UseCase
When you're the leader under siege
Your people are turning against you. Your enterprise is at risk. Find your footing and reclaim your moral authority.
You've given everything to build this.
Your vision. Your time. Your resources. Your heart. You've made sacrifices. You've taken risks. You've held the weight of leadership.
And now your people are judging you.
Maybe they're questioning your decisions. Maybe they're gossiping about you. Maybe they're openly challenging your authority. Maybe some have already left, taking others with them.
You can feel it—the trust eroding, the judgments building, the walls going up between you and the people you're trying to lead.
You're trying to do the right thing, but everything you do seems to make it worse. When you explain yourself, they judge you as defensive. When you stay silent, they judge you as uncaring or weak. When you stand firm, they judge you as controlling. When you compromise, they judge you as spineless.
You're under siege. And you can feel the whole enterprise—everything you've built—at risk of collapse.
This is where the Honor Window gives you power.
What's Really Happening
When you're under siege as a leader, there are invisible dynamics at play:
Your Reality: You see yourself standing for the mission, for the people, for doing what's necessary even when it's hard. You see yourself making difficult decisions with integrity.
And you see them as too emotional, too short-sighted, too entitled, too disloyal. You judge them for not understanding, not trusting, not having your back.
Their Reality: They see themselves standing for what's right, for the people you're harming, for speaking truth to power. They see themselves as courageous for challenging you.
And they see you as too controlling, too disconnected, too arrogant, too [insert their judgment].
You're both suffering from judgment walls.
The Honor Window Shifts Everything
When you do the Honor Window on those who are judging you, several things happen:
1. You Stop Suffering You see clearly how your judgments of them have been causing your suffering—not their actions. You can break down these walls and relieve yourself.
2. You See What They're Standing For Beyond their criticisms and attacks, you see what they're actually standing for. Maybe they're standing for inclusion you've missed. Maybe they're standing for care for people who are hurting. Maybe they're standing for transparency you haven't provided.
3. You Find Your Place to Stand When you can see them without judgment, you can stand for your vision and your decisions with clarity and authority—without defensiveness, without attacking back, without collapsing.
4. You Reclaim Moral Authority When you can honor what they're standing for while holding firm to your stand, everything shifts. You're no longer the "bad guy" they're attacking. You're a leader who can see them, honor them, AND lead.
The Unexpected Move
Here's what most leaders under siege do: they defend, explain, attack back, or give in to demands.
Here's what the Honor Window enables you to do: honor them publicly for what they're standing for, then take your stand.
This is the unexpected move that changes everything.
When someone is attacking you, and you respond by saying, "I can see you're standing for [what they value], and I honor that. Here's what I'm standing for..." the dynamic transforms.
They're no longer fighting an enemy. They're in conversation with a leader who can see them.
What Becomes Possible
When you use the Honor Window as a leader under siege, you:
Relieve your own suffering regardless of what they do
See clearly what's actually happening vs. the stories you're telling
Find solid ground to stand on with authority
Reclaim moral leadership even when being attacked
Make wise decisions from clarity instead of defensiveness
Prevent your enterprise from collapse
Sometimes reconcile with those who've turned against you
Always emerge stronger as a leader
If you're a leader under siege right now, the Honor Window can help you find your footing.
