Leadership through crisis: Sue Hawkes on simplifying when life collapses

Executive overview

When multiple crises hit simultaneously — business failure, family deaths, foreclosure, divorce — the instinct is to manage perception. Sue Hawkes did the opposite: she told the truth publicly, and it saved her.

Her core practice is radical simplification. Strip the world to what's in front of you, lower the bar, and build daily rituals that hold when everything else falls apart.

The most courageous leadership move is often just naming the issue and asking: "If we were courageous, what would we do right now?"

The 2008 collapse

• Two businesses struggling simultaneously, during recession
• Mother, brother, and father died within a short window
• Discovered a foreclosure notice while helping her learning-disabled son with homework
• Husband was not earning; she was the sole income and had no awareness bills weren't paid
• Added divorce within weeks of the foreclosure
• Internal reality: "I am completely a joke. You're a fraud in every way."

Simplification as survival

• Crisis forced her world down to three things: execute work, care for her son, pack
• Stood in front of her coaching class and disclosed she had no home — a class she was teaching
• Two students immediately offered housing; one gave a rent-free townhome for six months
• Radical vulnerability created community; community carried her when she had nothing left
• Moved all belongings into one pod at age 40 — purifying, not defeating
• Lowered the bar: "If you work out at least today, you're winning"
• Tracked daily: "Do I have any regrets today?" — one question, honest answer, sleep or act

Daily practices: the SAVERS framework

• Hal Elrod's SAVERS acronym: Silence, Appreciation/gratitude, Vision, Exercise, Reading, Scribing
• Vision: no more than two must-happen items per day — reality over ambition
• Even five minutes per element is enough; the first three (S, A, V) can be done in bed
• Also: journaling, meditation, walking, music drives in her convertible ("four-wheel therapy")
• These aren't occasional self-care — they are non-negotiable infrastructure

Imposter syndrome

• Research suggests roughly 80% of people feel imposter syndrome; those who don't are more likely the actual imposters
• If you haven't thought "I should just get a job" at least 1,000 times, you're not growing enough
• Expecting doubt to show up removes its power to derail you
• She believed she could get through it before she had evidence she could — belief preceded proof

The 2024–25 crisis and resilience compounding

• Husband received a serious health diagnosis the day before Christmas 2024
• Her 14-year-old dog died shortly after — her primary emotional anchor
• Daughter's partner was in a medically induced coma for six weeks
• Father-in-law diagnosed with cancer concurrently
• Key difference from 2008: this time she already had the tools
• Shut off social media and news to compress her world; channelled stress through physical exercise
• Compartmentalisation — holding multiple crises in separate containers so they don't bleed into work — is a learnable skill, not a personality trait

The issues mindset

• "It's just an issue" simultaneously deflates emotional charge and holds space for opportunity
• Issues mean growth; no issues means stagnation or death
• All goals are just a series of issues to solve — reframe the list as fuel, not burden
• The courageous question: "If we were courageous, what would we do right now?" — bypasses analysis paralysis and imposter syndrome
• Action is the elixir: do something, serve someone, let it compound; clarity follows motion

Delegation and receiving help

• Her Kolbe profile: low natural follow-through, fast-moving, hands-on — operational execution is not her lane
• Real delegation requires honestly naming what is and isn't yours to hold
• In 2008 she modelled receiving help publicly — students became supporters; the network activated
• Co-authored Chasing Perfection with her stepdaughter to address an absence of leadership writing by women, for women
• Wrote the book after a team member put it on the three-year picture; the idea matured over several annual cycles before she committed

Receiving gratitude

• Keeps a "rainy day notes" folder — kind words from clients saved for low-oxygen moments
• Works to let gratitude land rather than deflect it: "Thank you, I'm glad I could be a small part of this"
• Deflecting compliments fails the sender; pausing to receive them is itself a leadership practice

Structure that outlasts the builder

• Introduced her co-author to EOS in 2014–15; the referral structure she built shaped his trajectory
• The coaching community she ran maintained integrity even during her personal crisis
• Years of depth-building meant the community gave back when she needed it most — not luck, structure

The Issues book: core messages

• Central question: "If we were courageous, what would we do right now?"
• Reframe: having a long issues list is a sign of growth, not dysfunction
• The IDS process (Identify, Discuss, Solve) replaces drama with cadence
• Every obstacle, idea, and opportunity gets the same label — issue — and the same process
• Normal leaders have issues; the goal is to move through them faster with less emotional tax