What should you do: Stay or go? Retain them or say good-bye? Stay quiet or speak up? Change or stay the same?
It’s a dilemma.
But wait. What happens if it’s not a conundrum? What if what feels like a difficult decision, is something else: The threat of experiencing an emotion you’ve been training yourself to avoid?
- If you act you could be wrong. That’s fear.
- If you change, it will require saying good-bye to someone. That’s loss.
- If you transition, it will mean that what you’re doing now isn’t good enough. That’s embarrassing.
- If you leap, you might not land on your feat. That’s anxiety.
- If you tell the truth you might be laughed at or ignored. That’s insecurity.
But if you don’t act, change, transition, leap or tell your truth, tomorrow could be worse than today. That’s pain caused by the lack of achievement. (That’s the agony of not realizing your potential.)
Most likely, you do know what decision needs to be made. Your values, your experience and your character are showing you the path forward.
When we stop telling ourselves that we don’t know what to do, and get busy doing that which we must, we can then focus on navigating the emotions that come with change. Then, at last, we can get to where we need to be as leaders.
There are very few dilemmas.
