The Leadership Shift: Moving Beyond Your Best Thinking

When I look back on my career, I see how each season of leadership was shaped by my best thinking at the time. Those strategies, choices, and even mistakes created the path that brought me here. But I’ve also learned that what got me here will not always get me there. Growth requires new ways of seeing and thinking.

There was a time early in my principalship when I leaned heavily on systems, believing that structure alone would carry us to success. It worked for a while until it didn’t. I realized that the next level of progress demanded not just systems, but also adaptability, trust, and innovation. That moment taught me a powerful truth: today’s solutions often become tomorrow’s limitations if we don’t evolve.

Albert Einstein once said, “We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them” (Einstein, n.d.). This truth is timeless across leadership, business, and personal life.

Educate
Your best thinking has led to your current results. The systems you created, the decisions you made, and the values you held produced the outcomes you see today. But leadership is not static it is dynamic, shaped by shifting contexts, evolving teams, and new challenges. What was once your “best” may no longer be enough for the future you’re trying to reach.

That realization doesn’t mean you failed; it means you succeeded at one level and are now being invited to grow again. As John Maxwell (2018) reminds us, leaders must be willing to “leadershift” to embrace the uncomfortable but necessary changes that keep us relevant and effective.

Empower
Empower yourself and your team to embrace new thinking. Too often, teams stay stuck because the leader clings to “the way we’ve always done it.” True empowerment comes when leaders create a culture where questions are welcomed, assumptions are challenged, and experimentation is celebrated.

When leaders model curiosity instead of certainty, teams feel safe to stretch beyond the familiar. Carol Dweck’s (2016) work on the growth mindset underscores this truth people thrive when they believe they can develop new abilities through effort and reflection. Empowering others to think differently means giving them both permission and confidence to grow.

Equip
To move forward, you must intentionally equip yourself with tools that elevate your thinking. Three strategies make the difference:

• Reflective Practices: Regular journaling, structured debriefs, and feedback loops allow leaders to step back and notice patterns in their decision-making. Reflection turns experience into insight (Schön, 1983).

• Strategic Input: Seek out mentors, coaches, or thought partners who stretch your perspective. Sometimes, the biggest breakthrough comes not from working harder, but from seeing differently (Covey, 2020).

• Learning Investments: Books, podcasts, courses, and experiences that expose you to new frameworks and ideas prevent you from recycling the same strategies. As Argyris (1991) argues, leaders must learn not only new skills but new ways of learning.

When you commit to equipping yourself with these tools, your thinking expands, and with it, your capacity to lead.

Communication Clarity & Consistency
Communicate the truth that current results are a reflection of past thinking, but future success requires a shift. Say it clearly, repeat it consistently, and live it authentically. Teams don’t just need to hear what will change; they need to see you embody it.

John Kotter (2012) emphasizes that sustainable change is rooted in communication communicating vision, urgency, and consistency until it becomes embedded in the culture. When your team sees you learning, adapting, and upgrading your own thinking, they’ll be far more willing to do the same.

Final Thought
Your best thinking got you here. But to get where you truly want to be, it will take your next level of thinking. What you needed in the past was enough for then. What you need for the future requires courage, humility, and a willingness to think differently.

“Yesterday’s thinking will not open tomorrow’s doors.”

Call to Action
Take 10 minutes today to ask yourself: What thinking served me well in the past but is limiting me now? Then, write down one new way you’re willing to stretch your mindset this week.

Three Reflective Leadership Questions

1. What results in my leadership reflect outdated thinking patterns?

2. Where do I need to challenge assumptions to unlock growth?

3. Who can help me expand my perspective and sharpen my strategy?

Journaling Prompt
Write about a time when your old way of thinking stopped working. How did you shift, and what was the result?

References

• Argyris, C. (1991). Teaching smart people how to learn. Harvard Business Review, 69(3), 99–109.

• Covey, S. M. R. (2020). Trust & inspire: How truly great leaders unleash greatness in others. Simon & Schuster.

• Dweck, C. (2016). Mindset: The new psychology of success. Ballantine Books.

• Einstein, A. (n.d.). We cannot solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them [Quote]. Retrieved from https://www.goodreads.com/quotes

• Kotter, J. P. (2012). Leading change. Harvard Business Review Press.

• Maxwell, J. C. (2018). Leadershift: The 11 essential changes every leader must embrace. HarperCollins Leadership.

• Schön, D. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books.