It’s Not the Leap: The Hardest Part to Making Disruptive Change Is This…

It’d make sense to say that the hardest part is the jump itself whenever I take a leap. The moment I dive headfirst into a new challenge or experience is what gets all the glory.

That’s not really true, though.

The hardest part isn’t the leap at all. It’s recognizing that I cannot stay where my feet are planted.

If those seem like one and the same, I assure you they are not.

Think about a major decision you’ve had to make: Quitting a job. Moving to a new city. Ending a relationship. Starting a company.

Those are all incredibly big leaps, but if you’re like me, the real work came in deciding to leave the status quo behind and realizing that staying in that safe space was no longer acceptable for you to achieve your ultimate vision.

Let me give you a few examples. 

I spent 10 wonderful years as a researcher and analyst at Forrester, and then I started my own company. That was my big leap. But the decision to leave—in which I realized that what I wanted to do and what the company wanted to do no longer aligned—was a much more difficult endeavor. It required me to let go of my comfort and find a better fit. I’m much more fulfilled as a result.

It was a similar feeling when I decided to leave my marriage. I realized, too, that I could no longer stay. It was one of the most difficult decisions of my life, but I made it with clarity and compassion for myself, my husband, and my family. Then, I took the leap. We’re all thriving as a result.

All my decisions to leave the status quo have been made differently throughout my life. Sometimes, I look back after the adrenaline rush of the leap has faded and wish I’d come to the realization sooner. Other times, I’ve known that the status quo isn’t ideal, but I’ve remained planted in place. For instance, I know I’m not alone in raising young children and sticking it out in a less-than-perfect job—because sometimes you take stability amidst chaos where you can get it!

In each and every instance, however, I had to face the truth when the status quo was no longer tenable. I rarely knew what the future would look like when I decided to leave but I realized that the first step had to be the decision not to stay. And I had to trust that moving to a different stage would lead to a better outcome.

Because the truth is, once I made the decision to change, everything became easier. My path still wasn’t clear—I didn’t know all my next steps and strategies. And my path still had its share of problems. But I wasn’t stuck in the status quo anymore.

(Do you see now how all of that effort comes well before the “big leap” everyone always points to as your moment of disruption?!)

The next time you marvel at someone for taking a leap, look closer and make note of the quiet work that came before.

— Charlene

My Latest:

• Conflicting evidence abounds for how CIOs should be handling AI. Should they continue employing a top-down, centralized IT approach? Or should they be thinking about it completely differently? Watch my latest livestream or read my LinkedIn newsletter for my recommendation. Hint: it has nothing to do with technology.

• Still feeling skeptical about fully strategizing around AI? I’d love for you to poke around my AI Maturity Model to see where you stand. In Leading Disruption, I introduce you to the model, which charts the potential evolution of AI as well as the maturity required to adopt it—at its varying stages—into your organization.

• You don’t have to tell me that navigating the relationship between a CEO and their board of directors is complex. I’ve been there, and I’ve most certainly done that! To learn what questions a board of directors should be asking about AI, tune in on Tuesday, Oct. 24, at 9 a.m. PT / 12 p.m. ET on LinkedIn and Facebook Live.

• If you haven’t yet taken my 30-minute LinkedIn Learning course, “Generative AI and Workforce Transformation,” what are you waiting for? It’s the most efficient, hands-on way to help you prepare for what’s to come.

• Cynt Marshall shared her transition from AT&T exec to the CEO of an NBA team on LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky’s latest podcast, and I had the opportunity to dig deeper into her insights. Listen in to learn the qualities leaders need and how to set yourself up to take on that next big role.

Good Things:

• What I’m testing: PickFu. Whenever I want to test a book or article title or cover images, I use PickFu, which has people force rank options and get in-depth feedback from real people in minutes. The best part is they provide details on why they ranked things the way that they did—and at a cost of roughly a dollar per response, it’s a true win-win!

• What I’m making: A Deep Fake of Myself. And it only took 15 minutes! I translated a short script into Chinese with ChatGPT, uploaded a five-minute audio clip from one of my livestreams into ElevenLabs, and then used the Chinese script to generate my voice delivering that script—in Chinese. Finally, I uploaded my headshot and the audio file of me “speaking” Chinese into D-id.com to create this deep fake video. I showed it to my parents who said it was very understandable, albeit with a distinct non-native accent. I can envision an AI version of myself “giving” a talk in any language in the future!

• A video that moved me to tears: Lifebuoy. At my recent business school reunion, Prof. Ranjay Gulati ran a session about leading through turbulent times and the need for our employees to have a purpose—work that is both personally meaningful and has a consequential impact. He referenced Lifebuoy, a soap brand in India, that developed this campaign to inspire its employees around its purpose. Watch it and ask yourself, how can you better express and align your purpose as an organization?

Thank you for subscribing to the Disruption Dispatch, which goes out to thousands of disruptors every other week to help you on your disruption journey—plus a curated recommendation list of a few Good Things I’m enjoying.

Want more? Check out my weekly publication, Leading Disruption, on LinkedIn.

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