Staying in the Yellow

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One of the images I keep returning to — with teams, leaders and also myself — is the humble traffic light system. Simple and familiar, it has become one of the clearest ways I know to describe the space of growth.

Green is where things flow — exciting, fun, rewarding. Idealistic and often rare.

Red is where we shut down, disconnect, protect or numb. Common and at times necessary.

Yellow is where the real work happens — uncertain, stretching and often avoided.

Yellow is the space of balance, expansion and choice — and yet, it is the one we most often rush through.

In leadership, yellow might mean holding tension in a difficult conversation. It might be sitting with uncertainty, asking for help or feeling what is there before reacting.

We are often thrown into the yellow. My invitation is that we begin to inhabit it more consciously.

🟡 Notice when you are in yellow

🟡 Stay there a bit longer — it stretches with practice

🟡 Explore what it asks from you - engage, breathe, say less, ask more - we all have our yellow

🟡 Learn to come back from red into yellow

Because the people around us — teams, partners, family — all benefit when we grow our yellow muscle.