The One Who Steps Outside First

You are not the hero, but the subject of their fear.

Brave Captain testing the air first.

In the stories we admire, on screen, in books it is the leader steps outside first.

Out of the shuttle. Into the smoke. Onto the alien surface with nothing but instinct and a crew watching from behind. Think Jean-Luc Picard, or Ripley, or Moana. Brave. Resolute and admired.

But in real life, when a leader steps into something unknown, like a new technology, a new way of working, a future still taking shape, the admiration isn’t the first thing that follows.

What comes first is fear and often, blame. Because when you’re the one moving toward the unfamiliar, even with care, even with questions, even with an open hand, you become the embodiment of what people are afraid to face. You become the symbol of loss, change and something being taken away.

Even if all you’ve done is open a door.

I’ve seen this before. With the end of print directories. With the rise of mobile maps. With the slow disappearance of things we thought we’d always need. These shifts didn’t just make old tools obsolete. They changed what people were proud to be good at.

It’s happening again now, with AI and automation. With the feeling that something essential might be lost and that someone else is driving the change. And that hurts, understandably.

And when you’re the one who dares to say, let’s at least take a look, it can feel like you’re betraying what came before.

Even if what you’re trying to do is keep people safe. Give them time. Help them not be caught off guard.

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That’s the part no one tells you about leadership

That going first, stepping outside while everyone else waits behind the door, doesn’t always make you the hero. Sometimes it makes you the target. And honestly, it really can hurt. Looking back through the door at folks who think you're to blame for all of this.

So maybe we need to change the way we talk about it.

I didn’t create this shift. It’s happening around us. And if we pretend it isn’t, we fall behind. I’m not dragging anyone out here. I’m just showing you it’s not as deadly as it feels.

If you’re afraid, that’s okay, so am I. But maybe look again and ask a question, try to hold the judgment a little lighter. Because the people who seem like they’re forcing change might actually be carrying the weight of it for you.

I used to expect my leaders to be unshakable. Above fear and beyond my sympathy, they're getting paid to do it right?. But now I know they were just the ones stepping out first and could've stayed inside and still got paid.

But they chose to do it anyway.

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-Layla