‘’I Can't Sleep. I Have No Life. I'm Going to Quit'’: The Wake-Up Call That Changed My Leadership Performance isn’t fixed—it fluctuates like a thermostat. Yet we expect consistency like we’re managing robots. That’s not how people work. Performance varies. Even your best leasing agent has off days. Even your top maintenance tech can hit a wall. And even your most unstoppable regional manager can hit burnout. I had one. She was a rock star. High energy. Fired people up. Led from the front. As her portfolio grew, she kept delivering—until one day, she didn’t. I walked into the office and found her waiting for me, eyes red. She’d been crying. I was stunned. She said: “I can’t sleep. I have no life. I’m going to quit.” It hit me hard. Not just the risk of losing a great leader. But the guilt of missing the signs. We talked. I listened. Eventually, she became our head of marketing—a perfect fit with far less stress. She crushed it there. Lesson? Even your A-players break if you don’t give them a system to breathe. Here’s what I should’ve done sooner: Checked in regularly beyond metrics Watched for energy shifts, not just performance Created options for lateral moves, not just vertical pressure High expectations? Absolutely. But they have to live next to high awareness. You don’t fix people with pressure. You fix systems to support them. That’s leadership in property management. Understand the wave. Don’t pretend it’s a straight line.