How Do You Lead When You’re Not Even Sure You Want to Keep Going?

A session on leadership, self-motivation, and credibility when the story you’ve been telling no longer holds

“You can’t choose what you show up to. But you always choose how you show up.”
 — David Dye

The hardest leadership test is not the crisis itself—it’s what follows. After layoffs, after a financing collapse, after the dream gets deferred but not quite extinguished. It’s in that long, ambiguous middle that many of us are finding ourselves right now.

How do we lead when we’re emotionally exhausted, uncertain of the next viable step, and conscious that the bold vision we once sold—internally and externally—is now under revision?

This session is open to our Premium (paid) members. 

Together, we’ll explore how to keep leading when the narrative shifts and the outcome is no longer guaranteed. We’ll work with models that speak directly to this lived reality—not theory, not high-level inspiration, but the deeply human work of self-leadership and rebuilding trust when the path ahead remains unclear.

We’ll draw on two mental models that have helped other CEOs endure and lead with integrity:

• The Stockdale Paradox, described by Jim Collins in Good to Great: the discipline to confront the brutal facts of your current reality while maintaining faith that you will prevail in the end.

• A reframing of the sunk cost fallacy, adapted by Seth Godin, who suggests viewing past investments—decisions, effort, team structures—as gifts from a former version of yourself. The leadership act is deciding what to do with those gifts today, without being shackled by obligation or shame.

We have also invited CEOs from our community who have led through turbulent chapters to join the session—not as case studies, but as contributors. 

This will be as much a space for sharing and listening to one another as it is for learning new frameworks.

About David Dye
President, Let’s Grow Leaders

David Dye is a former executive, leadership advisor, and co-author of Powerful Phrases for Dealing with Workplace Conflict. He brings decades of experience guiding senior leaders through moments when momentum falters and pressure intensifies. David has worked with leaders navigating job cuts, strategic pivots, and stalled funding cycles—exactly the situations many of us are confronting now.

He previously led a superb session for our community on How to lead when your team seems to be lacking urgency. It struck a chord—practical, candid, and grounded in the day-to-day of executive decision-making. We asked him back because his ability to meet complexity with clarity is what’s needed now.

What makes David distinct is that he meets these moments not with platitudes, but with practical frameworks. In his own words, “You can’t choose what you show up to. But you always choose how you show up.” David’s goal is to help leaders regain that choice—and act on it with clarity and intention.

Why This Is Relevant for You

For many of us, leadership used to mean driving toward a clearly defined future. But when the business environment shifts as profoundly as it has—capital pulled back, regulatory pathways disrupted, investor timelines stretched—we’re forced to shift from driving to navigating.

McKinsey research shows that during uncertainty, what keeps teams engaged is not vision, but leader credibility and communication cadence  That credibility starts with how we lead ourselves.

David will explore:

• How to double down on values when headcount shrinks and strategy shifts

• What it means to own your past, without apology but with transparency

• How to re-recruit A-players who are disillusioned or unclear about their role in the future

• How to increase clarity and cadence of communication when you can’t offer certainty

• What to let go of—and what to hold firm—when your leadership identity no longer fits the moment

This isn’t a session about storytelling or resilience theory. It’s about the actual moves and mindset shifts needed to continue leading when energy is low, pressure is high, and the future is murky.

This won’t be a passive session. It’s a space to reflect, to re-anchor, and to learn with and from each other. Because leadership in these times is not about certainty—it’s about honesty, clarity, and presence.