My Theory on Leadership Reactivity

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘣, 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘵 𝘨𝘦𝘵𝘴. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘻𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸.

Most leaders struggle because they get stuck in a cycle — and never see it happening.

As you move up, you have fewer peers to think out loud with. Fewer people willing to push back. Fewer safe spaces to test your thinking. So when pressure hits (and it always hits), you make the call yourself. Fast. Alone. Reactive.

𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨.

Reactive decisions made in isolation strip your team out of the process. No collaboration. No creativity. No buy-in. Your people feel it — even if they never say it. They disengage. They wait to be told. And you, now managing a passive team on top of an urgent problem, become even more isolated than you were before.

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘨𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗲: 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗱𝗼𝘁𝗲 𝗶𝘀𝗻’𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗵𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗹𝗲. 𝗜𝘁’𝘀 𝗺𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗱𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗴𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻.

When leaders distribute decision-making, they do two things simultaneously. They free themselves up to live on the balcony — keeping the long view, setting vision, anticipating what’s coming. And they give their teams the time and space to be creative rather than reactive.

That creativity compounds. A team that’s empowered and proactive sends better information back up the chain. Which means you can lead more proactively. Which means they get more room to create. The flywheel spins in the right direction.

This is what I call building a finely tuned machine — not an organization where everything runs through the top, but one where aligned vision and empowered people create continuous, iterative improvement at every level.

𝗕𝘂𝘁 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗺𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀:

It’s not just about training the person at the top. It’s about teaching everyone underneath them to lead from where they are.

I call it leading from the back row. When the people executing your vision understand how to influence culture, take initiative, and contribute proactively — without formal authority — they become multipliers. They don’t wait for permission. They don’t slow down the cycle. They accelerate it.

The leaders I work with as The Executive Thought Partner are navigating this dynamic right now — in boardrooms, in presidential suites, on athletic department staffs. The question I always bring them back to is this:

What do you already know, and what are you missing?

Most of the time, the answer to what they’re missing is sitting two rows behind them — waiting to be invited into the work.