No Transformation comes from protecting your status.

We say we want change.

In our teams.

In systems and organizations.

In ourselves.

But most of us want to keep our status while everything else evolves.

And that’s exactly where transformation breaks down.

Because transformation, by its nature, demands some kind of letting go. 

Of knowing. 

Of control. 

Of being the one who gets it right.

And the higher up we go, the more dangerous letting go can feel.

The Fear Beneath the Surface

Status isn’t just about titles or hierarchy.

It’s about identity.

Safety.

Belonging.

It's what tells you: 

I matter here.

I’m good at what I do.

I’m the one they look up to.

And so much of leadership is performed from that place.

Not always out of ego, often out of fear. 

Fear of irrelevance. 

Fear of being exposed.

Fear of becoming unnecessary in a system that moves too fast and asks too little.

So we hold on. To authority. To certainty. To the curated self we’ve spent years constructing.

But here's the problem: You can’t protect your status and transform at the same time. One asks you to perform. The other asks you to shed.

Where This Shows Up in Teams

In leadership teams, this shows up in quiet ways:

• A hesitation to ask questions that might reveal what you don’t know

• A reluctance to challenge a peer for fear of disrupting the power balance

• A preference for polished consensus over uncomfortable clarity

• A team that nods in agreement and then moves in different directions

Everyone is trying to look composed.

Competent.

Strategic.

But no one is naming the thing that actually needs to be said.

Because status has a gravitational pull.

And when everyone is protecting their status, genuine dialogue disappears.

What Gets Lost

When status takes center stage, the first thing to vanish is learning.

The kind of learning that says:

I may not have the answer yet.

I may have to rethink what I’ve always believed. 

I may be part of what’s not working.

Then goes trust. 

Not the warm, social kind. 

The kind built on risk.

The kind that says:

I trust you enough to say this might be wrong. 

I trust this team enough to let go of the performance.

And finally, you lose transformation itself.

Because you can’t change what you’re still trying to control.

You can’t reimagine what you’re afraid to unlearn. 

You can’t grow if your energy is going to keeping your place.

A Different Kind of Strength

What if status didn’t need protecting?

What if leadership meant modeling the kind of openness that others fear?

What if your strength wasn’t in your certainty but in your ability to reorient without losing your center?

That’s the kind of leadership that changes things.

That makes space for tension without collapse.

That invites dissent without losing cohesion.

That makes decisions not for optics but for what’s needed.

Not easy.

Not always recognized.

But unmistakably powerful.

Final Thoughts

If you’re serious about transformation at a personal, organizational or systemic level, it begins with a question:

What are you protecting, and what is it costing you and others?

Because the longer we defend who we’ve been, the longer we delay who we might become.

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About the Author

Nazly Frias is the founder of Leadership Impact, a boutique leadership advisory practice specialized in executive teams and senior leaders in impact-driven professional service firms and organizations.

She bringing over 15 years of international experience leading, advising, and been part of leadership teams — from global impact consulting firms to public innovation labs- allowing her to bring the understanding of an insider and the perspective of an advisor.

Originally from Colombia, Nazly works with clients across the globe in English and Spanish and is based in Berlin.

Get in touch with Nazly