Holding the Vision

Studio1 Design on February 11, 2025

Lately in my one-on-one sessions, a quiet theme has been surfacing — founders seeking alignment with their next vision.

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They’re asking important questions:
Am I building forward in a way that still feels like me?
Am I acting from clarity — or clinging to what used to feel like success?

It got me thinking…

There’s a rare kind of leader — a founder with vision. Not just a strategic vision for the business, but a deeper one. One that comes from a place of alignment, not ego. One that reflects who they’re becoming, not just what they’re building.

This kind of vision isn’t a checklist. It’s not about chasing one more win.
It’s about truth. It’s about congruence.

But even the clearest vision can stall when the founder gets stuck on when it needs to happen — and what it must look like.

 

The Identity Behind the Vision

Seneca once wrote:

“We suffer more in imagination than in reality.”

Many founders I work with aren’t struggling because their vision is too big — but because they’re still trying to shape it from their old identity.

They want certainty. A fixed timeline. Proof that it’s working.

But the truth is, this season isn’t about control.
It’s about trust.

It’s about letting the new vision reflect back to you who you are now — not who you were when you first started this business.

 

What If Vision Is a Mirror?

The most powerful visions don’t come from pressure. They come from presence.

They ask us to get honest about what’s truly within our control:
• Our values
• Our clarity
• Our actions

Not the timeline.
Not the outcome.


What trips up many visionary founders is the belief that things should happen faster. That they should already be “there.”

But letting go of the timeline often creates space for something more authentic — and more aligned — to unfold.

 

The Paradox of Vision

To lead through transition, you have to live in the paradox:
• Hold the vision tightly, but release the need to control it.
• Care deeply, but don’t grip it out of fear.


The most grounded founders I know are the ones who trust the work that’s unseen just as much as what’s visible.


Like a tree with deep roots, they know the season may shift, but growth still happens.

 

From Force to Power

Force burns out even the most brilliant leaders.
Power sustains.

Founders who trust the process move with intention, not urgency.
They understand that time compounds. That clarity deepens. That purpose unfolds.

They don’t need to prove their vision — they just need to keep walking toward it with integrity.

 

Legacy Isn’t Rushed

If you’re in a season of redefining success, questioning your role, or wondering what’s next — you’re not behind. You’re on the edge of something new.

Your job isn’t to force the outcome.

It’s to keep aligning with who you are becoming, and let that lead what you create next.

Hold the vision.
Let go of the timeline.
And know that you’re building something that will last — because it started with who you really are.

 

Tanya Cross

 

Leadership Coach & The Coaches Coach

Master Certified Demartini Method Facilitator

BAppSoSc (Counselling)

Maximum Growth

 

Your future depends on this

Studio1 Design on February 5, 2025

As a founder, the decisions you make don’t just shape your business — they shape who you’re becoming.

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Every choice, from what you commit to next, to what you walk away from, becomes part of your personal legacy. It’s not just about business strategy — it’s about identity.

And yet, in transitional seasons — after an exit, during a restructure, or while redefining direction — decision-making can feel heavier than usual.

You’re no stranger to making bold moves. But now, with more visibility, more responsibility, or more at stake, hesitation creeps in.

 

Why It Feels So Hard Right Now

The truth is, founders often carry a weight that isn’t visible to others.

There’s pressure to choose the right next move — as if one wrong decision might unravel everything that’s been built.

But indecision is a decision. And it carries its own cost — delayed growth, diluted energy, and a slow erosion of confidence.

It’s not that you don’t know what you want. It’s that success has changed the game. The impact is bigger. So is the fear of getting it wrong.

And when you’ve spent years building based on feedback, results, and outcomes, it’s easy to start outsourcing your clarity — letting trends, mentors, or outside voices speak louder than your own.

But your greatest leadership comes when you return to your own alignment.

 

You Already Know What to Do

Clarity isn’t found in more input. It’s found in quieting the noise long enough to hear what’s already true for you.

The strongest decisions aren’t perfect. They’re authentic.
They’re made by leaders who know who they are — and are willing to keep choosing what aligns with that, even when it’s hard.

Sometimes, it’s not the fear of failure that holds us back.
It’s the fear of success. Of being seen. Of carrying more. Of owning the next level of leadership you’ve actually already grown into.

 

Every Decision Builds the Future

As you move through this next chapter, big or small — every decision is a vote for the future you’re choosing to create.

Each one refines your vision.
Each one builds trust in yourself.
Each one tells your team, your clients, and your future self:
I’m here. I’m clear. And I’m leading forward.

No decision is final. No outcome is absolute.
They’re all just steps on the path.

So — what decision are you ready to make today?

The future of what you build next doesn’t depend on perfection.
It depends on your willingness to move from clarity.

 

Tanya Cross

 

Leadership Coach & The Coaches Coach

Master Certified Demartini Method Facilitator

BAppSoSc (Counselling)

Maximum Growth

 

The Invisible Habit: How People Pleasing Becomes Second Nature

Studio1 Design on January 28, 2025

It doesn’t start with a crisis.

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It starts with something small.


A quiet “yes” when you really meant no.


A polite nod when your instincts said to push back.

 

And just like that, the pattern begins.

People-Pleasing in a Founder’s World

For many founders, people-pleasing isn’t loud or obvious — it’s woven into the way they lead.
It’s being the one who makes things work. Who smooths over tension. Who takes on a little extra because it feels easier than saying no.

And in the early days, it may have helped. It built trust. It kept relationships strong.
But over time, it becomes something else:
A quiet erosion of self.
A slow disconnection from what you actually want — and what your leadership really needs.

 

Where This Pattern Begins

This tendency to over-give or over-accommodate often isn’t about weakness.
It’s about survival.
It’s a strategy we learned early — reading the room, softening our truth, keeping others comfortable.


And while that kept us safe back then… it keeps us stuck now.


You find yourself:
• Taking on more than you want to carry
• Avoiding hard conversations because you don’t want to disappoint
• Being known as the “easy one,” the “reliable one,” even when it’s wearing you thin


It gets praised.
You get told you’re a great leader, a team player, someone who’s calm and dependable.


But underneath? There’s often resentment. Frustration. A deep fatigue that no time off seems to solve.

 

When Your Leadership Needs Boundaries

The truth is: your leadership doesn’t need you to say yes to everything.
It needs you to be honest. To be aligned. To be full — not depleted.

The more you disconnect from what’s true for you, the more your decisions — and your energy — become about managing others instead of leading forward.

Reclaiming your voice in leadership starts with one shift:
Noticing when you’re saying yes out of habit, instead of intention.

 

It’s Not a Flaw — It’s a Learned Response

People-pleasing isn’t a character flaw. It’s a coping strategy.
One that likely helped you succeed — until now.

But leadership, especially in the later chapters of building or exiting a business, asks for something deeper.
It asks for truth.

It asks you to come back to your own values, your own energy, your own yes.

And say no — clearly and without guilt — when something doesn’t serve you anymore.

 

Unlearning Takes Practice

This next season isn’t about doing more.
It’s about doing what’s yours to do.

What’s aligned.
What restores you.
What reflects who you are now — not just who you had to be in order to succeed.

If you’ve felt like your leadership has drifted away from your centre, this is your moment to return.

Not with force.
But with clarity.

Life — and business — is about unlearning and relearning.
And you get to lead in a way that feels like you.

 

Tanya Cross

 

Leadership Coach & The Coaches Coach

Master Certified Demartini Method Facilitator

BAppSoSc (Counselling)

Maximum Growth

 

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