“The hardest decision I made this year…
and I didn’t really have anyone to consult with.”

Those weren’t my words.

They came from a CEO I recently met.

For a moment, it surprised me.

After all, he was surrounded by people.

A board of directors. Investors. Partners. An executive team.

There was no shortage of opinions – and no shortage of people willing to tell him what they thought he should do.

But the higher we rise in leadership, the more we realize that the most

important decisions are not made from yet another external opinion.

They emerge from inner clarity.

And that kind of clarity requires space.

As we move into more senior roles, there are more people around us, but fewer places where we can truly think out loud.

Fewer people with whom we can share the dilemma.

The doubt.

The questions that keep us awake at night.

Without being persuaded.

Without an agenda.

Without someone trying to push us toward an answer.

Over the years, I’ve discovered that what helps leaders most in these moments is not more advice.

It’s space – A space to pause.

A space free from judgment, agendas, and noise.

To set aside, for a moment, the mask of “the one who knows.”

To meet others carrying similar complexities.

And to think together through deep listening, honesty, and lived experience.

Because sometimes what we need is not someone to tell us what to do.

What we need are people beside us who help us hear more clearly the wisdom that is already within us.