Adapted from Chapter One of Doing: How Leaders Harness the Transformative Power of Conscious Action

By Andrea Bednar 

Growth on paper doesn’t always tell the full story.

 Peter was the CEO of a private equity–owned healthcare company. He was delivering on growth targets. But the people—especially those coming in through acquisitions—weren’t thriving. Their frustrations weren’t about major failures. On the surface, it was small stuff. Delayed payroll. Broken processes. Disorientation. But those small things pointed to something bigger.

Peter’s job was growth. But when the human side of the business started costing the company effectiveness and momentum, he called us in.

Here’s what we found: People knew how to do their jobs, but they didn’t know how to operate in this new company. They didn’t know how to be here. What they needed wasn’t a new policy or more structure. They needed a leader who could guide them through the in-between—the space where they weren’t who they used to be, but they weren’t yet who they were becoming.

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The Being–Doing Gap

This is what Chapter One of Doing is about: the gap between who we are and what we do. And more importantly—what happens when we bring conscious awareness to that gap.

When we pause long enough to ask:

 • What’s our actual baseline?

 • What are we assuming is true?

 • Where have we embedded a solution into our problem statement—and stopped asking what the real problem is?

For example, a team might say, “We just need better communication.” But “better communication” is a solution, not a problem. Until we ask what’s actually happening—what the current reality is—we’re just reinforcing the loop we’re already in. We also need to ask where we’re trying to get to (is “better communication” the answer to that?). 

You simply can’t address an issue without first becoming conscious of it. But when you do? New action becomes possible.

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Conscious Doing Isn’t Positive Thinking

Let’s be clear: bringing consciousness to your leadership doesn’t mean slapping on a think-positive mindset and ignoring the friction. It means getting real. It means listening to what’s actually being said. It means leading inside the tension—inside the in-between.

And doing it deliberately.

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What Leaders Get Wrong (Even the Smart Ones)

We’re so good at spotting what’s missing and naming it as the solution.

“Our problem is we don’t collaborate enough.”

“We don’t have buy-in.”

“I need to exercise more.”

We’ve built habits—templates—that define problems by the absence of a handy (or well oiled) solution. That’s not wrong. But it’s not curious, either. And it’s not conscious.

When Jennifer stepped into a C-suite role in her sustainability-focused construction company, she wanted her team to get “on the same page.” That was her go-to. But what if the team didn’t need to agree? What if agreement wasn’t actually the first step?

Conscious doing gives us a way to break that pattern. Not by throwing out our instincts—but by seeing them. By asking: Is this the right frame for this moment? Are we solving the right problem?

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Try This:

Want to test your own well-oiled template thinking?

Ask yourself or your team:

 • What are our go-to, handy, and most used solutions?

 • When do they work?

 • When don’t they?

 • Consider we use those kinds of template solutions to avoid generating
 unfamiliar (and maybe untried) innovative actions to some of our challenges. If
 that were true, what kinds of problems do we most avoid creating some new
 paths forward for?  

You’ll learn more than you think.

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This is Where Doing Begins 

Doing isn’t about rejecting structure or habit. It’s about waking up to them. It’s about choosing your actions deliberately, based on current reality—not outdated templates, roles, or assumptions.

In Chapter One, I walk through how leaders like Peter, Jennifer, and Benjamin found their footing not by speeding up—but by getting honest. By asking real questions. By becoming awake to the gap between being and doing.

Once you see the gap, you can lead from a different place.

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If This Resonates…

This post is adapted directly from Chapter One of my book, Doing: How Leaders Harness the Transformative Power of Conscious Action. The full chapter walks you through the core ideas, stories, and practices that help leaders move from blind execution to deliberate, effective action. You’ll find questions, experiments, and practices you can use right now. 

If you’re ready to move beyond automatic, default leadership, I wrote this book for you.

📘 Buy the book on Amazon