Fools Rush In: Move With Clarity, Not Chaos

You may have heard the saying: “Fools rush in where angels fear to tread.” It’s not just poetic, it’s painfully true in leadership.

I've always been someone who reads the room fast, sees patterns quickly, and trusts my gut. In personality and leadership assessments, I score high in discernment - the ability to make sound judgements and distinguish between right and wrong. But this strength used to get me into a lot of trouble. I would move to quickly and too confidently, before I had the full picture. With time and hard lessons, and maybe some stern feedback that hits you between the eyes, I've learned that even good instincts need space to breathe. You can have strong discernment and still be wise enough to pause. 

Last week, we talked about The Power of the Pause, taking a breath before the next move (if you have not read that post yet, I would start here.) But what happens when we skip the pause altogether in decision making? When we jump into the fire without checking which way the smoke is blowing?

Spoiler: you will probably get burned. 

Three Floors of Chaos

I spent years working in a three-story building. Way less floors than the hotels in my early career days, where I learned that you only use the elevator when traveling down more than three flights of stairs. Elevator etiquette aside, this three floor building taught me a masterclass in impulsive leadership.

Here’s how it would go: I’d be in my third-floor office with the sales team, hear about an operations "mistake," and immediately head to my boss’s office on the first floor. Like clockwork, I’d get new info at every level of the building. By the time I got downstairs, I had to stop and ask myself, Am I even mad about the same thing I stood up for upstairs? Am I prepared to be standing here for this conversations?

What if, just maybe, I paused instead? What if I asked the sales manager or client to elaborate before I sprinted down three flights of stairs fueled by incomplete information and righteous indignation in four inch heels? What if I gave some grace to my operations counterparts and remember what it was like to sit in their seats? 

Why We Rush

A heavy workload can tempt you to dive headfirst into action. Solve it quickly, move on. But here’s the problem: what you’re “solving” might not be the real problem. Or you might make it worse, which will leave  you exhausted, confused, and probably re-solving something tomorrow.

What’s the Alternative?

Slowing down doesn’t mean doing nothing. It means doing the right thing with intention. It means understanding before reacting. Here's how to build that habit into your leadership:

1. Don’t rush to judgment.

• Have you ever heard one side of a story, made a call, and then realized you only had half the picture? Yeah, me too. It’s embarrassing, time-wasting, and it chips away at your credibility. Slow down. Collect more data.

2. Seek to understand and clarify what you don’t know.

• Would five minutes of conversation or a few good questions help you avoid a 5-hour fire drill? Probably. Understanding doesn’t need to be a long investigation, it just requires curiosity and humility. Graham Betchart shares 10 skills for peak performance. One of my favorites is, “victory goes to the vulnerable.” You don’t need to know everything. Just don’t fake it. It's ok to say you don’t know. 

3. Beware of bias.

• Bias is sneaky. It hides in your instincts, your past experiences, even in your best intentions.  When bias drives your decision making, you risk missing the trust, or being open to new ideas. Slow down and ask: Am I responding based on facts, or familiarity? Is this judgement shaped by title, tone, or track record? Don't make decisions, or solve problems, from comfort. (The next time someone on your team calls in sick, come back to this bullet point.) 

4. Understand the scope.

• Are you solving a real problem or a symptom? Are you thinking about just today, or how this choice echoes into next month? Understanding the scope - past, present, and future - prevents bandaid solutions. If you need a quick fix, establish a timeline to revisit and discuss. If you leave a bandaid on to long it gets gross, and no one wants to touch it. (Fun fact: bandaid solves are a top three "Natalie pet peeve.") 

5. Lead from your core.

• You are not a vending machine for quick decisions. You’re a leader. Know what matters to you. If a decision doesn’t sit right with your head, heart, or gut, then you need to pause. Re-evaluate. Ask more questions. Consider alternatives. You don’t owe blind loyalty to people, companies, or broken systems. Integrity is not stubbornness. It is leadership with a backbone. 

Leadership isn’t about speed. It’s about steadiness. Fools rush in, but the best leaders move with clarity, not chaos.

So next time your instinct is to leap from your desk into action, pause. Ask a question. Get clarity. And maybe, save yourself a few flights of stairs.

To honest leadership, 

Natalie

Chris’s Comments:

Let’s give a round of applause for this longtime sales leader owning the moments when she could’ve better supported the ops team, because that’s the real takeaway here. Accountability with honesty? That’s leadership.

Natalie started in operations and then shifted into sales. I did the reverse, most of my career was built in the trenches of operations, and I have plenty of stories where “sales got it wrong.” But if I’m honest, I’ve also had too many moments where I moved too fast, made assumptions, and had to double back to clean up the mess. Strong instincts are powerful, but they’re not infallible.

What I appreciate most here is the reminder that speed doesn’t equal strength. Leadership is not about reacting, it’s about responding with clarity. Sometimes the wisest thing you can do is pause, clarify, and climb the stairs slowly.