Guiding Ideas Amid Chaos

This newsletter is for professionals who value their time.

Why?

Because I curate all the best Leadership content so you don’t have to.

Today’s newsletter contains:

• Sneak Peak Of Our New Newsletter For Recruitment Consultants
• Don’t Let Conflicting Feedback Stifle A New Idea
• Are You In Control??
• How To Cope When Life Gets Messy

"If you're a Recruitment Consultant or own an Agency check out this incredible resource".

Here’s an insightful excerpt shared by Harvard Business Review “Don’t Let Conflicting Feedback Stifle a New Idea”. This tip is adapted from “Research: How to Build Consensus Around a New Idea,” by Devon Proudfoot and Wayne Johnson.

When you present a new idea to your team, getting conflicting feedback can feel discouraging—but it doesn’t necessarily mean the idea is flawed. Instead, it often signals ambiguity, revealing that evaluators aren’t using the same criteria to judge the idea’s value. By digging into these differences, you can uncover risks as well as opportunities to refine your idea and ultimately build consensus around it.?

Here’s how.

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1. Start by gathering information on your evaluators’ reference points.

Ask them: What ideas are you comparing this to? What made those ideas successful or unsuccessful? What would success look like for this idea??

Their answers will help you better assess how your proposal aligns with or diverges from these benchmarks.

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2. Focus discussions by establishing clear evaluation criteria.

Share relevant case studies or reference points before a meeting to ensure everyone is on the same page.

Consider holding separate meetings to evaluate different aspects of the idea, such as logistical feasibility or potential impact on client relationships.

Another gem shared by Powrsuit “Are You In Control?”.

"Powerlessness is a self-fulfilling prophecy." - Robert Reich

What Can You Do? Take Control.

Picture this: it’s 5pm on a Tuesday, and you’re wiped out. It feels like your employer treats decision-making like a potluck, your manager is absent and erratic, and one of your colleagues seems committed to undermining everything you do. You, a friend and a flurry of complaints head out for a debrief.

By the end of the evening, you’ve bonded over horror stories of mismanaged workplaces, evil employees and unmanaged overload. You leave feeling righteous in your annoyance.

But what did you change?

Complaining And Control Are Inversely Correlated

We love a good vent as much as the next person, and articulating your frustrations can be an incredibly helpful way to clarify them.?

However, when we feel powerless to change the situation, it’s very easy to get stuck in a problem mindset. What starts as a helpful tool can lead to unintentionally embedding a mindset of helplessness.

Complaining Is A Tool Of The Powerless

Think about the times you find yourself complaining.?

Is it when you can’t see a path forward or a way out??

We complain when we feel trapped, a response to being 'stuck'.

We’ve been there.?

A direct question changed everything: ‘Why are you staying?’.

As soon as we identified a path forward, the complaints stopped, and the action started.

A mere few months later, your life looked very different. So why did it take so long?

You Have Two Choices

Complaining is usually a bid for validation. Our friends and colleagues are happy to offer this much-needed comfort and emotional support during tough times. It’s healthy and a great way to express, understand and navigate big emotions.

However, complaining can take us in two very different directions:

1. Getting stuck

We can get a false sense of control from not being in control. By blaming other people, we extract ourselves from responsibility - if we can’t do anything about it, we unconsciously permit ourselves to sit in indignation.?

Sadly, absolving ourselves of responsibility doesn’t mean absolving ourselves of impact. That impact can play havoc with our own behaviour and mental health - and leave us stuck in a cycle of complaining.

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2. Taking control

After a well-needed vent, we ask, “What can I do to change the situation?”. This simple, powerful question challenges us to take control, give feedback to our manager, address the tension with a colleague, put our hand up for the opportunity, or leave the job.

Taking control is not always about solving the problem; it's sometimes about minimising the impact on you. Think shifting mindsets, setting boundaries and practising empathy.?

We Choose Control

We get to decide how we respond to every challenge we face. Even when it isn’t our fault, there are always opportunities to improve a bad situation. Is it our job to? Not necessarily. But self-leadership means looking for opportunities to take control and drive positive change.

We're not telling you to cancel the wine and whine. We're just suggesting you finish with this one question:?

"What am I going to do about it?"

Take Action

The next time you find yourself venting, timebox it. Give yourself time to express your frustration and dig into the problem, then commit to one action.

Here’s another gem shared by Calm, “How To Cope When Life Gets Mess”.

Some days, the small steps are actually the big wins

On difficult, stressy and messy days, even small things aren’t small. They're actually big things. Things like:

?? Rolling out of bed

?? Drinking a glass of water

?? Putting one foot in front of the other (physically or mentally)

Here’s a reminder to go easy on yourself if you’re having one of “those” days.

Lower the bar and give yourself credit for taking small, big steps. They don’t even have to be moving you forward, standing still is also progress.

Keep this in mind

?? Remember: You can move forward tomorrow. Lean into stillness when you need to.

?? Reflect: What do you wish you could remember on your lowest days? Write it down.

?? Reframe: I can’t do this → I can’t do it all but I can take a deep breath

Free Resource Pack for Leaders

Enjoy your FREE RESOURCE PACK with tools and strategies for self improvement or to share with your teams.?

You can download the pack here.

That’s a wrap on this week.

I solve Leadership problems.? For more Leadership guidance and practical tools make sure you follow me on Linkedin.