Why you should quit the 'gas and brake' approach to your career (and how to do it)
Briefly

Leaders often struggle to move forward due to the Gas and Brake Paradox, representing simultaneous ambition and unconscious resistance. A Deloitte study reveals 59% of high-level leaders feel trapped in their success, leading to stagnation and disengagement. Meanwhile, 71% of executives cite internal resistance as the main hindrance to innovation. This paradox manifests in behaviors like over-planning without action, saying yes to everything except crucial opportunities, and resisting change while clinging to the familiar. Fear of transformation, linked to identity change, hampers progress and causes friction.
The Gas and Brake Paradox shows up when you press the gas pedal of ambition while unknowingly stomping on the brakes through unconscious resistance, causing friction.
A Deloitte study found that 59% of high-level leaders feel trapped in success, having hit outward milestones but feeling unfulfilled, stagnant, or disengaged.
Real growth demands letting go not only of titles or routines, but also of identities. That fear of transformation creates an internal conflict that stalls progress.
Internal resistance, not external barriers, is often cited as the biggest roadblock to innovation, according to a Harvard Business Review survey of executives.
Read at Fast Company
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