Why “Don’t Worry About It” Rarely Works for Leaders

We’re often encouraged to move past things quickly at work — especially thoughts that feel inconvenient, irrational, or “not worth the attention.”

But in high-stakes environments, that advice doesn’t always work.

In this episode of Daring to Succeed, I talk through a real conversation with a leader navigating a high-risk moment in her career. Something kept resurfacing for her — a person whose behaviour might derail her plans — and she was doing what many capable leaders do: acknowledging it briefly, then trying to dismiss it.

Instead of pushing it aside, we slowed down and assessed it.

Not to validate fear or indulge drama, but to let her system do what it was already trying to do: detect, evaluate, and resolve a potential risk.

What shifted wasn’t the external situation.

What shifted was the internal drag.

This episode is a reflection on why unassessed signals tend to linger — and how clarity often comes not from reassurance or suppression, but from allowing those signals to be examined and completed.