Every time a leader says “I’ll just do it,” a little bit of clarity, trust, and team momentum quietly slips away.

The Upper Limit Problem, a concept introduced by Gay Hendricks, refers to a subconscious self-sabotaging behavior that occurs when individuals approach a level of success, happiness, or abundance that exceeds their comfort zone. This often leads to negative thoughts or actions to bring them back down to a familiar level of experience. It is a psychological barrier – an “inner thermostat” as Hendricks calls it, that limits how much success, happiness, or love we allow ourselves to experience. 

In his book, ‘The Big Leap’, Hendricks refers to the intersection of your unique talents, passions, and strengths where you operate at your highest potential and find deep fulfillment as your Zone of Genius. It’s where work feels effortless and joyful, and your contributions are most impactful. 

He outlines how we operate using the following four zones:

Zone of Incompetence — Tasks you’re not good at and shouldn’t be spending time on.
Zone of Competence — Things you do well, but others could do just as effectively.
Zone of Excellence — Work you’re highly skilled at, but that doesn’t fully ignite your passion.
Zone of Genius — The space where you do what you’re uniquely brilliant at — the work that feels effortless, fulfilling, and deeply aligned with your strengths.

Most high achievers get stuck in the Zone of Excellence — doing great work that still doesn’t fully align. Why? Because leaping into the Zone of Genius requires trust, delegation, and letting go of control.

At The Hudson Alignment Studio™, I started exploring what Upper Limit Problems look like at the business level. I knew how they showed up in individuals — but what about teams, departments, and organizations? So I asked:

1. Who is the business overly dependent on for critical decisions?
2. Which roles are overburdened, creating bottlenecks and delays?
3. Where are talents underutilized — or roles misaligned?
4. If the founder or CEO stepped away for a month, what would break first?

If you’re not sure this applies to you, here are some signs:

• Your business relies too heavily on one or two key people
• Team members feel overworked, underutilized, or unclear about their roles
• You’re stuck in execution — instead of casting vision and leading
• Decisions are delayed because no one knows who owns what

I recently observed a CEO take back a task after assigning it — because the employee didn’t deliver exactly what was expected. There was confusion about the task, poor communication around the outcome, and a gap in shared understanding. It ended with the CEO saying:

“It’s OK. I’ll do it.”

That moment of frustration was small but I had to ask:

• What did taking on that task actually cost him?
• What message did it send to the other leaders on his team?
• What about the cost to the employee and the culture they’re learning from?

Where in your organization is “I’ll do it” filling the gap—and what would it take to address the root cause instead?

If this sounds uncomfortably familiar, it might be time for a different kind of conversation.

Let’s talk about what’s really going on—and how to realign your people, roles, and leadership approach so your business stops defaulting to “I’ll do it” and starts functioning by design.

📩 Message me giselle@gisellehudson.com or book a Clarity Conversation.