“I know what’s right—but I’m afraid to act on it.”
A senior leader at a life sciences firm faced pressure: cut 25% of scope or lose sponsorship. The data showed delays, but the root cause was governance.
She chose to realign, not retreat—recalibrating ownership and rebuilding trust. The result? A revived roadmap and executive buy-in. Her clarity emerged not from dashboards, but from grounded awareness —where fear was replaced with focus.
When deadlines compress and politics flare, leaders tend to fall back on instinct. But instinct is not always insight. The inner dashboard needs calibration—through reflection, values alignment, and occasional stillness.
As Laura Huang notes, the highest stake decisions are not always powered by data alone. In fields like surgery or venture capital, instinct is often the catalyst for action. But it’s not blind instinct, it’s an alignment clarity and courage.
She writes: “Even in life-or-death decisions, it’s often the leaders’ gut that inspires a call, especially when the decision is risky.”
Simple practices:
- Start team meetings with 2 minutes of quiet clarity: “What outcome matters here?”
- End major decisions with a self-check: “Did I make this from pressure or purpose?”
- Ask: “What would I decide if I weren’t afraid of the outcome?”
Core Principles
- Under pressure, fear distorts decision-making.
- Stillness creates space for better leadership responses.
- Courageous alignment often pays off more than reactive compromise.