The Three Words That Are Slowing Your Career Down

I have a client who says “the problem is” after every recommendation I make.

Every. Single. One.

New idea: “The problem is, we don’t have time for that.”
Different approach: “The problem is, leadership won’t go for it.”
Simple fix: “The problem is, we tried that before.”

Limited mindset. Total scarcity block.

I’ve watched this pattern stall careers. Not because the person isn’t smart. Not because they don’t have the experience. But because being the person who names the wall — and stops there — is one of the fastest ways to get passed over for the next opportunity.

Here’s why it happens. And here’s the fix.

“I just have one concern…”

I once worked with a technical architect at a financial technology company. At every meeting — every single one — he’d wait for the proposal to land, then say it.

“I just have one concern…”

New design: “I just have one concern.”
Customer requirement: “I just have one concern.”
Proposed approach: “I just have one concern.”

The CEO ate it up. The room would go quiet. The meeting would end — teams sent away to “think about it more,” “do some more analysis,” or “consider another approach.”

No decisions. No forward motion.

The lead product person bragged in my first week that he’d been with the company for eight years. The second-in-command marketer — someone who reported directly to the CMO — told me the company hadn’t had a single successful product release in eight years.

Can I say the architect caused that? No. But I can say: a culture that stops on concerns doesn’t ship things.

The status report

At the same company, I was writing a project status report.

At one risk item, I almost wrote: There’s nothing we can do about that.

I stopped myself.

Nothing we can do? I’m a highly compensated management and leadership professional. I’m paid to find the path and execute — not get stuck on “nothing we can do.”

Twice in my career I had done the seemingly impossible. I knew what that required. And “nothing we can do” was a starting point, not a conclusion.

I thought about who had more context. Who had more influence. Whose decisions upstream were blocking my team’s progress.

I thought of two people.

I called the first one. Fifteen minutes later, they committed to own and mitigate the risk entirely.

Fifteen minutes — for something that had looked completely impenetrable.

That’s not luck. That’s refusing to stop at the wall.

What “the problem is” actually kills

When someone in a meeting says “the problem is” — and stops there — it doesn’t just end the conversation. It ends several things at once.

Innovation. You can’t explore what you won’t entertain.

Collaboration. Nobody stays energized around the person who only sees walls.

Leadership. You can’t lead from a dead end.

Trust. The person who kills ideas kills momentum. And momentum is what teams follow.

The effective leader who gets things done through influence and impact isn’t always the most technically skilled person in the room. It’s the person who makes the room feel like things are possible.

The fix: three options, one recommendation

One of my bosses gave me the framework that changed everything.

Before you bring a problem to anyone — your team, your manager, a client — bring three possible solutions. Then recommend one as the best option.

That’s the whole thing.

Dan Martell and other leaders I respect have talked about this principle. But I heard it from someone managing real teams, under real pressure, with real consequences.

Here’s why it works.

You give context to people with less of it. Your leadership doesn’t always know what you know. When you show up with a recommendation, you’re not just solving a problem — you’re educating the room.

You get seen as a GSD person. Allen Lowrie — a leader I worked with at Ross Stores — called me years later, asking me to come back. His description of why: “We were looking for a GSD Guy, someone who Gets Stuff Done.” That’s the person leaders want on their teams. That’s who gets the next opportunity.

You become easier to work with. Decisions get made. Projects move. Stress drops. When you facilitate forward progress instead of creating friction, people want you in the room.

You develop the people around you. When you coach others to bring solutions instead of problems, you’re not just being effective — you’re building effective managers and leaders. That’s the multiplier.

Start today.

The next time you catch yourself starting a sentence with “the problem is” — stop. Give it ten more seconds. Think of one path forward. Then another. Then recommend the best one.

That’s not blind optimism. That’s leadership.