All too often strategic success is stymied by reluctant leadership. Reluctance can be seen in behaviors small and large. In essence it’s a failure to act. That action may be as simple as stepping up to fill a gap. Those small misses create a culture of excuses, shrugged shoulders, and not heeding the call for help. It leads to a false sense of comfort.

At the strategic level, reluctance is manifest in the inability to make decisions or its opposite – going along with a poor decision rather than speaking up and calling the question. Flip sides of the same coin, both result in missteps, poor investments, missed opportunities and a culture of excuses. But hey, we still feel comfy don’t we?

There’s the old saying that if you want something bad enough you’ll stare fear in the face to achieve it. Leadership requires both courage and the ability to face discomfort for the larger good. This is especially true when facing hard truths and ensuring decisions are truly strategic.

As you prepare for 2016, ask yourself, “If not me, then who?”

Let your answer be “yes.”