4. Your focus narrows

Under acute cognitive load, the brain enters a threat state that narrows its focus to the immediate and the tactical. Stress hormones – specifically cortisol and adrenaline – reduce access to the prefrontal cortex and produce a kind of tunnel vision: focusing us on immediate issues at the expense of broader ones. Leaders experiencing this shift tend to move from proactive to reactive management without noticing. Strategic conversations feel abstract, and longer-term issues become difficult to engage with. As a result, the organisation ends up being managed closer and closer to the present.

5. Your body is telling you something your mind isn’ t registering

The body tends to register cognitive overload before the mind does. Persistent cognitive strain activates the sympathetic nervous system. The physiological markers are consistent: disrupted sleep, increased heart rate variability, tension headaches and gastrointestinal symptoms. Leaders in demanding roles typically have high thresholds for this kind of physical discomfort and so often misinterpret these symptoms as just the normal cost of a demanding job. But that normalisation is itself a warning sign.

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