Why Some Business Owners Keep Moving Forward, While Others Don't
“The algorithm did it again.”
“The timing is terrible.”
“There’s nothing we can really do right now.”
I hear versions of this constantly.
And I get it, some things are out of your control.
Markets shift. Clients pause. Platforms change.
That’s part of running a business.
What matters is how you respond once it happens.
Because two business owners can face the same situation, respond differently, and end up in very different places.
It's not a reflection of their business acumen or strategy.
It how they view their control over situations and how that affects their response.
Let me give you a few examples of how different owners respond to the same situation.
Example 1: A revenue dip hits unexpectedly.
A few key clients pause or cancel. Cash gets tight.
It's easy to say:
“This timing is awful.”
“Everyone is dealing with this.”
“We just need to wait until things stabilize.”
That’s one way to respond.
Here's another, which sounds very different:
“This is happening whether I like it or not. What can I control today?”
“What conversations have I been avoiding?”
“What needs to change if this doesn’t reverse?”
You can imagine how these perspectives lead down different paths?
Example 2: You notice yourself stuck in comparison.
(Social media makes this one a possibility for any of us at any time.) You look around and it seems like other owners seem to be moving faster. Hiring sooner. Launching bigger things.
Racking up the wins.
You’re working hard, but it feels like you should be further along by now.
You could look at it like this:
“They started earlier.”
“They had better timing.”
“They have advantages I don’t.”
Or you could have this perspective:
“What am I responsible for changing if I want a different trajectory?”
“What am I avoiding because it feels uncertain?”
“What decisions would the next version of me make now?”
The first set might sting less.
But the second clearly serves you better.
Example 3: A familiar problem keeps resurfacing.
Hiring. Delegation. Cash flow. Client cancellations. Could be any of the usual suspects.
And imagine the same issue repeatedly cropping up.
One perspective:
“This is just how it is at this stage.”
“I don’t have the time to deal with this properly.”
“I’ll handle it later when things calm down.”
That’s waiting.
And then there’s the other way to look at it:
“If this keeps popping up, what am I tolerating?”
“What decision am I postponing?”
“What would it look like to design this differently instead of managing the pain?”
Taking responsibility for changing the situation.
Running a business means living in gray areas.
And that means you have to lead through:
✔️Incomplete information.
✔️No obvious right answer.
✔️Constant decisions.
✔️Lonely responsibility.
How you think and act inside those moments separates owners who plateau from those who keep moving forward.
There’s a skill at work here.
One that determines whether you take it on the chin, or you take responsibility for improving the situation with what’s available.
Leadership works like a muscle. Actually, it's a set of muscles.
They strengthen with use.
They get weaker when they sit idle.
There are six that leaders use to navigate the uncertainty and complexity of business ownership.
And one of them governs whether the others even show up.
It’s called agency.
And it is encapsulated in a single question:
Will I take responsibility for making this better even when it’s hard, unclear, or unfair?
If you want the deeper breakdown of what high agency actually looks like and how to strengthen it, check out this article:
Read why I say High Agency is the most important 'Leadership Muscle'
