The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions

There’s an old saying: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

After every crisis, failed decision, or leadership misstep, I hear the same defence:
“That wasn’t my intention.”

Good intentions doesn’t let the leader off the hook for poor leadership

When intent and impact misalign, accountability sits with the leader who didn’t think it through, relied on untested assumptions, or failed to consider how their message would land across different cultures, experiences, and power dynamics.

Leadership isn’t judged by what you meant.
It’s judged by what people experienced at 9:00 a.m. on Monday...
And again at 10:00 p.m. that night.

Good intentions don’t reduce pressure on the people carrying the load.
Competent leadership anticipates the impact.

Every leader believes they know how they showed up.
Most are wrong.

Your team has already run an After Action Review (AAR) on you.
They just don’t call it that — and they don’t invite you.

They remember:
-your tone under stress
-your availability when decisions mattered
-what you tolerated
-how many times you yelled at them
-how many times they felt like quitting
-what you changed afterward — or didn’t

Intent explains nothing in those moments.
Impact is the only data that sticks.

Leaders who grow don’t defend what happened.
They audit themselves before the story hardens into culture.
👉 Not a project AAR.
👉 An assessment of character, competence, and leadership under fire.

🐺 If you’re not reviewing your leadership, you can bet your team already has.