Growth and Ability Comes From Taking Action Along the Way

Taking the first step builds the clarity needed for the next.

Nobody taught you how to walk.

At some point in your first year of life, you just started trying. You rolled over. Then you got up on your hands and knees. Then you fell down. Then you got up again. Nobody handed you a manual. Nobody said wait until you're ready. You just kept moving, and somewhere along the way, walking happened.

And…nobody judged you for falling. In fact, the people around you were cheering when you tried and fell. Every small attempt got a reaction like you'd just done something extraordinary, because to them, you had. Rolling over was cause for celebration. Pulling yourself up on the coffee table was a standing ovation. That encouragement kept you going until you didn't need it anymore, because by then, you could walk.

Then we grow up. And something shifts.

Fear Shows Up When the Audience Changes

As adults, especially as leaders, the dynamic flips. We become painfully aware of who is watching. We start worrying about what a stumble says about us. Will people think I'm not ready for this? Will they lose confidence in me? Do I look like I don't know what I'm doing?

The answer to that last question is sometimes yes, and that's completely fine (really). None of us have all the answers, all the time. The problem is that fear of looking incompetent keeps a lot of leaders from ever getting started. They wait for the perfect moment, the perfect plan, the perfect amount of preparation. And while they're waiting, they're not learning. They're not growing. They're just standing still. Perfection becomes the enemy of progress. You've probably heard the saying. Jim Collins covered it in Good To Great. But it's worth asking yourself honestly: how often does it show up in your own decisions?

Side note worth mentioning here: if you really struggle with the thinking of other people and find yourself concerned with other peoples thoughts of you, I would also recommend picking up Let Them, by Mel Robbins.

The Learning Is in the Doing

Your growth and development doesn’t come in the planning stages, or thinking about what you’ll need to do next. It comes from actually doing something. If we could all think our way to the next levels, well, we’d be living in a different world. There are only so many books, articles, podcasts, or YouTube videos you can watch before you just have to do it for yourself and find out what happens.

Think about how you got good at anything that actually matters in your leadership role. You didn't read your way into it. You didn't plan your way into it. At some point, you just had to do it. The first time you had a hard conversation with an underperforming team member, you were nervous. The first time you presented to your district manager, you probably over-prepared and still got thrown off by a question you didn't expect. The first time you rolled out a new process to your store team, something didn't go the way you thought it would. And then you did it again. And it got a little easier. That's how ability builds, not in the planning phase, but in the doing.

Dan Rockwell at Leadership Freak put it plainly: the less you do, the less you're able to do. When effort drops, tolerance for effort fades. The more you do, the more you can do. Effort matters, every time.

What's Happening Right Now with AI

Here's a current example that applies to a lot of retail leaders right now: artificial intelligence. Most people are not waiting until they fully understand AI before they start using it. They're opening the tools, asking questions, trying things, getting results they didn't expect, and adjusting. That's the entire learning curve. There is no class that gets you ready for it. There is no certification that makes you confident before you start. You learn it by using it, and the people making the most progress right now are the ones who started before they felt ready.

If you're waiting until AI is fully figured out before you engage with it, you're going to be behind. It won’t be because you aren’t smart enough, it will be because the learning only happens through the trying. The same is true for leadership skills, operational changes, new systems, difficult conversations, and anything else you've been sitting on because it doesn't feel quite ready.

Start Small. Actually Small.

The goal isn't to take a massive leap. The goal is to take a first step that's small enough to actually do. What's the smallest move you could make today that gets you one step closer to where you're trying to go? Not the entire plan, just the first action. When you take that initial step, two things usually happen. Either it works and you gain confidence to take the next one, or it doesn't work and you learn something you couldn't have learned any other way. Both outcomes move you forward. Sitting still doesn't.

There's something else that happens when you get started: you start thinking more clearly about what comes next. The next two or three steps often reveal themselves once you're in motion. That clarity only comes from moving.

Give Yourself Some Credit Along the Way

Remember what those first attempts at walking looked like. Every small win got a reaction, and that recognition kept you going. You need the same thing now, and most leaders don't give it to themselves.

When you take a step, acknowledge it. When something works, even partially, notice it. When you try something hard and learn from it, count that as a win. You are not failing. You are not behind. You are learning, which is exactly what growth looks like from the inside.

Find someone who can play that role for you. Not someone to critique every move, but someone who will ask, "what did you learn?" and listen to your answer. That kind of support doesn't make you weaker. It keeps you going long enough to get good.

Start Before You're Ready

You were never ready to walk. You did it anyway. The leaders who grow the fastest aren't always the ones with the best plan. They're the ones who take the first step and figure out the rest from there. They stick with it, worry less about those around them, and concentrate on what is most important to them at that moment. They know that trying is better than standing still.

What's one thing you've been waiting to start until it felt more ready?

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