Every leader faces problems, and founders carry more than their share. In this episode of Growth Think Tank, Gene Hammett breaks down the leadership mindset shifts that separate leaders who get buried by their problems from those who grow because of them. The problem is rarely the real problem. The way you see it is. Gene shares three perspective shifts that change how you handle stress, setbacks, and the daily fires of running a company. You will learn why choosing growth over comfort builds the leader your business needs, how to move from victim to leader and take your power back from blame, and why letting go of control and empowering your team to take ownership is the real work of leadership. If you are a founder or CEO ready to turn your hardest problems into your next stage of growth, this conversation will change how you lead. Leadership is giving power away. This episode shows you how.

Episode Highlights & Time Stamps

0:07 Execution Starts Here
2:20 Name the Real Problem
0:03 Problem Is About Perspective
1:21 Three Mindset Shifts
3:16 From Control to Empower
4:52 Coaching Creates Clarity

Transcript: Problem Is About Perspective

[0:00]Today, we want to talk about problems, challenges, and issues. Everybody has them, and leaders have their share of more than most. But here’s the thing. It’s usually not about the problem. Bear with me for a second here. Two people can have the same problem, but the way they look at it is different, and that, therefore, gives them more options. And that’s about perspective. Today, we’re going to talk about three leadership perspectives that you want to be able to connect with whenever you have a challenge, a problem, or anything that’s causing you frustration or stress. My name is Gene Hammett. I have been a founder coach, CEO coach for about 16 years. I love what I do because I get to help leaders be better leaders. I helped help them inspire people to grow and give them confidence and create those leadership skills that are translated from the top throughout the organization. And we do this at scale because we’ve worked with Inc. 5,000 companies. In fact, we’ve worked with more Inc. 5,000 companies in leadership development than anyone in the world. And I really love to help you. If you want to find out more about us, one of the best things you can do is probably to read our latest book. And I say our, my wife and I wrote a book called Get Founder Freedom. And if you go to getfounderfreedom.com, you can download it for free today.

Three Mindset Shifts

[1:17]And you can dive into finding the freedom that you need as a founder. Now, with all that being said, today we’re going to talk about those three leadership mindset shifts that are necessary when you have a problem. So as I opened up the video, I was talking about.

[1:32]Everyone has problems, and two leaders can have the same problem, but look at it differently. And why is that?

[1:40]Well, some people look at problems as they’re a victim, and some people will take that same problem and look at it from a different angle and see that as a chance to lead. Now, if you’re a victim, you have no control. All you have is pain and everything that goes with that. And being a victim has no power. But being a leader is seeing that same problem from a different perspective and allowing yourself to rise to the occasion. And maybe sometimes you put out the fire, but sometimes you empower someone else and it gives them a chance to grow. But if you stay in that perspective of victim, it’s a very different experience. And anything that you see is an option to move forward on the same problem. So let’s take another look at this. A lot of people will see a problem and will look for the easy way out. I will call this look seeking comfort. And that may be the right solution. But what if this problem is a chance for you to do the hard thing and grow? Doing the hard thing usually is the right choice. I know sometimes we want things to be easy. We want comfortable shoes. We want a comfortable bed to sleep in. But if you choose comfort in every path of life, you’re missing the opportunity. And I wanted you to really see that because same problem, looking at it from a new perspective, It might not be what’s the easy path, but what’s the path that allows me to grow?

[3:03]One of the reasons I do martial arts, Brazilian jiu-jitsu specifically, is because it’s all about putting myself in uncomfortable situations and finding

From Control to Empower

[3:11]my way out and finding the resilience and the real deep presence that it takes to do that. So, again, the whole story of this is the three leadership mindset shifts that are necessary. And it’s really about perspective shifting. One more perspective around this is when I was thinking about this, I was thinking about some of the conversations I’ve had with so many clients, and they see it one way. And my job is to sometimes help them let that out, let them rant about it, listen to them, and then offer them a different perspective. And that different perspective is usually the right path.

[3:47]That first default is not. So let’s go with this final shift that’s necessary. That leadership mindset shift is instead of controlling the situation, you want to empower. So a lot of leaders that I’m talking to that have 20, 30, 40, 50 employees, their default is how can I solve this? How can I control this? How can I jump in and be the hero? And that may be the right solution, but most of the time it’s probably not. What if you have a chance to empower someone else to do something? What if you have a chance to let someone else be the firefighter? Let someone else build the resilience and the skill necessary to solve that problem and take ownership of it. I’ve been offering you different perspective shifts here. You may have different ones. There are many of them. But the power behind this is if you go with your default perspective, you will see certain options available to you. But if you have the power to step back and look at your problem from a different

Coaching Creates Clarity

[4:53]Set of options available to you. And that’s often what coaching is, because I’m not emotionally attached to your problem, the people around it, or the goal. I’m detached. And that is one reason why people come to coaching. I’m not trying to bring you into my world for coaching today, but that is one of the tools that we use to help people when they are stuck in frustration or stress and they don’t have a way out or they only see limited options as we help them find a different perspective and help them see it more clearly and help them move forward. My name is Gene Hammett. I love what I do. I’m a founder coach. I’m a CEO coach. We help companies go from founder-dependent to team-driven. If that’s something that’s interesting to you, I’d love to hear from you. When you think of growth and you think of leadership, think of Growth Think Tank. As always, leave with courage. We’ll see you next time.

🎯Key Takeaways

• 1. Problems Are About Perspective – The way you view a challenge determines the options available to you. Expanding your perspective can reveal opportunities you might otherwise miss.
• 2. Shift from Victim to Leader- A victim mindset focuses on what’s happening to you. A leadership mindset focuses on what you can do about it and how you can create positive outcomes.
• 3. Choose Growth Over Comfort – The easiest solution isn’t always the best one. Growth often comes from embracing discomfort and doing the hard things that build resilience and capability.
• 4. Empower Instead of Control – Strong leaders resist the urge to solve every problem themselves. Empowering others to take ownership creates stronger teams and develops future leaders.
• 5. Coaching Creates Clarity – When you’re emotionally attached to a problem, your perspective can become limited. An outside perspective can help you see new possibilities and move forward with confidence.
• 6. Leadership Growth Starts with Mindset Before strategies, tactics, or solutions, effective leadership begins with how you think about challenges and the perspectives you choose to adopt.
• Remember: The next time you face a problem, pause before reacting. Ask yourself: “What perspective am I using, and what other perspectives might reveal a better path forward?”

Ideal For:
Founders, CEOs, executives, managers, and anyone committed to elevating their leadership capacity.

Resources & Next Steps

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🎧 Listen to the Full Episode: Growth Think Tank Podcast