I know you have one.....

Every CEO/Founder has one.

A leader who should be showing up more reliably but somehow does not. Someone smart, loyal, and capable who still sends decisions back to you and can’t quite seem to lock in.  Someone who knows the business but keeps hesitating when the stakes rise. They tell you they are fine. They tell you they have it under control. They nod in meetings, repeat the priorities, write down the action items, and walk out with the same uncertainty they walked in with.

You know they are right on the edge of being the leader you need. And you also know something is not clicking.

This is almost universal. I see it in nearly every one of my coaching engagements. There’s nothing wrong enough to make a change.   But it’s getting really frustrating.

These leaders are visibly overwhelmed. They do not want to disappoint you. They do not want to fail the company. So they double down, work harder, take on more, and say less. Year after year it becomes the same elephant in the room. Eventually, the company hires around them to get the job done.

This is entirely unnecessary in most cases.

The instinct of a CEO (especially a founder) is to try to coach them yourself. You know exactly what needs to be done and it "just isn't that hard.". You want to believe you can mentor them into the role you need them to fill. But I have never seen it work. I’m not trying to be dramatic. It’s the truth.

No matter how open or supportive you are, they are filtering everything through the question, “What do you want me to say right now?”

And that is exactly why these leaders stagnate. Not from lack of capability. But from lack of a safe place to tell the truth and practice better leadership.

When I coach a leader on the verge of being great, the first breakthrough usually comes right away.

“I am drowning in meetings.”

“I do not know how to lead people older than me.”

“There’s no way we are hitting that goal.”

And the big one..."there's nothing I can do to fix it."

But guess what-- no chance they are going to admit defeat to you.

Once that lock opens, everything speeds up. We start unwinding unhelpful beliefs, teach skills, practice and make progress.

This is why CEOs bring me in. Not to fix a broken leader but to boost the one who is almost there. We take the excuses apart one by one.

If you have someone who is close but not quite ready, the fastest path is simple: give them a place to tell the truth. Give them a coach who can challenge, guide, and push them without the power imbalance.

When they rise, we all rise.

Live and LeadWell,

~E