Leadership boundary
Years ago, I reached out to one of my mentors, Gillian Ferrabee, because I was stuck. I had been working with young leaders, giving them autonomy, coaching, and encouragement—but something wasn’t clicking. No matter how much freedom I gave them, no matter how much I emphasized that they could take risks, they hesitated. They stalled. They avoided stepping fully into leadership.
I couldn’t figure it out.
I explained my frustration to Gillian, who has 20+ years of experience working with high-performing talent and some of the most creative teams in the world, 12 of those years as the casting director and director of the Creative Lab at Cirque du Soleil. Her entire career revolved around developing artists who thrived in uncertainty—people who had to create something from nothing, over and over again.
After listening to me, she said something that completely shifted my perspective:
“Leadership is decision-making. And the extent of your leadership is the extent to which you’re willing to make decisions that put you at risk.”
That hit me. Because I realized leadership wasn’t just about talent, skills, intelligence, or even the ability to manage people and projects effectively. It was about how far someone was willing to push their decision-making boundary—the invisible line between what feels safe and what feels like too much risk.
Decision Boundary
Every leader has a decision-making boundary—a mental perimeter where they feel safe making choices. Inside the boundary, decisions feel manageable. Outside of it, decisions feel overwhelming, dangerous, or paralyzing.
The problem? Our brains often make things feel more high-stakes than they actually are. The fear response kicks in, treating small risks as if they could lead to catastrophic failure. This is why many young leaders hesitate—not because they lack ability, but because they haven’t yet trained themselves to differentiate between true high-stakes decisions and those that only feel that way.
The greatest leaders aren’t the ones who make perfect decisions. They’re the ones who are willing to make decisions at the edge of uncertainty—who trust themselves even when they don’t have all the answers.
Science of Decision-Making
Why do some people expand their decision-making capacity while others stay stuck? The answer lies in psychology and neuroscience.
1. The Fear Factor: How the Brain Reacts to Risk
When we make high-stakes decisions, our amygdala (the brain’s fear center) fires off alarms. It treats uncertainty as a threat, pushing us toward avoidance. But here’s the thing—our brains often exaggerate the stakes. Many risks we face as leaders are actually low-stakes disguised as high-stakes. The key is learning to differentiate between the two.
Great leaders train their prefrontal cortex (the rational part of the brain) to regulate that fear—to see risk as an opportunity instead of a danger. They get comfortable taking small risks first, gradually stretching their capacity to handle bigger ones.
2. Cognitive Biases That Keep Leaders Stuck
Loss Aversion: The pain of losing feels twice as intense as the pleasure of winning. Leaders avoid risk because failure feels too costly—even when success is within reach.
Status Quo Bias: The brain prefers what’s familiar, even if it’s not effective. Leaders default to old patterns instead of stepping into the unknown.
Overconfidence Bias: Some leaders trust their instincts too much, refusing to seek feedback. Others trust themselves too little, constantly second-guessing.
Confirmation Bias: Leaders naturally seek out information that supports what they already believe, which can blind them to better solutions.
Expand Your Decision-Making Boundary
1. Reframe Failure as Data
Stop treating failure as a personal reflection of ability. Instead, see it as a necessary feedback loop.
Analyze past failures for patterns—what worked, what didn’t, and what should change next time.
Develop a post-mortem habit after big decisions to extract learning instead of dwelling on mistakes.
2. Build Decision-Making Muscles in Low-Stakes Environments
Start with low-stakes risks—making small choices quickly to train your brain for bigger decisions.
Set a daily “risk challenge” where you intentionally make a choice outside of your comfort zone.
Reflect on how often you treat low-stakes decisions as high-stakes—is the fear really justified?
Surround yourself with decisive people—decision-making is contagious.
3. Use the 80/20 Rule to Avoid Overthinking
Recognize when you have enough data to make an informed decision. Overanalyzing leads to stagnation.
Identify the 20% of information that drives 80% of your decision-making effectiveness.
Use structured frameworks (e.g., pros/cons lists, weighted decision matrices) to speed up your process.
4. Trust Your Vision, Execute with Confidence
Clarify the outcome you’re aiming for before getting lost in details.
Set a deadline for decisions—avoid the trap of indefinite deliberation.
Embrace ownership—once you decide, move forward with full commitment.
Where Does Your Boundary Stop?
Gillian’s words have stuck with me: Leadership is decision-making, and the extent of your leadership is the extent of your willingness to take risks.
So the question is: Where does your leadership boundary stop? And more importantly—what would happen if you stepped beyond it?
