Two Trophies That Taught Me About Showing Up Before Certainty

Originally published on LinkedIn.

These are two trophies I value more than they deserve.

I started learning karate in my late 20s.

A childhood dream I picked up as an adult.

But I didn’t just train. I signed up to compete at a national-level championship.

I was nervous. I considered backing out.

When the results came in, I walked away with two trophies.

Here’s the truth:

One was because I was the only participant in that category.The other was because there were only two of us — and I came second.

Not exactly heroic.

Yet I keep them.

Because they represent something far more important than rank.

They represent choosing to show up, even when everything in me wanted to step away.

The Pattern I See in Organisations

Working across tech, healthcare, facility management, edtech, EV, and other sectors navigating scale and change, I’ve noticed something consistent.

Most business challenges don’t begin with incompetence.

They begin quietly.

With conversations postponed.With ownership blurred.

With decisions deferred in the name of alignment.

With discomfort managed instead of addressed.

Transformation rarely begins with confidence.

It begins with someone stepping forward before certainty arrives.

The Leadership Parallel

For a long time, I hesitated to write publicly for similar reasons.

Positioning yourself feels uncomfortable.

Visibility invites judgment.

But staying undefined is also a decision.

So this is me choosing clarity over comfort.

I’ll be writing more regularly here - sharing reflections on governance, business excellence, leadership, and building resilient organisations, shaped by real experiences and hard-earned lessons.

I don’t have every topic mapped out.

But this is me stepping forward before certainty.

What, in your experience, signals that it’s time to move - even without full clarity?