The hidden cost of leadership hesitation

March 14, 2026

Take 5 With Me: The hidden cost of leadership hesitation

Many leaders believe they need more confidence before making a difficult decision. But in Liz Murray’s experience, confidence is rarely the real issue. The real issue is hesitation.

In this episode Liz explores the quiet pattern she sees repeatedly in leadership.

Capable leaders already know what needs to happen. They can see the performance gap, the conversation that needs to occur, or the direction the team should move.

Yet they pause.

They ask for more information.

They revisit the issue later.

They tell their team to leave it with them.

Over time those small moments create ambiguity.

And ambiguity quietly lowers the standards people hold themselves to.

Through practical leadership examples, Liz explores how hesitation affects team culture and why leadership confidence usually follows decision rather than precedes it. Because leadership authority rarely collapses overnight.

It drifts.

Timestamps

0:00 Introduction

0:32 Why leaders think confidence is the problem

1:15 The subtle pattern of hesitation

2:05 How hesitation creates ambiguity

2:55 CEO example of delayed decision making

4:05 When protecting harmony lowers standards

5:10 How control replaces clarity

6:10 The leadership identity shift

6:55 Final reflection

🎓 Join the Program 👉 Be Exceptional Liz’s signature course to help you master stamina, influence, and energy.

Connect With Liz

👉 Subscribe on YouTube for more episodes of Take 5 With Me

👉 Subscribe to Leadership Edge on LinkedIn for weekly leadership insights.

🎧 Listen to Take 5 with Me — short episodes designed to strengthen leadership from the inside out.

🔹 WORK WITH LIZ MURRAY

Liz Murray helps leaders protect their energy, sharpen their influence, and lead with emotional stamina through her online course Be Exceptional, one-to-one coaching, and high-impact workshops.

📩 Contact: [email protected]

🌐 Website: www.edgeofpossibilities.com.au

Follow Liz: LinkedIn: Liz Murray

Instagram: @eopossibilities

Facebook: Edge of Possibilities

Website: www.edgeofpossibilities.com.au

Episode Transcript

when leaders hesitate standards drift
there's a pattern I see repeatedly when I'm working with leaders
they believe their biggest challenge is confidence
and they tell themselves that
they just need to feel more certain before they can make a decision
but in my experience confidence is rarely the real issue here
the real issue is hesitation
many capable leaders already know what needs to happen
they can see the performance gap
the conversation that needs to occur
or the direction the team actually needs to move in
yet they pause
they ask for more information
they revisit the issue again later
they tell their team leave it with me
sometimes that pause is powerful
but sometimes it's something else entirely
a quiet internal negotiation
and when leaders hesitate
something subtle begins to happen
standards drift
leadership authority rarely disappears overnight
it drifts
and hesitation rarely shows up in dramatic moments
it appears in small decisions that seem harmless at the time
a postponed conversation
a softened boundary
a decision we promised to revisit later
but teams feel those moments immediately
over time hesitation creates ambiguity
and ambiguity quietly lowers the standard people hold themselves to
I once worked with a CEO
who was struggling with a relatively simple decision
one of their managers had suggested trialling a new idea
to improve engagement across the team
the CEO liked the idea
but he really hesitated
he felt really uncomfortable about approving the trial
because they didn't know yet
exactly how the process was going to work
each time the manager asked about it
the CEO gave the same response
leave it with me
the CEO believed as the leader
they should already have the solution
but the team did not need the CEO to solve the problem
they simply needed permission to explore the idea
and work through the details for themselves
instead the hesitation blocked progress
even more than that the manager became really frustrated
and eventually began exploring other job opportunities
because they felt their expertise and ideas
weren't valued by the boss
ironically when the CEO realised they might lose that manager
they agreed to trial the idea and the result was remarkable
engagement improved significantly
and employee retention increased by more than 30%
the shift was simple
the leader stopped believing they needed to have the answers
and started trusting the team to help create it
I see a similar pattern
when leaders delay addressing performance concerns
in another organisation I worked with a team manager
who had a staff member
whose behaviour was beginning to affect the entire group
they were arriving late leaving early
and their attitude toward customers had became increasingly negative
the manager knew the issue existed
but she hesitated to address it
because the employee was
dealing with a lot of personal things at the time
so she wanted to be supportive of the team member
she believed she was protecting the individual
what she didn't realize was that her
silence was sending a message to the rest of the team
that the standard was flexible
over time frustration built across the group
morale dropped
productivity declined
and respect for the manager slowly eroded
what began as an act of kindness
quietly undermined the culture she had worked hard to build
hesitation can also show up in another form
control
I worked with a manager who believed maintaining high standards
meant teaching team members exactly how every task
should be completed
instead of explaining the outcome she wanted the team to achieve
she focused on the exact process she preferred
when team members approached the tasks differently
she retrained them again and again
eventually several experienced staff members
asked to moved across to a different department
they felt their judgement was not trusted
when the manager began sharing the broader vision
and trusting the team to find their own way to the outcome
something changed
innovation increased
ownership improved
and the pressure she felt as a leader reduced significantly
clarity replaced control
across all of these situations
one pattern appears again and again
leaders rarely hesitate because they lack capability
more often they hesitate because they are protecting something
approval
harmony
control
or the belief that leaders should always have the answers
the moment leaders recognize this pattern
the question changes
instead of asking
what should I do here
a more powerful question is this
what would the leader I say I am do in this moment
leadership confidence rarely appears before action
more often it follows it
so if you find yourself saying
leave it with me more often than necessary
it might be worth asking yourself
why
is the hesitation about needing more clarity
or is it about protecting something that feels uncomfortableto address
every delayed decision
quietly teaches the team something about what is acceptable
and over time
those small moments shape the culture far more than we realize
leadership authority doesn't collapse overnight
it drifts and the moment we stop negotiating with ourselves
and start choosing the leader we want to be
standards rise again

The hidden cost of leadership hesitation

Join Our Free Trial