When Things Don’t Go to Plan – How Disruptions Shape Our Leadership

Some of my most memorable (and let’s be honest, character-building) moments have happened when life veered wildly off script.

A sudden change in government guidance meant my team of three rapidly expanded to 25 people and a budget 100x bigger than before. (Trial by fire? Absolutely.)

Getting lost in the Lattari Mountains with my then 10 year old son, only to have Vesuvius rise out of the mist like a scene from a movie, giving me a landmark, a breathtaking view, and an opportunity to practice map and compass navigation.

Being stranded at Delhi Airport for 24 hours, where the kindness of strangers turned an ordeal into an unexpected lesson experience in human as an off duty Gurkha said ‘follow me!’ and made sure I got a hotel room and a flight the next day.

Co-founding Rebuilding Schools Nepal, helping rebuild a school in the Himalayan mid-hills, and staying with the headteacher’s family as the project took shape.

None of these were without discomfort. Some were physically exhausting, others emotionally challenging, but all of them fundamentally changed how I lead, think, and navigate uncertainty.

What Heidegger Taught Us About "Breakdowns"

The philosopher Martin Heidegger had a term for these moments: breakdowns. The word doesn’t translate easily for us. I asked a group recently what they understood by the term ‘breakdown’ answers included:

A car breaking down.

A nervous breakdown.

A beat shift in rap music.

All valid. But Heidegger’s definition?

"An unexpected interruption in the anticipated flow of life."

Think about that for a moment. And then count how many you’ve had in the last week alone. (I’ll wait.)

Heidegger's concept of "breakdowns" comes from his work in Being and Time and has been widely applied in leadership, coaching, and philosophy:

A breakdown is an interruption in the anticipated flow of life. It disrupts our routine and makes us notice things we previously took for granted.

Breakdowns "unconceal" our assumptions. When things work smoothly, we rarely question our approaches, methods, or beliefs. A breakdown makes us aware of what we rely on and how we interact with the world.

When everything is working smoothly, we don’t think about it. Heidegger calls this “ready-to-hand.” When I’m typing now, as I can touchtype, I can focus on my writing, not the keys. When something breaks or stops working, we suddenly notice it. This is “present-at-hand.” If my keyboard stops working, I’ll likely shift from typing to staring at it, trying to think through out what’s wrong (usually out of charge!) This applies to leadership, technology, and even relationships.

Breakdowns can lead to deeper understanding as we stop and reassess, they create opportunities for insight, growth, and adaptation.

Mastery in life is mastery in managing breakdowns. Rather than fearing disruptions, the ability to navigate them skillfully defines effective leadership and personal resourcefulness.

For anyone who works out regularly, this will sound familiar: an injury makes you pay attention to how you train. You either ignore it (bad idea), or you listen, adapt, and recover properly (smarter choice).

How This Applies to Leadership

Leadership is full of these moments.

When your usual approach stops working, you have two choices:

Double down and hope for the best.

Step back, observe, and adjust.

Breakdowns unconceal blind spots, jolt us out of autopilot, and, if we’re paying attention, become powerful learning moments.

How Coaching Helps Leaders Navigate Breakdowns

A great coach doesn’t just help you fix a breakdown. They help you notice how you’re observing and gain insight about yourself and the ‘breakdown.’

Language – What story are you telling yourself about this? Is there evidence to validate the story? Is it helpful? Or is it an old assumption that needs updating?

Emotions – Are you pushing against reality (like pushing through an injury) or adjusting wisely?

Body – Is tension creeping into your posture, presence, and interactions? How is this affecting you and your team?

A coach might ask:

What expectation did this breakdown disrupt?

What new possibilities could this open up?

What different action could you take from here?

Reframing Breakdowns as Breakthroughs

I once heard Dame Kelly Holmes say:

"If you get some time to train without an injury, it’s a bonus."

I found this hugely helpful. It shifted my perspective to appreciating the things that are going right, because when things run smoothly, we barely notice them.

Leadership is the same. Deep appreciation for what works helps us anticipate and manage the moments that don’t.

Breakdowns are about perspective

What one person sees as a negative breakdown, may be very positive to someone else, this depends on how they 'observe' it. So using the training injury idea, my negative breakdown may lead to some income for my physio. An obvious one really, but the point is, breakdowns are to do with how we see them and are closely related to our orientation and perspective.

The Dalai Lama reminds us:

"Sometimes, not getting what you want is a glorious stroke of luck."

I can vouch for that too.

Where in your leadership journey have you had a breakdown that turned out to be a breakthrough? I’d love to hear your stories.

#Leadership #Coaching #Breakdowns #Growth #Mindset #Reframing #OntologicalCoaching