Executives rarely ask for permission.
You’re the ones giving direction, driving performance, building strategy and setting the pace. But beneath the surface—even among the most accomplished leaders—I’ve noticed something consistent and surprising: There are decisions you want to make … but don’t. Ways you want to lead … but don’t. Not because you lack capability or skill, but because doing something different might expose you—and when you’re highly visible, you’re also highly vulnerable.
The pressure is real: more people watching, more politics in the room, more risk that any single decision could become a career-defining failure. That fear isn’t imagined. It’s structural. So, you do what feels “responsible.” You keep things “reasonable.” You keep things steady. You avoid shaking the system. It’s safe. It’s justifiable. And it seems to make the most sense. Until it doesn’t.
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Click here to read the full Forbes article written by our CEO Lisa Christen.