Every leadership team has one. It’s the big, uncomfortable truth that sits in the middle of the room that everyone sees, but no one wants to name. I saw it recently in a client session where a major issue was identified, but the real solution remained elusive. The team talked around the root cause as if it were an immovable mountain, proposing superficial patches and ultimately resigning themselves to the problem. The truth, however, was right in front of them—the real solution was just more painful and inconvenient than they were ready to accept.
Look around your own business, and you’ll find these elephants. Maybe it’s the long-time vendor who leverages your loyalty while their service continues to decline. It could be the legacy software that everyone complains about, but suffering with it feels easier than the pain of finding—and paying for—a system that actually works. Most often, it’s a person who is no longer the Right Person for the Right Seat. You tell yourself they’ll be too costly to let go. (Spoiler alert: they are costing you far more by staying). These issues are everywhere, draining energy and holding our companies back. So why do we let them?
As an EOS Implementer®, part of my job is to be the unbiased outsider who can gently, but firmly, call out the elephant in the room. I get to ask the obvious but difficult questions that force the real issue into the light and help the team get unstuck. What happens next is almost magical. In that recent session, once the question was asked, there was a long pause, followed by a palpable shift. A new energy filled the room as the team felt a sense of liberation. The breakthrough gave them the clarity and optimism to see that they didn’t have to live with the problem forever.
So, what elephants are you keeping in your office? Naming the issue is the first, most courageous step toward solving it. The moment you decide to stop tolerating the intolerable, you reclaim control over your business and its future. The short-term discomfort of addressing the elephant is nothing compared to the long-term cost of letting it roam free, holding your team and your vision hostage.
Want to learn more about how I can help you get unstuck?