Agribusiness Leadership provides the necessary tools to unveil the fundamental principles of
Empowered Leaders that Trust themselves and the relationships they lead and leaders who are curious to discover who they are and who they lead.
For the last few months, I’ve been on a quest to change my health habits.
And I’ve been resisting one thing.
Walking. Physical exercise. The simplest option on the list.
This morning, I went for a 30-minute walk—and it felt like I overcame a giant.
Not because it was hard physically. But because it exposed what resistance really is: it’s a decision to delay what we already know matters.
As I walked, I couldn’t stop thinking about leadership. Because leaders resist things all the time—not because they don’t care, but because change requires ownership. And ownership costs something.
So instead, we put it off.
We tell ourselves we’re “making progress” while we keep pushing the real work to tomorrow.
But all we’re doing is kicking the can down the road.
Resistance rarely shows up as a big. Most of the time, it’s subtle:
And in leadership, resistance usually hides behind good excuses:
Resistance doesn’t just delay progress—it affects credibility. People can feel when a leader is avoiding what needs to be addressed.
As I’ve worked through my own resistance, I’ve noticed three patterns that show up fast—and once they show up, they start running the cycle.
Not the kind of fear that protects you from danger.
The kind that protects you from discomfort.
Fear tells me stories:
And instead of leading fear, I start listening to my excuses like they’re facts.
Once doubt sets in, my ambition shifts.
I don’t just question the goal—I question whether I should even look at the situation.
Doubt shrinks my willingness to act. It lowers my standards without me even noticing.
And it convinces me that waiting is wise.
From fear to doubt, I eventually land in a lack of trust.
Not trust in the process.
Trust in myself.
That’s where my worth starts to drop. I stop seeing myself as capable. I start seeing myself as the kind of person who “doesn’t follow through.”
And then the cycle starts again.
Leadership resistance looks different than mine did this morning, but the roots are often the same.
Fear of being wrong. Doubt about your ability. Lack of trust that you can lead without control.
So instead of doing what would move things forward, we avoid:
And the longer we resist, the more expensive it gets.
Because problems don’t sit still. They grow. Teams lose trust. Culture gets shaped by default. And the leader stays stuck—frustrated, reactive, and tired.
This morning, I didn’t “become a new person.”
I just stopped negotiating with myself.
I did the thing I kept delaying.
That’s it.
So here’s the question I’m sitting with—and maybe you should sit with it too:
What are you resisting right now?
And what is it costing you to keep resisting it?
Because the real issue usually isn’t time.
It’s ownership.
And the moment you take it, you stop kicking the can down the road—and start leading again.
What are you resisting?
