February 17, 2026 | Issue Archive
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End the Delay
I’ve been sitting on something for months.
A podcast conversation with my friend and mentor, Robert H. Thompson.
It was recorded. It was good. It was real.
And I kept waiting.
Waiting to polish it.
Waiting to relaunch the podcast properly.
Waiting to build a strategy around it.
Waiting to make it part of something bigger.
Sound familiar?
It wasn’t laziness.
It was protection.
Protection of quality.
Protection of brand.
Protection of how it would land.
But somewhere in all that protecting… I was delaying.
And this week, I ended it.
I recorded a short intro and published the raw, unedited conversation.
It’s not perfect.
There are stumbles.
It’s been a while since either of us had been behind a podcast microphone.
But it’s real. And Robert’s answer to the question — What do leaders need today? — is exactly right for right now.
The Two Sides of the Coin
We talk a lot about what we need to start.
New initiatives.
New strategies.
New habits.
New goals.
But what if your next breakthrough isn’t about what you start…
What if it’s about what you choose to end?
This Moment Matters
Leaders today don’t need more polished messaging.
They need clarity.
They need honesty.
They need conversations that feel lived-in, not manufactured.
The world is moving fast. Expectations are high. Uncertainty is real.
And in the middle of all of it, the most powerful thing you can offer — your team, your clients, your family — is presence and truth.
Sometimes momentum comes not from building something better…
…but from releasing what’s already good enough.
This Ends Now
This ends now:
- The belief that it has to be perfect before it can be shared.
- The delay disguised as strategy.
- The extra round of edits that’s really about fear.
Perfection is often just protection wearing a business suit.
But protection has a cost.
It costs momentum.
It costs energy.
It costs impact.
What have you been holding back that doesn’t need another edit — just a release?
If you’re curious, here’s the conversation I finally released with Robert on what leaders truly need today:
https://www.shawnellis.com/podcast/
It’s not polished.
It’s real.
And sometimes that’s exactly what’s required.
I’ll leave you with one question this week:
Where are you mistaking delay for strategy?
Choose your ending.
Up we go—