Big Girl Panties Diaries - Entry #126: Apparently, I’m in a 3 Word Season

Apparently, I am in a three-word season, which is not what I would have planned, but here we are. Not because I lack vision or direction, but because life and work have a way of moving faster than any five-year plan can keep up with. There are seasons where a five-year plan makes sense. This is not one of them.

This season looks like waiting for answers that are taking longer than I expected. It looks like conversations that could go in a hundred different directions. It looks like building something new without a guaranteed outcome. So instead of trying to control the outcome, I am paying attention to how I move through it.

Three words are guiding me right now. Be curious. Be grounded. Be open.

Being curious keeps me from shutting down when things do not go the way I expected. It replaces judgment with questions and creates space to understand what is happening instead of jumping to conclusions. In change, curiosity is the difference between resistance and learning. In leadership, it is the difference between assuming and seeing what is going on underneath the surface.

Being grounded does not mean unshaken. It means steady enough to not let every moment throw me off course. There is a lot right now that could pull me into overthinking or overreacting. Being grounded is choosing not to spiral. It is coming back to what I know is true, holding my posture when things feel uncertain, and remembering that just because something feels urgent does not mean it is important. This is what calmfidence looks like in real time. Part of this, for me, is getting on the mat. It is one of the ways I practice staying steady when everything else feels uncertain.

Being open is the hardest of the three. It requires letting go of how I thought things would go and allowing for outcomes I did not plan. It means letting people surprise me and not closing doors just because they do not look like the ones I expected to walk through. Openness is uncomfortable, but it is also where possibility lives.

These three words are signals. Not to anyone else, but to me. They are a check on how I am showing up before anything ever shows up in results.

This is not just personal. This is leadership.

Teams do not need leaders with perfect answers. They need leaders who know how to hold themselves when there are no clear answers yet.

They are watching how you respond when something changes unexpectedly. They are paying attention to your tone, your pace, and how quickly you move to judgment or stay in curiosity. They notice when you get pulled into the chaos and when you stay steady enough to create space for others.

Curiosity signals that it is safe to ask questions and not have everything figured out. Groundedness signals stability when things feel uncertain. Openness signals that change is possible, not something to resist or fear.

These are not soft skills. These are signals that shape behavior long before any process, communication plan, or rollout ever does.

That is what people feel, and that is what they follow. It is also where the gap between what is built and what is actually adopted starts to close.

I do not know exactly how everything will play out right now, but I do know this. Having curiousty will keep me learning. Being grounded will keep me steady. Being open will keep me moving. And for this season, that is exactly what is required, and if you are in this season with me - I see you.

BGPD Rule: When the path is not clear, do not force the plan. Choose the posture.