You Can See It. So Why Won't You Do It?
Read Time: 3 Mins
Sandra knew exactly what her team needed. She had known for a while now.
The new hire needed closer direction. The veteran performer needed a stretch assignment. The team needed Sandra to stop solving their problems and start asking better questions.
Sandra could see almost all of it.
She had read the room correctly, and yet she kept doing what she had always done, why?
Because doing something different was uncomfortable in a way that she couldn't quite explain.
This is the gap that still doesn't get talked about enough. The gap between awareness and action, seeing and doing, reading and responding.
"Seeing clearly is the foundation. Choosing courageously is the work."
Why Awareness Is Not Enough
Most leadership development programs and conferences are built on the assumption that if you help people see the problem, they'll fix it. Give them the assessment. Show them the 360 data. Walk them through the newest framework and it will all be clear.
The problem is that most people go back to work after the workshop or conference to their teams and do exactly what they've always done.
Awareness without action isn't growth, it’s a more informed version of the same behavior.
The reason people don't act on what they clearly see comes down to one thing: the discomfort of operating outside of their primary style costs more, in the moment, than the cost of staying put.
That's human, and it's the thing that separates supervisors who continuously develop from supervisors who plateau. Not to mention their teams and what happens to them.
What the Courage to Choose Actually Requires
Choosing the management approach when you're a naturally relational supervisor feels like abandoning your people. It feels like becoming someone you promised yourself you would never be.
Choosing the leadership approach when you're a naturally task-focused supervisor feels like losing control. It feels risky. Unpredictable. Like the work might not ever get done.
Neither feeling is accurate. Both feelings are real. And the courage to choose means acting on the accurate read of the situation rather than what you’re feeling.
This requires emotional resilience under pressure. Being able to tolerate the discomfort of operating outside your natural preference long enough to discover that it works. Because it does work! But you don't know that until you've done it enough times to have the evidence to prove it to yourself.
Three Courage Barriers and Their Antidotes
The judgment concern: What will my team think if I switch approaches? They'll call me a micromanager. They'll think I don't trust them. The antidote is transparency. Tell them what you're doing and why. A brief explanation of intent removes most of the misreading.
The competence fear: I don't actually know how to do this well. What if I coach badly? What if my management approach makes things worse? The antidote is small experiments. You don't have to be excellent at the new behavior on day one. You have to be willing to be imperfect at it.
The perfectionism paralysis: I keep second-guessing which approach is right. I don't want to choose wrong. The antidote is timing. A good decision made now is better than a perfect decision made after the moment has passed.
Your Move This Week
Find one situation next week where you've been staying in your comfort zone rather than giving the situation what it actually needs.
Name the barrier that's been keeping you there. Judgment concern? Competence fear? Perfectionism?
Then make the choice. Imperfectly. On purpose.
That's the courage to choose. It might not feel elegant, but it's absolutely necessary.
📥 Download the free Courage to Choose Worksheet to name your barrier and build your action plan.
