The Playbook Problem: Leadership Discernment for Entrepreneurs
If you're an entrepreneur on Instagram, chances are high that you're being sold an exact strategy or playbook every third post.
Take what you've learned, package it as a playbook, and set it up as an evergreen funnel. It's genius, right?
Wrong. Well, maybe…
Let me explain.
As entrepreneurs, our job is to serve the people who need what we have to offer. The problem comes when we try to replicate someone else's strategy as our own.
It's like wearing someone else's shoes. They may be the right size, but they're slightly uncomfortable. The wear patterns don't quite fit the sole of your foot, and by the end of the night, your knees and hips hurt and you can't wait to kick off those heels.
The same is true of using someone else's playbook.
I've seen it over and over again in the women I coach. They get stuck in consumption mode. They think someone further ahead has the magic "easy" button. If they just purchase the $27 offer, enroll in the $497 course, and implement everything exactly as the expert says, then they'll finally make it.
I know because I've been there and fallen prey to that thought process.
Information Isn't the Problem. Discernment Is.
Access to information has never been easier. The challenge isn't finding more strategies. It's knowing which ones belong in your business.
Discernment might be the most undervalued leadership skill in entrepreneurship today.
The Three Stages of Growth
Growth occurs in three distinct stages.
First, consumption.
I was just talking with a leader last week who's stuck in this space. She was once told she needed to read 10 pages of a professional development book every single day. She's done that for years because that's what the experts told her was necessary.
If you're only consuming, you're never implementing.
That's the second stage: implementation.
You begin putting what you've learned into practice. And you're often met with resistance in yourself and others. It's confusing. You're trying everything the experts said and the results aren't coming, which can feel frustrating. It's also where most people give up and revert back to old habits.
The strategy isn't inherently wrong. The problem is most entrepreneurs have never been taught to value the leadership skill that determines whether a strategy actually works for them.
Discernment.
What Discernment Looks Like in Leadership
Discernment isn't asking, "Will this work?"
It's asking, "Will this work here?"
Discernment says, "This works for me. I'll take it. This doesn't, so I'll let it go."
It's what moves you from implementation into integration—the stage where a strategy stops being someone else's and becomes tailored to fit your business, your strengths, and your goals.
It becomes part of your culture. Part of your leadership. Part of your success story.
Without discernment, you're left with two options:
Abandon the plan the moment things get hard, sending you right back to consuming someone else's advice while searching for the next easy button.
Force the plan even when it doesn't fit. It feels awkward. Your team feels it. Your customers feel it. And one day you look up and realize you've built something that doesn't even resemble the business you wanted.
In practice, discernment shows up everywhere.
It's walking into a room, reading the energy, and deciding whether the moment calls for calm or excitement. Praise or discipline.
It's knowing what to do with a difficult employee, a hard email, or a habit that doesn't serve you anymore.
It's looking at someone else's exact strategy and knowing precisely which pieces to apply, which to tweak, and which to discard completely.
Information Is Everywhere. Wise Decisions Are Rare.
In today's world, information is everywhere. Every "here are the exact steps I took" is only a click away.
That access is a gift, but it comes with a hidden cost.
What I see happening, and what Gallup's leadership research supports, is more consumption and less reflection. The leaders who continue growing are the ones who reflect on their experiences, learn from them, and adjust accordingly.
Too often, we're mistaking consuming information for the work of making decisions and taking action.
Their Highlight Reel Is Their Integration Phase
The entrepreneurs and leaders we admire online who seem to have it all together are showing us their integration phase.
We didn't see the years of experimenting. The failed launches. The tweaks. The pivots. The three-steps-forward-two-steps-back moments that taught them what actually worked for their business.
That's discernment in action. It's the part of success we rarely see and the leadership skill we rarely talk about.
In a world where information is abundant, discernment becomes your competitive advantage.
That's why it sits at the center of everything we do inside the Elevate Mastermind.
You won't leave with another playbook.
You'll learn how to evaluate strategies, adapt them wisely, and make confident decisions as your business grows.
If you're tired of consuming and you're ready to start implementing—and better yet, integrating—discernment is the leadership skill you need to master.
Learning to think like a CEO means making decisions through the lens of where you're going, not where you've been.
If that's the kind of leader you're becoming, Elevate was built for you.
Our next cohort begins August 31.
If you're ready to stop collecting playbooks and start building a business that's aligned with your vision, we'd love to help you take the next step.
