I’d wager that the title of this article seems odd. After all, we usually talk a lot about gaining momentum, not fighting it. In the rat race to get those flywheels going, who wants to have them stop, right? (Has anyone ever seen an actual flywheel?) Yet, when you need to evolve as a leader, often that momentum can be your bane (Yes, I said “bane.” I’ve been waiting 20 years to use that one, ever since picking it up reading LOTR). When things don’t require effort, you’re probably going downhill.

Stuck in a Groove

This is often the case in what-got-you-here-won’t-get-you-there moments. As with most people who had some success during their career and moved up the ranks, it is likely that many of your instincts lead you correctly. Whatever you did operated well enough to get you where you are. However, there comes a point where you need to do things differently. Continuing to let your muscle memory operate will no longer cut it.

When that’s the situation, many people stagnate. That’s because they never bring themselves to break the cycle. They keep doing the same things that come naturally and easily to them, following down the path of least resistance. Momentum, in situations like these, is like quicksand.

Breaking the Mold

To fight the existing momentum—so you can eventually start creating the right one—we need to follow three steps.

Spot the Pattern

The first one is to be able to logically describe the behavior that you’re doing, personally, that no longer makes sense. This is your growth opportunity as a leader. Doing the hard work of introspection to assess where you are not performing as you ought to, and deciding to prioritize the issue, is incredibly valuable.

Define the New Path

When you know what it is that you’re doing that you shouldn’t be doing, you now have the first key part. That’s what will help you spot that you’re about to follow momentum and stop. Then comes step two. This is about action. What should you do? What’s the right outcome? This might require some research, reading, or working with a coach to lay out the improvement you’d like to see and possible ways to get there.

Run Experiments

Then we have step three, which is my favorite. That’s when you start devising small experiments of changes in behavior and track them. This is similar to what’s described in the Atomic Habits book but focuses on your routines at work. I call these experiments because you might not find the right changes to install at the first pass. Breaking momentum isn’t easy, and sometimes we need to tinker before we find a solution that sticks. Trying to divert you from the path of least resistance means that you need to make the other paths accessible, and hopefully even attractive.

I’ll finish with an annoying takeaway. Everything here isn’t complex. It’s incredibly simple, yet not easy. A good leader will probably go through these periods on and off. But that’s what will keep you alive and learning. Once you’ve stopped adjusting, and continue with wherever momentum takes, you risk crashing someplace not nice.