How Pursuing Green Light Moments Diffuses C-Suite Leadership Doubt

A wise person once shared with me: "Leaders can build a strategy, but at the end of the day a strategy is not a guarantee. There is always a level of risk that comes with making a decision. This risk can create a fear within us that causes paralysis. One way to overcome those fears is by looking for indicators that our ideas will work”. This is important I think because we as leaders have the burden of moving things forward and feel the “bad” or “lack of progress”, but we fail to see the Green Lights that show us to continue and focus on our strategy and goals. These words resonated with me and reminded me of a blog post I wrote about Red & Green light days.?

• Red light days – are when you hit every traffic light and know you cannot get to your appointment on time. We need to slow down, reflect on what we could have done differently, and ultimately accept our fate because the universe is in control.
• Green Light days - are when you hit every green light and get to work early. These? are as Dorie Clark would refer to in The Long Game as “raindrops” as part of playing the long game and celebrating those indicators that the universe is on your side. We discussed this at length in our podcast interview on The Drop In CEO Podcast

In my business, I was getting a lot of GREEN LIGHTS about people asking me question like ‘how did I start a business’,’ what was The Drop in CEO?’, ‘how did you reinvent yourself?’. These GREEN LIGHTS were the inspiration for The Drop In CEO Collective to help C-Suite Leaders of today and tomorrow to help them with their challenge. Even recently, a few sessions were not as full as I would have liked, but I saw the GREEN LIGHT when an attendee said “see you next month!”. That gave me the courage to continue and evolve the offer to one that provides “Open office hours”? for those who need a low level of support. I want you to see the GREEN LIGHTS and provide a framework to hone your senses.?

Hear what people are saying about your work.

Taste by asking revealing questions such as:? Would others benefit from this work? What would you change or enhance this work? Can you see the impact of this work? Conversely, what’s not working and what should we consider or change? Getting a “taste” for what is resonating is revealing.

See the people’s body language when you present your initiative. If people are leaning in, asking questions, even challenging, you’ve moved the conversation forward.

Feel the energy in the room; reactions, quiet or supportive, types of questions – we need this skill as some platforms, people have their cameras off. As leaders we have to hone this skill of feeling or sensing if you’re getting a green light based on the energy.

Smell: Well that doesn’t appear to be a relative sense for green lights. However, if someone asks you out for coffee or a beverage to discuss your proposal and the coffee or beverage of choice smells good, believe me it’s a green light!

So there you have it: Hear/Taste/See/Feel/Smell; every sense you need to realize the GREEN LIGHTS and have the courage to navigate forward with confidence.?

Now is the time for you to collect your thoughts and take action.

I want you to succeed and this framework can enable you to do it yourself.?

However, if you need more help, I’m here for you as the Drop In CEO, CEO whisperer or as a sounding board.?

To hear more about my story about framework,?please tune into my podcast that is releasing this Friday 5/26/23.?

Maybe you simply need a support system to apply these new insights. I find leaders need a place to talk through the challenges and that’s why I created The Drop In CEO Collective, a forum for C-Suite leaders of today and tomorrow. To learn more about our next event on June 13th you can visit our page and register.?

Would you rather have a quick 1-2-1 to discuss your specific challenge? Could The Drop In CEO be your support system? Direct Message me on LI or contact me via my website and let’s have a conversation. Until then, I wish you much success.?