The Hidden Work of Conviction
What you see and what happens inside are very different things.
Some people look at me and see someone overly confident, maybe too sure of his opinions, too quick to decide, too willing to put a stake in the ground when others are still weighing their options. On the surface, I understand how it can look that way. But what you don’t see is the process behind it all—the discipline, the wrestling, the unseen labor of thought.
For nearly twenty years, I have been practicing a decision-making visioning exercise that has served me in every bold choice I’ve ever made. It goes like this: I start with the end state. I dream of it in detail. Who will we be if we succeed? What does that success feel like in the room, in the business, in the community? What shape does it take in people’s lives? I get a vivid, almost cinematic picture of the outcome I’m after.
And then I begin the hard part: tracing the steps backward.
I run hundreds—sometimes thousands—of scenarios in my mind. I play out different paths, obstacles, detours. Often I arrive at points where the present and the imagined future refuse to connect, and that is where most people give up. But I don’t. I wait. I return to the exercise again and again. Sometimes it takes months; sometimes it happens in a single evening. But I keep tracing and retracing until the bridge between vision and reality begins to take shape.
Only then do I speak. By the time I share an idea, what comes out often feels bold and deeply convicted. That’s because it is—but not from impulse, not from ego, not from a casual hunch. It’s the product of hours upon hours of thought, imagination, and testing. It’s the weight of invisible work that has been carried silently, long before a word ever leaves my mouth.
What most people don’t realize is that I live in this state full-time. Other than exercising or the rare moment of escape into a TV show, this is what my mind does, both consciously and subconsciously. It’s not a hobby; it’s not a side habit. It’s the air I breathe.
And yet, I’ve often been accused of making decisions look easy. I’ve been told I’m too fast, too sure. But the truth is, nothing about this process is quick or easy. What looks effortless is really the product of years of practice and a relentless commitment to thinking deeply before moving decisively.
I do this because I believe it is the responsibility of leadership. Leadership is not about having answers on demand or improvising confidence to hide uncertainty. Leadership is about vision. It’s about seeing what doesn’t yet exist and then working backward until you can connect today’s fragile steps with tomorrow’s bold possibility.
This is not just a habit—it’s an obligation. I owe it to anyone I’ve ever called a teammate to spend that time. I owe it to them to do the hard, lonely, invisible work of thought so that when I stand in front of them with conviction, it’s not bluster—it’s earned.
The reality is, leadership is never easy. It demands patience when everyone else wants speed. It demands imagination when others can only see constraints. It demands the courage to keep running scenarios in your mind until clarity breaks through. And it demands the willingness to carry the unseen burden of thought so that others can walk a clearer path.
So if I seem quick to decide, know this: it’s not quickness, it’s readiness. If I seem overly confident, know this: it’s not ego, it’s conviction built on thousands of hours of searching. If I make decisions look easy, it’s because I believe that making them responsibly requires doing the hard work in advance.
That’s what leadership is. Not control, not bravado, not convenience—but the discipline of vision, the courage of conviction, and the quiet labor of thought carried out day after day, year after year.
And that’s the debt I’ll always owe to those I’ve led.
Leadership isn’t about being fast or appearing certain—it’s about doing the quiet, unseen work that gives others clarity and confidence. If my decisions look bold, it’s only because I’ve lived with them long enough to carry them with conviction.
If this resonates with you, share it with someone who values thoughtful leadership. Subscribe so you don’t miss the next episode. And as always—lead with vision, lead with courage, and remember: conviction is built, not borrowed.
