realizing I started not sleeping well. And if you if you don’t sleep well once a week, that’s fine, but if it becomes three days a week, and that’s probably already another week in a row, that’s probably a moment when it’s okay to just reassess. How do I want to proceed forward? Because again, if you if you are too stressed for too long, you are not going to use your cortex, which is the brain, part of the brain responsible for executive thinking and problem solving. So I don’t know if there is a one size fits all approach and for how long. I think it’s very individual. But what I do want to say, the sweet spot is just checking with yourself and finding those moments of clarity every week and again, having this partner in crime, whether it’s a coach or your favorite co worker, someone who reports to you where you actually have those check ins with yourself and are able to reassess. Am I productive? How is the team doing? And the final thing I will say here is that, you know, not everything is perfect. We will not always perform 10 out of 10 every day or every week, but if it’s under five, that’s probably a moment for us to just reassess. And hopefully we do need to get to that point. So I think the key takeaway here is really just having those check ins and pausing for a moment and asking that question, How am I doing? How is the team doing? Is this really the only way?
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, I think there’s, there’s two lenses that we need to look at this. I love what you’re sharing about how to assess that for yourself. I think what a lot of founders can can honestly be forgiven for under underestimating, is how much burnout can affect other people. And one of the things about founders is, especially on that individual basis that you’re talking about, is they can handle a lot, and usually for a lot longer than most other people can. And even when you surround yourself with high capacity individuals, they’re all going to experience that burnout and that overwhelm very differently and at different times. How is a founder? Can Can to the founders that are listening? Let me ask it that way, how can they be what your managers were to you? How can they help the folks on their team recognize they might be burning out?
Weronika Sobolak
This is such a great question, and I think, you know, ultimately, it comes down to creating the culture of resilience. And by resilience, I do not mean that toxic positivity, but it’s really that culture of resilience where it’s creating ownership. Everyone is different. To your point, some people have just a wider window of window of capacity and window of tolerance, they can just move faster. But some people really value more reflection space, especially creative folks. So it’s very individual, and I think it comes down to the culture. And I think for the founder, it’s very important to clarify for their employees in the company that. That, you know, what are the values, and that what is really the high performing culture? And I think in the end, they need to live by example, so and also be very clear that for them, maybe working 12 hours a day, it’s it’s realistic. There may be more ambitious, but some people cannot do that, and some people prefer more focus work. They work from home, and they can do more, more things done in eight hours, and they skip lunch. So everyone is different. And to me, it really comes down to creating that culture of accountability, giving that ownership to people and help, helping them design the day that works for them. And I think it really comes down to that clear communication, because ultimately, it’s a high cost if the team is burnout. I came across a recent research from Forbes. I believe, I think it’s on average, 5000 per employee, the cost of burnout if you pay for extra PTO, if you pay for maybe medical leave. So if you have a company of 1000 people, it costs you 5 million per year. So it’s a huge cost. And I think again, it comes down to creating that culture. And as a founder, maybe you have people on your team who can help you execute on that culture and just over communicating how people should take responsibility for their day and and taking things down in a way that makes sense for them.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah, yeah, I love that. That’s a huge stat, too. By the way, I got some folks to pay attention. I know it did for me. Veronica, there’s a question that I have for you ask them. I guess I’m interested to see what you have to say, and that is that is this, what would you say is the biggest secret that you wish wasn’t a secret at all. What’s that one thing you wish every founder watching or listening today knew?
Weronika Sobolak
That’s a great question. And I think it comes down to a very simple word, which is pausing. It’s not a secret for some but it is a secret for many people, which is the only way for you to move forward with better results with more impact, is taking moments for pauses. Maybe you don’t have a week off, maybe you don’t have even two days off, but I promise you, if you pause for 10 minutes a day or five minutes a day to just review and reassess, what are my priorities? Are my actions aligned with my priorities, and where is the friction and where that friction is coming from? So you readjust, you reassess. Ultimately, that’s the biggest competitive advantage, being able to adapt and learn, and pausing is that enabler. So I just wish to more people, and I’m not guilty of not pausing enough myself that we can all pause more often, whether it’s a micro pause few minutes or maybe sometimes taking two hours for yourself during your weekend. And I promise you, better results follow from there, and better personal fulfillment as well. And how you show up, for yourself, for your team, for your loved ones.
Scott Ritzheimer
Yeah. Why do you think we’re so afraid to stay still?
Weronika Sobolak
That’s a great question. And you know, we live in a culture where everything is around getting things done, especially in a Western culture, and obviously, such a complex environment we all live in right now. So there is that anxiety, and we all want to move fast, and as high performance we want. We are driven. We are we have that healthy level of urgency just getting things done. So it’s really hard to pause and not to feel like you are behind, and that’s why it’s a practice. It’s gonna feel very uncomfortable if you’ve never done this before, but I would love for you as a founder and anyone listening, think about it as an athlete. They have a team that helps them pause and recharge and refuel, because that’s the only way for them to remain number one, so that pausing is just a strategic decision, and I will say investment. And again, it’s hard. It’s hard where we are, it’s hard in our cultures and how we were raised, and what the word demands of us, but I promise you, even a minute a day, or few minutes a day, can can make those big changes over time?
Scott Ritzheimer
So true. Veronica, there’s some folks listening who’d love to have some help in this area, both for themselves and for their team. Where can they reach out to you? Where can they find more about the work that you do?
Weronika Sobolak
Absolutely so I do have my website, which is W, E, R, o, n, i, K, a.my, last name, s, O, B, O, L, A, k.com, and I’m sure we can include that link under the podcast. You can send me a note there. You can sign up for a newsletter, and you can receive a complimentary resource that helps with strategic clarity. I’m looking forward to hearing from you.
Scott Ritzheimer
That’s great. That’s great. We will. We’ll get that in the show notes for all of you guys. You can just tap or click it there and head straight over. Great website, lots of useful content and helpful articles on there, and I’d highly recommend it. Veronica, thank you so much for being on. The Show. It really was a privilege and honor having you here with us today, and for those of you watching and listening, you know your time and attention mean the world to us, I hope you got as much out of this conversation as I know I did, and I cannot wait to see you next time. Take care.
Contact Weronika Sobolak
Weronika Sobolak is a Certified Executive and Life Coach and a former global executive from Facebook/Meta. She brings 18 years of international experience and a foundation in high-stakes global operations to her practice. During her 13-year tenure at Meta, she managed initiatives driving over $0.5 Billion in revenue while leading strategic partnerships and operations across 30+ countries. Weronika translates this deep operational expertise—honed while living across three continents and teaching at Fordham University’s School of Business—into actionable strategies for her clients. Weronika is helping leaders, founders, and teams navigate change and transition.
Want to learn more about Weronika Sobolak’s work at Weronika Sobolak Consulting? Check out her website at https://www.weronikasobolak.com/
Connect with Weronika through her LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/weronikasobolak/