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Today, GivMoo received news we did not want.
I will not pretend I responded with immediate wisdom, patience, and perspective.
My first reaction was frustration. Then disappointment. Then the familiar founder instinct to find a way around the decision, challenge it, reverse it, or somehow force a different outcome.
I reread the news. I sat with it for a while. And, if I am being completely honest, I did not want to accept it.
The outcome was different from what we expected. We had invested time, energy, thought, and hope into a particular direction. We believed we understood where things were going.
We were wrong.
Am I frustrated that the outcome was not what I wanted? Yes.
Am I disappointed? Absolutely.
Did I have control over the final decision? No.
That last answer is the one that matters most.
The Part of Leadership People Do Not Always See
One of the harder parts of being a founder is knowing that people watch your reaction when bad news arrives.
Before I have fully processed what I am feeling, I am already thinking about the team.
What do they need from me?
How honest should I be about my disappointment?
Do I need to immediately provide a new direction?
Do I need to appear calm before I actually feel calm?
There is often an expectation that leaders should be able to take bad news, process it instantly, identify the lesson, and deliver an inspiring response before the dust has even settled.
That is not what happened today.
I needed to be disappointed for a while.
I did not need to fix it. I did not need to spin it. I did not need to immediately turn it into a polished leadership lesson.
I needed to feel it and let my brain catch up with what had happened.
The Instinct to Fight the Current
Once the initial disappointment settled in, I began thinking about what came next.
I could fight the decision.
I could spend money, energy, time, and an unreasonable amount of brainpower trying to force the outcome I originally wanted.
I could convince myself that refusing to accept the answer was proof of determination.
But determination and stubbornness are not always the same thing.
There are times when fighting is necessary. There are moments when leadership requires persistence, pressure, and an unwillingness to accept the first no.
There are also moments when fighting the current accomplishes very little.
You exhaust yourself. You drain resources. You create tension. You move a very short distance and convince yourself that the struggle must be worthwhile simply because it is difficult.
Today felt like one of those moments.
The river was moving in a different direction, and I had to decide whether I was going to keep fighting it or pay attention to where it was taking us.
I Do Not Know Yet What This Means
I would love to tell you that I already understand why this happened.
I do not.
Perhaps this will eventually look like a gift. Perhaps it will redirect us toward something better. Perhaps it will help us avoid a problem we cannot yet see.
Or perhaps it is simply a disappointment that we need to absorb and move beyond.
Not every setback arrives with an immediate lesson attached to it.
Sometimes the lesson takes weeks or months to reveal itself. Sometimes the lesson is simply that you cannot control every outcome, no matter how carefully you plan or how deeply you care.
What I do know is that forcing the original direction would likely cost more than I am willing to sacrifice.
There is a difference between abandoning the mission and adjusting the route.
The mission has not changed.
The route might have to.
What Happened Next at GivMoo
What happened next reminded me why the people at GivMoo are unusual.
No one panicked.
No one rushed to blame another person.
No one tried to pretend the disappointment did not matter.
There were questions. There were a few quiet moments. There was frustration. Then the conversation began to shift.
All right. What do we know now?
What has changed?
What does this make possible?
What do we need to do next?
That is what working behind the scenes at GivMoo often looks like.
We care deeply about the work. We invest ourselves fully in the mission, the company, our nonprofit partners, and the communities we hope to serve.
That means disappointments are not abstract. They are personal.
But we also know that caring deeply does not guarantee that every door will open. A meaningful mission does not protect a company from rejection, uncertainty, mistakes, or plans that fall apart.
What matters is what happens after the disappointment arrives.
Allowing the River to Lead
I am still disappointed.
That is the honest ending to today’s story.
I am not going to pretend I am grateful for what happened. I am not ready to call it a blessing. I do not yet know where the current is taking us or whether I will be happy when we arrive.
But I do know that I have a choice in how I respond.
I can react with fear and anger. I can use resources trying to control something that was never mine to control.
Or I can acknowledge the disappointment, experience it fully, and then decide how to move forward with clarity.
Leadership is not always about pushing harder.
Sometimes it is about recognizing when the river has changed course.
Sometimes it is about trusting that changing direction does not mean you have lost your way.
And sometimes it is simply about taking a breath, steadying the boat, and allowing the current to show you what comes next.ebate.
Signing off until next time,
There’s More
If you’re curious about other articles that tell you more about the interworkings at GivMoo – you can read more from our founder, Martiel Beatty. READ MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS!
