You Don’t Need to Know .... Yet. You Need to Stay Open.
1 August 2025

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
, Albert Einstein
We all crave answers. Plans. Certainty.
But not knowing everything isn’t weakness. It’s honesty.
Staying open isn’t passive. It’s powerful.
In general I have found that one of the most liberating shifts is this:
You don’t have to know (just yet).
You just have to stay curious a little longer.
When we force clarity too soon, we shrink what could be endless possibilities and very often move to advice giving.
We grab the first answer that feels safe, not the one that feels right.
What I mean when I say “staying open” is:
Listening without rushing to fix - tame your advice monster
Noticing what feels still active, even if it’s unclear
Sitting with the question a little longer, dig deeper, start digging
It’s uncomfortable, for sure - but it’s also where real insight lives.
So if you’re in the fog, the pause, the messy middle …. take a breath.
You’re not stuck. You’re still unfolding.
Certainty is easy.
Curiosity is where transformation begins.
Remember, the path to extraordinary is walked with a thousand small steps, you’re doing great!
Small Steps, Giant Leaps is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Barry Marshall-Graham
Executive coach and leadership advisor
Get the Difficult Conversations Guide
A practical resource for leaders who want to say the thing that needs saying, without burning bridges or avoiding the moment.
Keep reading
8 June 2026
The C+ Deck: How Good Enough Becomes The New Standard
Good enough work from capable people is seductive because it almost passes. That is exactly why leaders must address it early.

1 June 2026
Before You Call It Drift
Before naming underperformance, leaders need to check whether the system made success clear, possible, and properly supported.

25 May 2026
The Tolerance Ledger: The Hidden Cost Paid By High Performers
When leaders leave repeated exceptions unresolved, the cost is paid by the people still protecting the work. They notice the unfairness before anyone says it out loud.

18 May 2026
The Evidence Trap: When Proof Becomes Delay
Leaders do not always need more evidence. Often they need to decide what signal is enough to ask a fair question before the fireball arrives.

11 May 2026
The Worry Tax: What Avoided Conversations Do To Your Head
Avoided conversations do not only slow the team down. They rent space in the leader’s head and charge interest until clarity arrives.

4 May 2026
Silence Compounds Into Leadership Debt
The conversations leaders avoid do not disappear. They accrue interest in trust, pace, standards, and emotional load.

27 April 2026
The Shadow Campaign: The Cost of Corridor Agreement
When people agree in formal rooms and dissent in corridors, leaders lose execution signal and authority quietly leaks.

20 April 2026
The Ghost Economy: When Activity Replaces Ownership
When teams optimise for visible activity instead of named ownership, work appears busy while outcomes quietly drift.

13 April 2026
When Everything Finds You
When every question, tension, and half-finished decision climbs to the leader, the issue isn't workload alone. It is the absence of a clear routing system.

6 April 2026
The Soft Ending Trap
Hard conversations rarely fail at the opening. They fail when leaders soften the close, leave the standard vague, and walk away without a real commitment.
