You’re Not Stuck. You Just Don’t Like Your Options. (#297)
The Confident Leader
BOOST YOUR LEADERSHIP IN UNCERTAIN TIMES
That’s what a leader told me—frustrated, tired, and convinced they were stuck.
The situation felt real. The pressure was real.
But the conclusion? Not quite.
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response.”
— Viktor Frankl
This Week’s Edition
Feeling stuck is one of the most common leadership experiences and one of the most misleading.
The challenge isn’t always the situation. It’s how we interpret it.
Clarify Your Thinking
There’s a distinction most leaders miss.
“I have no choice” and “I don’t like my choices” feel identical in the moment. But they lead to completely different outcomes.
When you believe you have no choice, you become passive. You wait. You tolerate. You hope something changes.
That’s where professional victimhood quietly creeps in.
When you shift the language—even slightly—you reclaim control.
One leader I worked with felt trapped in a difficult team dynamic:
Let go of a challenging personality type or keep them (and their massive institutional knowledge) and suffer the negative impact on the culture?
No good options in sight. When we named the viable, albeit less than ideal options out loud, the picture changed:
He began to feel less stuck…
The employee could stay and be led differently.
The leader could address the issue directly.
The employee could be transitioned out.
None felt easy. But they were real. And that changed everything.
Old Thinking:
I have no choice. I’m stuck.
New Thinking:
I always have a choice, even if I don’t like the options.
Thoughts Lead to Actions
The moment you believe you have no choice, you surrender your leadership power. Leaders need all the authority and power they can muster.
Here’s how to shift out of stuck thinking:
Name the Options Honestly.
Write them all down, especially the uncomfortable ones. Clarity reveals choices you’ve been avoiding.
Separate Discomfort from Impossibility.
Hard doesn’t mean unavailable. Don’t confuse “I don’t want to” with “I can’t.”
Choose Your Cost.
Having the employee stay costs something. Leaving costs something. Everything costs something.
Leadership is choosing which cost you’re willing to pay for which outcome.
Move.
Indecision feels safe but compounds pressure. Momentum creates clarity.
You may not like your options. But you’re never without one. That’s where leadership begins.
Boost Your Performance
In this week’s video, I break down how one leader moved from completely stuck to confident decision-making simply by reframing how they viewed their options.
What’s Your Opinion?
What decision are you going to make this week that you have been putting off thinking you had no choice? Send me your thoughts: robin.pou@robinpou.com.
If you are going to be a leader, you might as well be a good one. Don’t let doubt count you out. Have a confident week!
Robin Pou, Chief Advisor and Strategist
We live to make bad leadership extinct so forward this newsletter to others who strive to be confident leaders.
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What is “The Confident Leader”?
During the Covid-19 Pandemic, I began a video series called “Panic or Plan?” It was designed to equip leaders to navigate the doubt they experienced and to rise in the confidence they needed to lead during turbulent times. It took off. I then started this newsletter to equip leaders in the same fashion each week for the doubt that crashes across the bow of their leaderSHIP.
