In a recent LinkedIn post, Florence Divet ☀️ offers a practical framework for leaders to manage stress by distinguishing between what they can control, influence, and must let go of. Divet ☀️ emphasizes that much of a leader’s stress stems from attempting to manage elements beyond their direct command, such as employee motivation, mood, or the immediate acceptance of decisions.
Florence Divet ☀️ proposes a clear rule for leaders: “If it’s out of my control, I stop managing it like it is. Not as a nice idea. As a decision.” This approach, Divet ☀️ explains, is crucial because dwelling on uncontrollable factors does not create control but rather generates unproductive “noise.”
“Because thinking about it more doesn’t create control. It creates noise.”
Identifying the Spheres of Leadership Action
Divet ☀️ breaks down leadership challenges into three distinct categories, providing actionable guidance for each.
1. Letting Go of the Uncontrollable
The first category addresses elements that are fundamentally outside a leader’s direct control. These include how individuals receive feedback, their willingness to take accountability, their personal moods, or their reactions to change and gossip. Florence Divet ☀️ clarifies that letting go does not signify a lack of care but rather a strategic decision to cease expending energy on aspects that cannot be steered.
“Letting go doesn’t mean you don’t care. It means you stop gripping what you can’t steer.”
According to Florence Divet ☀️, many perceived “team problems” are, in reality, issues of consistency in leadership actions rather than inherent individual failings.
2. Leading What Is Within Control
The second category focuses on aspects that leaders can directly manage. Divet ☀️ lists these as the focus of their attention, the clarity and content of their communication, the standards they set and reinforce, what they choose to tolerate or stop, their follow-through consistency, the environment they cultivate, and their personal stress management before interactions.
3. Nudging What Can Be Influenced
The third category involves elements that leaders cannot fully control but can significantly influence. Florence Divet ☀️ provides examples such as influencing a decision with a well-crafted proposal, shaping behavior through clear boundaries and consequences, fostering buy-in and motivation by articulating the ‘why’ and the impact on individuals, and improving performance through setting expectations, feedback, and coaching.
“I can’t control buy-in or motivation But I can influence it by explaining the why, the trade-offs, and what changes for them.”
A Practical Reset for Leaders
To help leaders apply this framework, Florence Divet ☀️ suggests a simple yet powerful exercise: drawing three columns labeled “Control,” “Influence,” and “Let go.” Leaders are encouraged to categorize their current worries within these columns. The subsequent step involves taking one concrete action from the “Control” column and one from the “Influence” column, while consciously deciding to “drop” the rest. Divet ☀️ concludes that effective leadership is not about accumulating more pressure but about achieving cleaner ownership of one’s responsibilities.
📝 About This Content
This article is based on insights shared by Florence Divet ☀️ on LinkedIn.
📅 Originally posted on July 20, 2026 | View original post on LinkedIn →