This is part three of a three-part series on change.
Part One: How Change Really Happens
Part Two: The Power of Insight in Leadership
Most leaders assume that change happens through strategy, discipline, and execution.
But anyone who has been in the field long enough knows the truth.
You cannot think your way into clarity.
And you cannot grind your way into wisdom.
This final part in the series is not a checklist or a technique.
It is an exploration of what naturally helps leaders find direction when the old way stops working, even when they do not realize it is happening.
Call it a “how to” if you want, but it is really pointing upstream to what has always been true.
Leaders do not change direction because of effort.
They change direction because they see something new.
Let us explore what makes that possible.
1. Leaders slow down when they see the cost of speeding up.
No one slows down because they were told to.
They slow down because they have tasted the difference between a mind full of noise and a mind full of clarity.
Slowing down is not a tactic.
It is a remembering.
A leader might notice:
- “I am making reactive decisions.”
- “I am talking more than listening.”
- “My thinking is getting heavy.”
- “Everything feels harder than it should.”
This is not failure.
It is the inner compass saying, “You are steering from turbulence, not wisdom.”
The moment they see that, the system resets on its own.
2. Leaders begin listening in a new way.
True listening is upstream of every breakthrough.
Most leaders listen for agreement, gaps, threats, solutions, or their next response.
When the mind settles, something shifts.
They start listening to understand, not to defend.
They listen for what makes sense in someone else’s reality.
This single shift dissolves conflict, builds connection, and opens access to insights that were impossible to see when the mind was busy.
You do not try to listen this way.
You fall into it when you are quiet enough.
3. Leaders recognize feeling as feedback, not a problem.
Most leadership training teaches people to manage emotions.
From the Three Principles perspective, emotion is information.
If a leader feels heavy, tense, pressured, reactive, or overwhelmed, it is not telling them something about the world.
It is telling them something about the state of mind they are using in that moment.
Low feelings indicate a low state of consciousness.
A low state of consciousness brings distorted thinking and limited clarity.
High feelings indicate a higher state of consciousness.
A higher state of consciousness brings perspective, ease, and clearer thinking.
Leaders who understand this begin to trust their inner climate.
They know that low moods do not require action.
They simply reveal that the mind is stirred up, like a shaken snowglobe, and clarity will return on its own.
Once a leader sees this connection, they naturally wait for clarity before acting.
This alone prevents most self-created problems.
4. Leaders begin asking better questions.
The best leaders are not the ones with the most answers.
They are the ones who ask questions that open the mind.
Questions like:
- “What am I not seeing yet?”
- “What if the opposite is also true?”
- “If I were not stressed, how would this look?”
- “What would wisdom do here?”
These questions do not activate the intellect.
They invite the deeper intelligence behind thought.
The moment a leader asks a question from this level, the answer often arrives on its own.
Not forced.
Not manufactured.
Simply seen.
5. Leaders notice insights rather than chasing improvements.
Most leadership improvement is behavioural.
Better communication, better delegation, better planning, better time management.
But behaviour is downstream.
It is the surface of the water.
Insights are upstream.
They are the source.
When a leader realizes, “I have been steering from fear,” or “This conflict is not about the person. It is about the lens I am using,” or “I do not need to fix this. I need clarity,” behaviour shifts on its own.
A single insight replaces a thousand techniques.
6. Leaders naturally gravitate toward simplicity.
When the mind quiets, complexity falls away.
They stop managing a thousand moving parts and return to what matters, what they know for sure, and what feels obvious and grounded.
Simplicity is not the opposite of complexity.
It is what remains when unnecessary thinking dissolves.
This creates space to lead.
7. Leaders act when it feels obvious, not urgent.
Urgency comes from thought.
Obviousness comes from clarity.
When leaders wait for the “obvious next step,” they minimize friction, resistance, and misalignment.
This is how cultures shift.
Not through mandates, pressure, or urgency, but through clarity.
So, what is the real “how to” behind changing direction?
It is not a tool, a method, or a framework.
It is the natural sequence that unfolds whenever someone sees something new.
Insight > Realization > Choice > Behaviour > Habit > Agreement > Culture > Legacy
This is the architecture of sustainable change in individuals, teams, organizations, and systems.
Leaders do not follow this sequence.
They experience it.
Your role, my role, any coach’s role is not to teach the steps.
It is to create the conditions where insight can land, or at least to give it the best chance.
In every area of life everyone is capable of seeing from a higher perspective than they do now.
Sydney Banks, The Missing Link
You are never stuck. You’re simply limited by the level you are seeing from.
Limitation is always illusion.
Just wait. Relax. Stay still. Wait until the wisdom talks to you, as it will.
Once that happens, the compass resets itself.
And the direction becomes clear.
If old strategies aren’t creating new results, it’s not a failure; it’s a sign your inner compass is ready to reset.
If this series sparked curiosity or offered a moment of clarity, reach out.
Let’s explore how insight-based leadership can help you, or your organization, find its true direction again.
Kind regards,
Here are a couple of videos that point to and reinforce the idea of insightful leadership and the need to go upstream for meaningful and lasting change.
Reflection Question
If every persistent problem in your team softened the moment psychological fitness rose, where would you look for solutions — and what would you stop trying to fix?
Reflection Question
If your state of mind is the true driver of leadership performance, what becomes possible when you lead from clarity rather than pressure?
#Leadership #ExecutiveWisdom #ThreePrinciples #ClarityInLeadership #InsightBasedLeadership #MindsetShift #ConsciousLeadership #FreshThinking #InnerCompass #ResetTheCompass #TransformativeCoaching #BusinessCulture #ResilientLeadership #UntetherYourPotential
Rick Ruppenthal | COACHING 