An irreversible event in a leaders lifetime
PASSING THROUGH THE MIRROR
A Leadership Reckoning
Passing Through the Mirror is the moment you as a leader recognise:
If I do not act, I am actively shaping the system through delay.
This moment is quiet. It is private and it is irreversible. Once it comes then you as a leader will know there is no longer any excuse you can accept that will allow you to defer your authority for the sake of what it might cost you.
At first, it might seem as though nothing changes.
What will change though is that you will see the truth early. You will feel it in the room when you hear others offer excuses or dodge accountability or invert & avoid their workloads to you or to others. It is when this becomes so clear that you will know what must be done. Most leaders will stop here though and hide behind professional courtesy, using jargon and lingo to excuse away the unacceptable deferrals of responsibility going on throughout the organisation.
Then comes the mirror.
The irreversible event of realisation:
If I don’t act, I am the delay.
Passing through the mirror means you stop asking how the truth will land and start asking whether you are willing to carry its cost.
On the other side, four paths appear for those you lead.
THE RISERS
They straighten their spine. They accept their assignments. They are grateful for clarity.
Give those who rise scope, not supervision. Give them accountability, not praise.
They grow and so too does the organisation because you stopped standing in the way and removed the ambiguity.
THE STRUGGLERS
They wobble while they work. They miss the change at first. They feel exposed by your clarity. Let the lessons land. They'll learn.
Teach them how to decide what needs doing, not how to feel safe in old standards. Some will rise. Some don’t and won't.
THE RESENTER'S
These are the dangerous ones, they remember the old you. The you who had soft boundaries they could penetrate or abuse. The you who carried work for them so they might perform the performance of performing their work while really they are just anything but a high performing asset. Do not argue. Do not explain. Do not rescue. Hold the line. Let the outcomes act as the lessons. Resenter's will self select themselves out of the confrontation of being exposed by the truth.
THE EXITS
They naturally step away. Sometimes in anger. Often in failure. The truth of outcomes and performance reveals the need for these ones to go. As they go, let dignity remain intact but at the same time, close the loop and let them leave.
What changes is not them. They were always these sorts of people, what changes is the way you led them.
What changes is in the organisation.
Ambiguity disappears and clarity reigns supreme.
Ownership sharpens as roles are explicitly assigned.
Decisions happen earlier because there is no longer institutional deferral.
Signal replaces noise, culture improves, productivity surges.
And you will feel lighter because you are no longer buffering and rescuing.