“If we can sacrifice something comfortable—something we’re ‘too good at’—that might even be holding us back, we’ll have more room to grow into the person we want to be.” — Marshall Goldsmith
Many leaders and teams reach a point where momentum slows. Things were working… until suddenly they aren’t. A high‑potential leader hits a ceiling they didn’t see coming. A team that was thriving encounters an unexpected obstacle. Progress stalls, frustration rises, and clarity fades.
This moment is not a failure. It’s the natural threshold of growth. But when we’re in the thick of it, we often can’t see the forest for the trees. What we need is not more effort—it’s a shift in how we see, think, and lead.
Through years of coaching, I’ve noticed a consistent pattern: a five‑step cycle leaders must move through to break through plateaus and reach their next level. When we understand this cycle, we stop resisting the discomfort of growth and start partnering with it.
1. Humility: The Opening Move of Growth
Before we can see differently, we must release the way we’re currently seeing. This is the essence of intellectual humility—a research‑backed capacity that helps us learn more effectively, resist misinformation, strengthen relationships, and lead with greater wisdom.
When I use assessments with leaders, it’s never to diagnose or label. It’s to expand self‑awareness. Assessments reveal that even our strengths have limitations, and that each of us has blind spots. We are all “poor” or limited in some aspects of our lives. Growth begins the moment we acknowledge the need for it.
Humility is not weakness. It’s the doorway.
2. Seeking & Receiving: The Freedom of Not Knowing
Humility creates space for curiosity. When we stop pretending we have all the answers, we discover the freedom of seeking them.
Leaders often become “captives” of their current state—over‑relying on what has always worked. But when we embrace the unknown, we begin to see it as an opportunity rather than a threat. We reach out, ask questions, invite input, and allow ourselves to receive support.
Seeking is an act of courage. Receiving is an act of trust. Together, they unlock continuous improvement.
3. Perspective & Seeing: Recovering Sight
Once we begin seeking, new perspectives emerge. What once felt like a barrier becomes a lens. What once felt like a limitation becomes insight.
This is the “recovery of sight to the blind”—the moment when leaders realize that the strategies that got them here will not get them there. This shift in seeing fuels innovation. It multiplies possibilities not only for the leader but for the entire team.
Perspective is the birthplace of breakthrough.
4. Renewal: Turning Insight Into Action
Insight alone is not transformation. It’s like looking in the mirror, noticing your hair is a mess, and walking away without fixing it. Awareness without action keeps us stuck.
Renewal requires applying what we’ve seen—changing habits, adjusting behaviors, rethinking mindsets, redesigning systems. This is the part of growth that feels like pruning: uncomfortable, vulnerable, sometimes disorienting.
But pruning is not punishment. It’s preparation. Renewal is what sets the “oppressed free.”
5. Revealing: The Emergence of a New Version
When we persevere through humility, seeking, perspective, and renewal, something powerful happens: a new version of ourselves—or our team—emerges. This is the moment of clarity, the 20/20 hindsight, where everything clicks. The return on investment becomes visible. We experience the “favor” that comes from alignment, authenticity, and growth.
Revealing is not the end of the journey. It’s the evidence that the process works.
Why This Matters Now
Several clients recently mentioned to me how impactful Marshall Goldsmith’s book, What Got You Here Won’t Get You There, has been in their coaching journey. I often pair this book with a 360 assessment because the assessment reveals the “what,” but the book helps leaders understand the “how” of applying that insight into behavioral change.
The 360 and this book help clients to recognize the “symptoms” of their leadership that need to change. Then, through coaching, we engage in the 5 movements of growth to shift from symptom insight to the root of mindset change, which leads to authentic leadership.
Obstacles are not interruptions to growth—they are invitations to it. So don’t stop at insight. Complete the cycle. Yes, it will require vulnerability. Yes, it will feel like tearing down at times. But that tearing down is simply pruning what no longer serves you so that new growth can flourish.
Keep going. Seek support. And trust that the process is shaping you into the leader you are becoming.