Last week’s issue: inspire stability and confidence in uncertain times

Sign Up | Advertise
Join 7200+ leaders

If you're just joining us, welcome to House of Leadership—a weekly leadership newsletter helping leaders grow their careers.

If you find value in these newsletters and would like to support this publication, you can become a paid subscriber.

Looking to start a newsletter? Use Beehiiv (it’s what we use)

Learn AI in 5 minutes a day

This is the easiest way for a busy person wanting to learn AI in as little time as possible:

1. Sign up for The Rundown AI newsletter

2. They send you 5-minute email updates on the latest AI news and how to use it

3. You learn how to become 2x more productive by leveraging AI

Sign up to start learning.

Welcome back to House of Leadership where we share actionable strategies to help you lead with clarity and impact. This week, we’re focusing on a challenge every leader faces: navigating change and uncertainty. Whether it’s organizational shifts, market disruptions, or internal restructuring, your ability to lead through uncertainty directly impacts your team’s confidence, morale, and performance.

🔎 What We’ll Learn in Today’s Newsletter

1. Why avoiding discomfort undermines leadership credibility
2. How to spot the “hard thing” you’re avoiding
3. A step-by-step approach to taking action
4. How to lead with empathy while staying firm
5. The impact of doing hard things on team trust and performance

As leaders, we’re often pulled in a hundred directions. It’s easy to focus on the visible wins—hitting targets, running productive meetings, launching shiny new initiatives. But real leadership lives in the harder moments: the conversations we avoid, the standards we let slide, the decisions we delay.

The truth? What separates good leaders from great ones is their willingness to tackle the hard things head-on—and to do it with clarity, compassion, and consistency.

5 Actionable Steps to Tackle the Hard Things

1. Name the discomfort.
Start by getting honest. What’s the specific issue you’re avoiding? It could be a conversation with a struggling team member, pushing back on an unrealistic deadline, or admitting something isn't working. Clarity is power—if you can name it, you can change it.

2. Anchor to your values.
When something is hard, remind yourself why it matters. Are you protecting your team’s wellbeing? Upholding fairness? Supporting long-term growth? Anchoring to your core values helps you lead from a place of principle, not emotion. It gives your actions weight and integrity.

3. Prepare—don’t rehearse.
You don’t need a flawless script. What matters most is clarity, empathy, and intention. Prepare your core message: What do you need to say? What outcome do you want? Anticipate how the other person might feel or respond—but stay open. Real conversations can’t be fully rehearsed.

4. Take the first step—quickly.
Action builds momentum. Once you’ve clarified what needs to happen, do something. Book the meeting. Send the message. Ask for a second opinion if needed, but don’t let perfectionism stall you. Delaying only makes it harder—and your silence sends a message.

5. Reflect and repeat.
Afterward, reflect on what went well and what you’d improve. Tackling hard things is a skill—and like any skill, it sharpens with practice. Each time you do it, you strengthen your leadership muscle, and your team sees that integrity in action. They’re more likely to follow your lead.

Final thoughts

When you show your team that you’re willing to take on the tough stuff—with honesty and heart—they learn that hard things aren’t to be feared, but faced. And that creates a culture of accountability, courage, and growth.

So, what’s one hard thing you’ve been avoiding? Face it this week. It might not be easy—but it will be worth it. That’s where real leadership lives.

Want more?

🚀 Subscribe to my premium newsletter for exclusive insights, proven strategies, and next-level growth tips that you won’t find anywhere else