What could go right? How great leaders reframe risk
You probably spend more time than you’d like imagining what could go wrong.
What if this backfires?
What if the boss doesn’t support it?
What if we miss the quarter, lose the client, disappoint the team?
Catastrophic thinking is common at the executive level — and it makes sense. You’ve seen enough storms to know they’re real.
But there’s a fine line between responsible caution and a mindset that quietly constricts your ability to think, decide, and lead.
Because leaders who over-index on risk don’t make better decisions. They just make smaller ones.
Their worlds contract. Their options narrow. Their confidence erodes.
Left unmanaged, a leader’s mindset quietly becomes a performance risk — hindering judgment, slowing decisions, and signaling caution to the entire organization.
And, over time, teams don’t just mirror that anxiety; they organize around it. Their leader’s mindset shapes how risk is discussed, how bold ideas are evaluated, and what the organization quietly learns is “safe” to attempt.
Today, I want to talk about a deceptively simple question that can change how you show up under pressure: What could go right?
This isn’t about forced optimism or ignoring real constraints.
It’s about protecting your mental capacity — because mindset doesn’t just affect how you feel. It affects how well you think.
Why mindset isn’t “woo-woo” — it’s neurological
Research backs this up:
Martin Seligman’s work in Positive Psychology shows that leaders who habitually look for what could go right perform up to 30% better.
Harvard Medical School research suggests that catastrophic thinking can reduce problem-solving capacity by as much as 40%.
In healthcare, we see similar patterns: patients who believe improvement is possible often experience better outcomes than those who psychologically “accept defeat.”
Put differently: Your mindset can account for 25–40% of your effectiveness as a leader.
Not because of motivation, but because it directly expands or constricts your ability to reason, imagine options, and take strategic action.
So if part of you is thinking, “This feels fluffy,” I get it — but the outcomes are hard to argue with.
Humor me for a minute while you read. Because I’m not immune to catastrophic thinking — I just manage it.
I have my own signals when I’m stressed or overwhelmed. One of them involves Nutella.
When my thinking spirals, it usually shows up in how I’m treating my body: skipping meals, running on caffeine, squeezing in “just one more thing.”
I’ve written before about passing out in front of 500 people because I was living on coffee, protein bars, and adrenaline. That was a painful lesson in this truth: you can’t access a productive mindset if your system is depleted.
What works for me may not work for you, but here’s what helps me stay curious and maintain my most productive mindset:
Exercising regularly. Drinking water. Eating real food.
Journaling — writing down wins, and getting emotions out on paper so they don’t run the show.
Being intentional about who I spend time with — I downshifted a few friendships where I realized I was doing all the emotional labor. We’re still friends; I just protect my energy differently now.
Mindset isn’t about positivity. It’s about capacity.
And while mindset can sound abstract, I see its impact most clearly in how leaders talk to themselves when no one else is listening.
How one leader rewired his inner voice
One senior executive I worked with found himself stuck in a relentlessly critical inner loop. He named that voice “Frank.”
Frank was harsh, demanding, and never satisfied.
The breakthrough came when he asked himself a simple question: How would I speak to my son, Forrest, about this situation?
The answer was immediate — and a little uncomfortable: He would never allow Forrest to talk to himself the way “Frank” talked to him.
So he made it practical.
Every day, he blocked five minutes on his calendar labeled “Forrest > Frank.”
In that time, he noted:
Where “Frank” had driven his thinking
How he would reframe the situation if he were speaking to Forrest instead
Immediately, he felt lighter. More proactive. Less reactive.
Colleagues commented that he seemed more upbeat. His wife noticed too — and according to him, she’s now my biggest fan.
Same circumstances.
Different mindset.
Very different leadership presence.
“What could go right?”
Another client, Sue, was preparing for a 360-feedback process where I would interview her peers, direct reports, and senior leaders to identify opportunities for growth. Sue, while excited to hear their feedback, was nervous about the process, and hesitated to invite the President of her university to participate.
“She’s incredibly busy,” she told me.
What she didn’t say — but we both knew — was that she feared rejection.
So I asked her the question: What could go right?
At best, the President says yes, and Sue gains perspective from the most senior leader in the organization. At worst, she declines or doesn’t respond.
The upside far outweighed the potential risk, so Sue sent the email.
The President was the first of ten people to respond — and she was happy to participate.
That’s the cleanest version of the question: when the downside is mostly imagined. But not every situation offers that kind of relief.
The approach has also worked for leaders like Emily; a client I had, who was navigating professional upheaval and personal crises at the same time.
In those moments, “thriving” isn’t the goal. That’s when the right question isn’t what could go right, but what could make this 10% more bearable?
And that counts, too.
Because mindset work isn’t about denying reality, it’s about choosing the most productive way to engage with it.
A question worth practicing
When leaders feel stuck, overwhelmed, or reactive, I often invite them to pause and ask:
What story am I telling myself right now?
How is it expanding my options — or narrowing them?
What could go right if I took one small, intentional step?
You can’t control every outcome, but you can control the frame you bring to the moment.
And that frame shapes everything that follows.