SPIRALS OF DOUBT, SPIRALS OF GROWTH
1. The Confidence Crisis
When I hit my first management role, I thought confidence meant always having the answer. That’s what leaders do, right? They know. But then my team hit a continuous missed targets. Every “smart” strategy tanked. People looked to me for solutions, and for the first time, I didn’t have any. That spiral — of self-doubt, of second-guessing, of feeling like a fraud — it wrecked me. But in that humility, I started listening deeper. I started asking more, telling less. That time of life didn’t just rebuild my strategy. It rebuilt my leadership. Lesson: Confidence isn’t knowing you’re right. It’s knowing you can recover when you’re wrong. I always believed in famous saying “Issue is not with falling, its not getting up and running again”.
2. The Comparison Trap Growth is sacred. Comparison isn’t.
When you start benchmarking your progress solely against someone else’s journey, you miss your own blessings. There was a time a close peer leaped past me — a promotion, a louder applause. For months, I obsessed: What does he have that I lack? But as I watched him, I realized — it was his journey and not mine. My envy wasn’t about ambition. It was about lost clarity. That spiral snapped my attention back to my own why. And ended my addiction to external validation.
3. The Innovator’s Dilemma
Whenever I developed and implemented a new tool, be it for forecasting or replenishment or for tracking utilization or for stock transfer. I expected gradual, logical uptake in business results and KPIs. That’s not what happened. Some months were explosive. Others were flat lines. Sometimes, after six months of no improvements, a single tweak in logic changed everything. It was never a straight line. Innovation — like growth — zigzags. And the teams that win aren’t the ones who move fastest. They’re the ones who course-correct bravest.
THE FALSE PROMISE OF 10-YEAR PLANS
Ask any executive about their 10-year journey, and they’ll give you a tidy narrative, framed for clarity. But poke deeper, and you’ll find the truth: These plans changed. Goals evolved. Love for the work waxed and waned. My biggest career leap happened because of a failed entrepreneur adventure — not a plotted road map. Planning isn’t useless. But rigidity is. The real work is to stay committed to growth, not the illusion of control.
WHAT SPIRALS TEACH YOU THAT LADDERS CAN’T
1. Patience isn’t Passive Sometimes, holding your ground — refining, reflecting — is more growth than running. Don’t glamorize non-stop progress. Value pauses.
2. Relationships Outlast Achievements You’ll forget some projects. You’ll never forget who showed up for you in a spiral. Invest in people. Legacy isn’t built alone.
3. Identity Beyond Title Who are you when the designation strips away? When the applause fades? Real growth is realizing — that answer is still enough.
A SPIRAL IS NOT A STALL. IT’S A RECKONING.
We need to normalize non-linear careers, celebrate recovery as much as acceleration, and start mentoring younger professionals about the truth of creative, emotional, and professional spirals.
YOUR GREATEST BREAKTHROUGH MIGHT BE HIDING INSIDE YOUR BIGGEST SETBACK
This week, if you feel like you’re spiraling — in your role, in your creativity, in your life — remember: Spinning teaches orientation. Even if it looks like disorder. Even if it feels like chaos.
Some seasons are for building up. Others are for breaking open. Both are sacred.
FINAL THOUGHT
Straight lines are for stock photos. Spirals are for real stories. Don’t edit yours. Embrace it.
“Becoming yourself is even a possibility — let’s discuss on some other day.”