What happens when something you gave years of energy, hope and leadership to simply… disappears?
In this Leadership Story, Hanna reflects on a major product project she helped build — only to discover later that it had been closed down.
Was all that work wasted?
Not necessarily.
Because the final outcome is not the only place where the value of our work lives.
Hanna contrasts that experience with another story: a gospel choir she helped start more than 20 years ago. She eventually stepped away — yet the choir continued, changed and grew under someone else’s leadership.
Together, the stories explore disappointment, sustainable leadership and Focus in the CONFIDENT Framework: deciding not only where your attention belongs today, but what deserves to come with you from yesterday.
You’ll reflect on how to acknowledge disappointment without allowing it to take permanent residence, take Ownership of what is yours, keep the learning and consciously choose where to place your Focus next.
Because sometimes the result doesn’t last.
But the wisdom, growth and impact still do.
In this episode:
00:12 – Was that really all it became?
01:08 – The phone call that brought the disappointment back
02:43 – When the outcome disappears but the learning remains
03:41 – Recognising your own leadership strengths
04:29 – Ownership and building something others can carry
05:02 – The gospel choir that grew after Hanna stepped away
06:21 – Focus: what deserves to come with you from yesterday?
06:52 – Empathy and acknowledging disappointment
07:24 – Looking differently at success in your own work
08:20 – A practical “closing account” reflection
09:03 – Seeds, harvest and the impact we may never see
09:55 – Three better questions to ask yourself
10:10 – Your reflection for this week
Reflection:
Think about something you worked hard for that did not become what you hoped.
What did that experience teach you that is valuable for what comes next?
And what are you ready to stop carrying?
If this episode brings someone to mind, share it with them — and follow Confident Leadership. In Colour. so we can keep strengthening our Leadership Palettes together.
Be confident – Be you.
