Josh's Weekly Insights - January 21, 2026

“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”

-Wayne Gretzky

In a lot of my work with bankers, they are afraid to offer products to their customers. There are several different reasons they will give as far as why that is the case, but it ultimately means that they are limiting themselves, their customers, and their organizations. 

However, I also see the exact same thing in a lot of leaders. They don’t want to have a difficult conversation with a team member for very similar reasons. This means that they limit the team member, their team’s potential, and the value add for the organization.

The biggest problem with this mentality is that a lot of people phrase this shortcoming as “I care so much about the other person that I don’t want to upset them.” Unfortunately, this is a lie that your mind tells you to avoid an uncomfortable truth. Avoiding a difficult conversation isn’t a noble selfless act, but a very selfish act.

Think about it this way, if you truly care about a customer, you will want them to have the best product or service you can give them. If you truly care about a team member, you will want them to get better at whatever skill set they need to improve. Both of those will lead to more positive outcomes if you have the conversation that you are avoiding. Then think about what happens if you don’t share the information with them. I am willing to bet that their future outcomes aren’t as positive.

If you still don’t believe that, think about a difficult conversation you need to have. Who benefits from not having it? And who benefits from getting it done? Whichever answer adds more value to the customer or team member you are accountable to, that is what you should be doing.

Let’s have more honest conversations with each other and say what needs to be said.

Now get out there and crush your week!