Fifteen years into my career, I seriously considered leaving the organisation where I worked. I did not, and the reasons for that decision are a story for another day.
What I could not have known at the time was that another fifteen years later I would find myself navigating challenges I never anticipated when I chose to stay.
By then, I had grown up in the job. I understood not only the procedures but the thinking behind them. The rules were not arbitrary obstacles to be overcome. They existed for good reason. They formed the guardrails which helped us manage risk, maintain fairness, protect stakeholders, and make sound decisions.
The work itself was often complex. There were always unusual situations, innovative projects, and difficult problems requiring more research, more creativity, and more thinking outside the box. That was part of the job, and over time, I became quite comfortable operating in that environment.
Then the environment changed.
New expectations emerged. Urgency increased. Demands began arriving which did not fit neatly within the pathways we had relied upon for years.
What made the situation particularly challenging was that the outcomes being sought often sat well outside the scope of the established processes, while the processes themselves were expected to remain intact.
In simple terms, answers were required beyond the box, but the box was expected to remain untouched.
I remember becoming increasingly aware that every available option seemed to create a different problem. Following the established pathway often failed to achieve the desired outcome, yet moving beyond it introduced risks of its own.
The pressure did not come from not knowing what to do. It came from recognising that every choice carried consequences and that someone still had to decide.
Looking back, I can see that the rules were never really the problem.
The real challenge was that the environment had changed faster than the prodedures designed to support it.
At the time, however, that was far from obvious. What felt obvious was the frustration of trying to reconcile competing demands, competing expectations, and competing responsibilities when there appeared to be no clear right answer.
Many leaders eventually encounter their own version of this experience.
Not because structure is unnecessary.
Not because the rules are wrong.
But because reality occasionally presents challenges which the existing structure was never designed to solve.
That is often the point where leadership shifts from execution to navigation.
At the time, I did not fully appreciate what those experiences were teaching me. I simply knew that some of the assumptions I had relied upon for years were no longer sufficient.
What I understand now is that some of the most important growth occurs when the familiar pathways stop providing the certainty we have come to rely upon. That is often where awareness begins.
And awareness is usually the first step in becoming.
Reflect & Apply
1️⃣ Where in your leadership are you relying on pathways which no longer fit the reality you are facing?
2️⃣ What assumptions about “how things should be done” may be making today’s challenges more difficult to navigate?
3️⃣ Where has the challenge shifted from doing the work to navigating competing demands?
Who would have thought the rules were the problem?
As it turns out, they were not.
They were simply revealing that the environment had changed and that a different level of awareness was now required.
The lesson would take years to fully understand, but it would eventually shape far more than my career.
📘 Be the Person You Dream of Becoming — available on Amazon or directly through me.
I help leaders develop the awareness, clarity, and decision-making capability required to navigate complexity when familiar answers no longer work.
Remember, your success is my business.
Discerningly,
Monica Rogers-Fletcher
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