Leading Alone Can Only Take You So Far

My daughter's high-school summer job as pool manager isn't as much sun and fun as I expected. She recently ran into a frustrating problem and stewed on it for a couple of days, trying to troubleshoot it on her own, and convinced she just needed to push through.

But it wasn’t until she talked it out with someone (not her dad, of course) that things shifted. A few quick questions reframed the situation. New ideas emerged. And within hours, the problem didn’t feel quite so heavy or quite so unsolvable.

That conversation didn’t magically fix the issue, but it gave her something far more valuable.

A new perspective.

I also see leaders wrestle with this all the time. We often assume that the answer is more effort. More grit. Just grind a little harder. But grit without perspective can keep us stuck in the same loop.

Sometimes the most powerful leadership move is stepping outside the swirl of your own thinking, whether that’s through a trusted peer, mentor, or even a 10-minute phone conversation.

That’s not weakness. It's wisdom.

The higher up you go, the harder it can be to find those honest sounding boards. But without them, even the strongest leaders start to shoulder too much, or worse - they start to believe their view is the only one.

So the next time you’re stuck in a problem that won’t budge, ask yourself:

Have I really tried everything or have I just tried everything alone?