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RSS Feed Episode 329: Why Waiting for Certainty Will Cost You Opportunities w/ Steve Miska
This week, Steve sits down with Steve Miska, author, former military leader, educator, and founder of Wrangling & Writing, for a conversation about curiosity, risk, leadership, decision-making, and what it means to move forward when you’re never truly ready.
Miska embraces the idea of the 40/70 rule-- the belief that waiting for complete clarity can cause us to miss important opportunities, while acting with too little information can lead us down the wrong path. Instead, he argues that there is a productive space between the two: a point where we have enough clarity to act while remaining open to what we might learn along the way.
The conversation explores how curiosity, empathy, and humility can help leaders navigate uncertainty, manage noise, and move beyond black-and-white thinking. Mellor and Miska also discuss the rescuers' archetype, the responsibility we have for how we show up emotionally and why people need to own their own decisions.
In this episode, you’ll hear about:
• The 40/70 rule and how to act without waiting for perfect clarity
• Why curiosity, empathy, and humility are essential to navigating uncertainty
• How leaders can separate signal from noise and move beyond black-and-white thinking
• Why helping others doesn’t mean owning their decisions for them
• The rescuer archetype and how high performers can fall into “urgency addiction”
• What horses can teach us about emotional awareness, trust, and leadership
Whether you are navigating a major transition, making a difficult decision, leading a team, or simply trying to become more aware of how you show up in the world, Steve Miska offers a powerful reminder: you may never feel completely ready-- and you don't have to. Readiness can come from staying curious, embracing uncertainty, and being willing to act with enough clarity to take the next step.
Listen now and ask yourself: Am I waiting for certainty when I already have enough clarity to move?
About the guest:
Steve Miska is currently on what he and his team refer to as the Wrangling & Writing 2026 Horse Farm Sabbatical. He shares writing about horses and lifts stories about hidden gems in communities around the country. He served twenty-five years in the Army, including three combat deployments to Iraq and service in the White House as Director for Iraq on the National Security Council. Most recently, he led the Department of Veterans Affairs’ implementation of the PACT Act, the largest expansion of veteran healthcare in over a generation. During the Afghanistan withdrawal, Steve stood up a team in Los Angeles that assisted hundreds of nonprofits and other veteran advocates to get their trusted partners out of Taliban violence. He plans to continue his self-directed equine therapy mission, writing about veterans returning from conflict zones, processing those experiences, and seeking to understand the deep divisions tearing at the social fabric of the United States and humanity.
Connect with Steve Miska:
Substack: https://substack.com/@wranglingandwriting
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/wranglingandwriting/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-miska/
Book: https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B094MS98BJ?ccs_id=0a7b6741-645c-4133-a7cc-85e0ee68889c
Connect with Steve Mellor
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- LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/steve-mellor-cc/
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