How to stop Scanning for Fires That Aren't Burning:

You walk into every meeting like a detective at a crime scene.

Before anyone speaks, you're already cataloging

…what's missing,

…what could fail,

and what needs fixing.

Your mind runs a perpetual security scan, checking for gaps, risks, loose ends.

You call it "being thorough."

But what if this vigilance is actually making you miss what matters most?

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗽

Most leaders I coach have developed what I call the "Screening Habit":

The Screening Habit is a permanent attention mode focused on catching problems before they explode.

It shows up like this:

• You enter conversations hunting for what's wrong rather than sensing what's possible

• You interrupt with quick fixes before understanding the full context

• Your body stays slightly tense, ready to pounce on the next issue

This isn't presence:

It's paranoia dressed up as productivity.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗪𝗲 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 (𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗜𝘁 𝗨𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸)

Screening is a learned survival pattern.

Perhaps you developed it during your chaotic startup days when missing a detail could sink the company.

Or earlier, in environments where vigilance meant safety.

Here's the recognition that changes everything:

What protected you at 20 employees will suffocate you at 200.

The medicine has become the poison.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗡𝗲𝘂𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗲𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹 𝗩𝗶𝗴𝗶𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲

When we're in screening mode, our prefrontal cortex (our wisdom center) takes a backseat to our amygdala (our alarm system).

We literally cannot access our highest thinking while we're scanning for threats.

Research from MIT shows that leaders in this state miss 67% of creative solutions because they're too busy preventing problems that rarely materialize.

You're so focused on not crashing that you forget to steer toward your destination.

𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗚𝘂𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗪𝗶𝘀𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗚𝘂𝗶𝗱𝗲

The shift isn't to stop paying attention.

→ It's to change HOW you pay attention.

Instead of asking "What could go wrong?" ask "What wants to emerge?"

Instead of scanning for problems, sense for potential.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗘𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗞𝗻𝗼𝘄

Here's what decades of coaching has taught me:

The best CEOs I work with have learned something counterintuitive:

The less they scan, the more they see.

Why?

Because presence has its own intelligence.

When you're truly connected to the moment, problems often solve themselves before becoming problems.

The slow questions to improve your leadership:

Where in your leadership are you still running security scans from an earlier chapter of your story?

What would become possible if you trusted presence over vigilance?

Yours,

P.S. Invitation for Founders and CEOs

If you want to master what I am sharing here, apply to my next CEO Cohort. Ten months, peer depth, and a silent retreat to lead from a deeper place. One cohort, limited seats.

Apply here.

P.P.S: And because you deserve it - here is your bonus.

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