Leadership at the Speed of Change: Are You on the Burning Platform Yet?

Because you won’t always see the fire. But you will feel the heat.

Let’s skip the fluff.

You’ve built something good. Maybe even great. But now? You feel it.

Something deeper is shifting.

You’re asking bigger questions. About your timing. About your leadership. About whether the version of you running this now… is the one who should still be.

Whether you’ve said it aloud or not, the real question is probably this:

“Am I already on the platform… and is it starting to burn?”

Most leaders wait too long.

You probably know that. You might’ve even done it before.

Not because you’re not capable. But because you’re wired to keep going. You’re rewarded for staying steady. You’ve been trained to delay until there’s enough data to explain what your instincts already told you.

Here’s what happens next:

• First: discomfort. You override it.

• Then: friction. You keep producing.

• Then: a breakdown, on your team, in performance, or inside yourself.

That’s when you jump. Not because you’re ready. Because you’ve run out of other options.

By then, the window has narrowed. The opportunity has cooled. The cost is higher.

🔥 The burning platform doesn’t always look like fire.

Sometimes it feels like:

• A slow detachment from what used to light you up

• A delay in a decision you know needs making

• A subtle disorientation, your business is moving, but you’re not quite in it anymore

This is the platform heating up.

And if you stay too long, something scorches. Not visibly. Quietly. In culture. In clarity. In how your team stops bringing their full selves, because they sense you’re not bringing yours.

The mistake? Thinking this is about the change.

It’s not.

Change is external. Restructures. Investment. New markets. New hires. Exit strategy.

Transition is internal. It’s the quiet identity shift you haven’t admitted yet.

You’ve built your reputation on being clear, decisive, focused. So the idea of not knowing who you are in this next chapter? Feels like a threat. Feels like disloyalty to the version of you that got this far.

But here’s the truth:

You’re not resisting change. You’re resisting being changed.

And that’s where the platform burns hottest.

Not in the spreadsheet. In the silence. In the part of you grieving the role you’re still performing.

The leaders who don’t f*** it up again?

They move earlier.

They feel the heat before others see the flames. They trust their instincts, not just their data.

They don’t need perfect clarity. They act from presence. They’ve built internal resilience, not just operational muscle.

They know how to:

• Let go of what no longer serves

• Stay grounded in shifting contexts

• Absorb disruption without dysfunction

• Lead transitions, not just transactions

They’re not louder. They’re quieter. More certain. And they move before the platform burns.

Are you already on the platform?

Here’s how you’ll know:

• The pressure feels internal, not external

• You’ve started rethinking your role in what you’ve built

• You’re still performing, but something’s already asking to evolve

And more quietly:

• You’re not sure who to say this to

• You’ve already tried to outrun the feeling

• You’re hoping someone else will name it first

But they won’t. This one’s yours to catch.

The Alchemists

This is our work.

We don’t deliver blueprints. We don’t sell clarity in a box. And we don’t shout over the noise.

We create space for you to name what you’ve been holding, before the platform burns.

It’s quiet. It’s serious. It’s personal. And it’s where the next version of you begins to take shape.

If you’re standing at the edge, even quietly, comment “FIRE” or DM me.

I’ll send a private invitation. No pitch. Just space.

Alan Branagh Founder & CEO, The Alchemists