Give Yourself Permisson to Switch it Up
Being willing to adapt is the essence of good leadership. Give yourself permission to make a shift, and be brave enough to lead through it.
As I mentioned in my newsletter last week, this month marks my 10th year in business as the founder of Stamey Street Consulting Group. This milestone has sparked a lot of reflection about my journey and the organizations that I have worked with over the years.
Here I am ten years ago leading a training. Look at that baby face. 👶
Starting this week and over the next few weeks, I am going to share some of the lessons I've learned, along with some of the biggest takeaways for my clients. This week, as part of my Lessons Learned series, I want to talk about giving yourself permission to switch it up.
Switching it Up
As I talk about permission, I want to share a case study about my need to switch it up a few years ago when my business grew from solo to ten people.
The “We Walk the Talk!” case study is about internal systems and practice review for my company, Stamey Street. Over two years, my firm grew from one person to ten employees and contractors. That growth created a need for new processes and practices. I needed to design an information management system to manage the flow of project tasks and information.
I learned a lot from that experience. At the time, the size of my firm felt great. Ultimately, I decided I didn’t want to be that large anymore. I had multiple consultants working on different projects, and it was great. That’s what all the business books say you are supposed to do. Build bigger. Scale up. But it wasn’t right for me. That’s where permission comes in. Ultimately, I had to give myself permission to let go of what worked for someone else, so I could build what works for me. For you, giving yourself permission to switch it up might mean accepting that the organization (or team) you are leading may look different than what you are “supposed” to be building.
For example, a few years ago, you might have felt the pressure to be bigger. But maybe that growth wasn’t sustainable, and now you’re rightsizing to achieve your mission with your current resources.
Or maybe you were 100% remote but brought the team back to the office. Now, you realize your team is unhappy. Maybe you’re considering whether you need to readjust.
Where do you need to give yourself permission to make a decision that may look different than what you expected or from what others are doing?
So many thoughts hold us back from trying new ideas. Sometimes fear, anxiety, or overwhelm can keep you stuck in a loop analyzing you own problems. Do you know what breaks through this paralysis? Action. Even one seemingly small step can propel you forward in meaningful ways. Why? Because action begets action.
So grant yourself permission to try something new, then do it. Life is way too short. If it doesn’t work, you can always switch it up again. Being willing to adapt is the essence of good leadership. Recognize your need to make a shift, then be brave enough to lead through it.
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