Chris Hunsaker argues leaders should move toward resistance instead of around it. He uses a story about a fixed-ops director named John and Steven Pressfield's work to show how confronting what you avoid improves morale and performance. The challenge: name your delayed task, name the fear behind it, imagine yourself fearless, and schedule it today.
Chapters
Foreign. Has a front line. And in your life, that front line is the thing that you've been avoiding. Let's just call it out. That process that you've been postponing, the one on one that you've been avoiding. The manager that you need to hold accountable but you're afraid to because you don't want to fire. Or that broken part of your business that you just keep walking past. You see, you don't lack time and you surely don't lack talent. You are under attack by something far more subtle and way more dangerous. It's called resistance. If you don't name it and beat it, it will run your month and then your quarter and eventually your culture. I'm Chris Hunsaker, and this is the dealership war room Leadership fire. Seven minutes. Built daily, fueled intentionally and delivered relentlessly. So let's dive in to your front line. Steven Pressfield writes in his book Turning Pro. Resistance will bury you if you let it. But it's also the signpost that shows you exactly where you need to go. Let that sink in. The thing you least want to do. That is your next breakthrough. Hiding in plain sight. Let me paint the picture. A fixed ops director. I was coaching. We'll call him. John had an incredible turnover problem, right? Advisors quitting, csi, tanking, comebacks going through the roof. Sound like anyone else you know? And every time I would challenge him, like, hey, are you having consistent one on ones? He'd say, yeah, I know, I know I need to, but I just haven't had the time. But when we pulled that thread a little bit, it had nothing to do with time. Had to do with fear. Fear of confrontation. Fear of not having the answers. Fear of being exposed. Fear of holding his people accountable and having him quit. And then he'll never be able to find replacements. That's resistance. It's not a scheduling issue. It's a courage issue. Resistance always shows up dressed like logic. I want to wait till things call down. I don't want to demotivate them. I just want to wait for the right moment. Beneath all that is fear, self protection, ego, even old wiring. But here's the hard truth. Professionals don't wait until it feels good. They attack the hard part first. That's what John did. Scheduled three raw, honest conversations. Two went great, one not so good. And that advisor was replaced by someone who was more hungry and more on point with the culture. So what happened? Morale starts to improve. Performance starts to improve. The culture started to shift. Not because John got better tools. Does that make sense to you. This had nothing to do with John having better tools. What happened was he began to win the internal war in his head. You want momentum, go towards the resistance, not around it. That's what makes Marines, Marines, Marines run to the sound of gunfire and leadership pros run to the sound of resistance. So your leadership challenge for today. How do you use the resistance radar tool for one? Spot the signal. What's the task or conversation you've delayed more than twice? Jot that down. What's the shoulds that keep showing up in your mind but never make it to your calendar? Number two. Name the fear. What are you really afraid of happening if you follow through on this? Is it loss of control, looking weak, triggering discomfort? Number three. Flip the script and ask yourself this question. What would the professional version of me do if I had zero. Zero fear? Number four. Schedule it cold. Pick one item off of your list and drop it into your calendar today. Don't prep. Don't rehearse. Just decide. And do it cold. Because remember, this isn't about mood. This is about decision. Let me leave you with this quote from Steven Pressfield that fundamentally changed how I lead. Resistance will tell you anything to keep you from doing your work. It will perjure, fabricate. It will seduce you. Resistance is always lying and always full of shit. It all comes down to this. The size of your resistance reveals the size of your next breakthrough. You want to be a leader who gets noticed? Then do the things that other leaders avoid. Name it, face it. And then do it cold. Go out today. Create some leadership fire. And I will see you tomorrow in the dealership war room. It.
