Have you ever had to amputate something that felt productive?

Most of the leaders I speak with talk about removing ego, distraction, or bad habits. Those are easy to identify. What is harder, what is far more dangerous, is identifying the think that looks like it is working.

The illusion.

The belief that preperation equals performance.

Yes, you need to prepare in order to perform. But sometimes we can stay in preperation mode and never get to the act of performing.

I remember when I ran track at the University of Arkansas. We had just won our first national championship in 1984. I was a red-shirt freshman. What stood out to me was not the celebration. It was what came next.

We started asking a different question.

What do we need to release to win again?

We amputated the induvidual mindset in favor of the team mindset. In a sport built on individual performance, that shift changed everything. Sprinters supported distance runners. Hurdlers showed up for teammates outside their event. The mindset shifted from “my race” to “our results.”

And that is what I heard in my conversation with Alex Kutsishin.

He challened something deeper.

The belief that performance comes from knowing more.

Instead, he pointed us toward becoming more capable through action.

We do not grow by preparing longer.

We grow by stepping into something we are not fully equipped for, and then becoming that person through the process.

Truth be told, I am preaching to myself right now.

Because this is not easy work.

In my Strike Point Decision Model, it shows up like this:

Reckoning, realizing what got you here will not get you there.
Revision, committing before you feel ready.
Renewal, growing into the decision through repetition and experience.

Alex has done this eleven times over.

Built. Sold. Rebuilt.

And every time, he chose action over illusion.

I hope this conversation speaks to you the way it spoke to me.