When Extraordinary Leadership Becomes Ordinary

I’ve been thinking about mindset shifts lately. Especially how our understanding of what’s “hard” changes over time.

My coach was asking about my skydiving hobby recently. She was somewhat shocked and impressed by my mindset that 10 skydives is just another Saturday. She mentioned that she can’t even imagine jumping out of a plane one time. 

Ten jumps in a day for me isn’t bravery or an effort to be a “thrill seeker". It’s just a normal day where I get to play a sport, albeit in the sky, with some friends. And not because I’ve lost fear, but because I’ve reframed what risk and enjoyment feels like through my experience.

That realization made me reflect on how the same thing happens in leadership and life.

The first time you lead a meeting, it feels huge.
The first time you have to give tough feedback, your stomach drops.
The first time you take on a high-stakes project, you can’t sleep the night before.
The first time you presented to senior leadership, your mouth was so dry you wondered if any words would actually come out.

Then you do it again. And again. And what used to spike your adrenaline becomes a skill you can access calmly.

That’s what growth actually looks like — not the absence of discomfort, but the ability to perform inside it with greater ease and clarity.

Here are a few mindset shifts that have shaped how I approach leadership:

→ From avoidance to exposure. Growth doesn’t come from sidestepping challenges. It comes from steadily expanding our comfort zone through action.
→ From control to clarity. Leadership isn’t about managing every move. It’s about setting direction and giving people space to deliver.
→ From authority to influence. The best leaders don’t rely on titles. They build trust and credibility that make people want to follow.
→ From answers to questions. Teams flourish when leaders ask the right questions, not when they try to have all the right answers.
→ From delegation to development. Don’t just hand off tasks. Hand off trust and responsibility so others can grow.

The magic happens when your brain stops saying, “This is new” and starts saying, “This is what I do.”

That’s how extraordinary becomes ordinary and how ordinary becomes exceptional.