Intentioning Solutions: 5 Ways to Go From Despair to Power

Issue 282 — December 9, 2024

At an event last week, I sat beside a woman who voiced her deep fear about how women are being set back in America.

Perhaps foolishly, I fell immediately into trying to solve her problem. I’m not a Pollyanna but I wanted to help her feel more optimistic.

Believe me, I get it. The demise of Roe v Wade signaling an even more draconian rollback of reproductive self-determination hit me in the gut, since I spent a good part of my career expanding those rights and access to health care for women. And seeing an extraordinary woman of color lose a hard-fought election, after a period of optimism that our country could at last overcome both racism and sexism, felt like a cold slap in the face of democratic ideals as I learned them from my immigrant grandparents.

Still, I’ve been in these difficult spaces before. My experience tells me there is always a way to go forward — if we can see it, create it, and have the courage to take action.

I shared examples of how I’ve seen women, men, and organizations overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles by shifting their focus from problem to solution.

Despite my examples and encouragement, my new friend remained stuck in despair and hand-wringing. As someone who has a bias toward action, this made me feel extremely uncomfortable.

This moment stayed with me because it highlighted a choice we all face in difficult times: Do we react or act? Do we dwell on what’s wrong, or do we direct our energy toward creating solutions?

While it’s natural to feel overwhelmed in the wake of challenging societal or political events, staying in a problem-focused mindset limits our ability to act. It almost ensures we will fail to get our preferred outcomes.

In fact, I’ve learned from my decades of leading complex organizations and movements that are frequently under attack, the best antidote to fear and despair is to take action.

The good news? With intentionality, or “intentioning” as I wrote about in my most recent book, we can make the shift from despair to feeling our power to create the change we want. And while my book was written during the pandemic, I pointed out there will always be something that creates chaos, disruption, and circumstances for which there seemingly is no solution.

So we wring our hands.

Why a Solution-Focused Mindset Matters

The difference between a problem-focused and solution-focused mindset isn’t about ignoring challenges — it’s about how we respond to them. Problem focus keeps us stuck in analysis and amplifies feelings of helplessness. After a while it often becomes more comfortable to wring one’s hands than to take action. It takes courage and intention to rescue oneself from the vortex of despair.

Solution focus, on the other hand, asks: What’s possible? What can we do right now? What is a new vision we can create for the future? This shift doesn’t make the obstacles disappear, but it reframes them as opportunities for creativity, collaboration, and leadership.

At Take The Lead, our leadership development program aimed at achieving intersectional gender parity in leadership makes this action-oriented approach a cornerstone of how we teach women to lead. A solution-focused mindset shift helps women to know their power so they can embrace it and move from frustration to action, whether they’re addressing challenges in their workplaces, personal life, or social change. Each of the 9 leadership power tools offers one way to find or create solutions.

Let’s look at real-world examples where this shift has made all the difference.

Corporate Leadership: Turning Barriers Into Opportunities

One of my favorite examples is that year after year, the media and women’s organizations bemoan the pay gap between women and men doing the same jobs with the same experience. This pervasive pay gap can be depressing. But at Salesforce, action was taken to tackle the pay gap, with far reaching impact.

An audit was precipitated by two of the female executives, Cindy Guerra Robbins and Leyla Seka. It revealed significant gender pay gaps within the company. Instead of remaining paralyzed by the scope of the issue or blaming “industry norms,” they took this data to CEO Marc Benioff. He realized the problem and the opportunity it presented to position Salesforce as the most equitable company for women.

Benioff committed $3 million to address disparities and institutionalized regular pay audits. By focusing on solutions, Salesforce not only closed the gap but also because of its size and prominence, set a new standard for pay equity across industries. I actually documented this in my book Intentioning and additionally, I interviewed Cindy along with the heroine of action for pay equity, Lilly Ledbetter, in this LinkedIn Live.

This example demonstrates the transformative power of asking: What can we build to create a new reality? Companies that adopt a solution-focused mindset don’t just address problems — they create lasting change.

Social Change Leadership: Solutions for Complex Issues

The Malala Fund, led by Malala Yousafzai, tackles the global challenge of girls being denied education, as she was. In fact, she was targeted to be killed for persisting in her education. Malala was gravely wounded. Instead of being overwhelmed by the scale of the threat to herself and others, she became a vocal advocate for girls’ education and created the fund that has enabled thousands of girls to access education.

When people refuse to accept limitations as the end of the story, they focus on action with the resources and networks available to them. This week, the world has celebrated the reopening of the Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. After a 2019 fire damaged it extensively, people turned their sadness into action, with contributions pouring in to rebuild it.

Shifting Your Mindset: 5 Practical Steps

The human mind is programed to react to distress rather than act to prevent the problem. That’s the easy path. Instead, whether you’re leading a team, organizing a community, or navigating your personal response to the world’s injustices, shifting to a solution-focused mindset changes everything. Here’s how to start:

1. Reframe Despair as an Opportunity for Leadership
   When faced with fear or frustration, ask yourself: What role can I play? Instead of succumbing to feeling powerless, view challenges as an invitation to lead. Turn the energy of fear into forward action. We all have much more power than we imagine.

2. Focus on What You Can Control
   If it feels overwhelming, identify areas where you can take immediate action. Small wins build momentum and inspire others to join you.

3. Move from Complaints to Action-Oriented Conversations
   Hand-wringing might feel cathartic, but it rarely leads to change. Shift the dialogue by asking, What do we want to have happen? What’s one thing we can do right now to make it happen?

4. Leverage the Power of Collective Action
   Collaboration amplifies impact. Join forces with others to tackle challenges together and get the mutual support we all need. Take The Lead is always here to help.

5. Celebrate Progress, Not Perfection, but Stay on Mission
   Change happens incrementally until it reaches an inflection point when big change occurs. Witness what has happened in Syria just this week. Recognize and celebrate each step forward, no matter how small.

Hope and Action in Uncertain Times

In moments of despair — whether after an election, a setback at work, or a personal challenge — it’s easy to feel stuck. But history shows us that the greatest progress often emerges from difficult times, led by individuals and communities who ask, What can I do about it?

When we shift our focus from problems to solutions, we reclaim our agency. We embrace our power and help those around us to take action, creating ripples of change that can transform workplaces, communities, and the world.

We women, have overcome countless barriers by focusing on action. Now is the time to build on that legacy, one solution at a time.

GLORIA FELDT is the Cofounder and President of Take The Lead, a motivational speaker, a global expert in women’s leadership development and DEI for individuals and companies that want to build gender balance. She is a bestselling author of five books, most recently Intentioning: Sex, Power, Pandemics, and How Women Will Take The Lead for (Everyone’s) Good. Honored as Forbes 50 Over 50, and Former President of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, she is a frequent media commentator. Learn more at www.gloriafeldt.com and www.taketheleadwomen.com. Find her @GloriaFeldt on all social media.