Be the Bison

It’s been observed that bison run toward oncoming storms. They do it to shorten how long they’re in bad weather.

What a concept.

And yet, most of us do the opposite. We avoid the storm then stay in it longer.

But here’s the thing: if you don’t chase it down, it will chase you.

You don’t create the weather, but you see the clouds first.

You catch patterns others miss like silence in meetings, tension between teams, a decision that’s quietly stalled. And if your relationships are tight with the team, you hear it before you see it.

The challenge isn’t pushing your principal to act. It’s helping them see what you see and understand the cost of not acting.

You’re close enough to smell the rain, but your job is clarity, not control. That means turning faint signals into shared awareness and framing consequence without panic.

Here’s how:

Name it early.
One sentence, free of drama or name-dropping. If you’re unsure whether it’s a passing cloud or something more serious, tee it up gently: “I’m noticing something I’m keeping an eye on.” Either way, notice and state facts with your sights set on what matters most, your principal and the company.

Show the ripple.
Clarify how the issue affects the team or the business. Separate facts from assumptions so everyone knows what’s real and what’s guesswork.

Offer visibility, not pressure.
Paint the horizon: “Here’s what could happen if we wait vs. if we act now.”
Sometimes just seeing the contrast makes the decision clear.

Steady the moment.
When your principal decides to act, set the table. Control what you can: the timing, the message, the room, and who’s in it. Alignment beats surprise.

It’s rarely one comment, one data point, or one tense meeting. It’s the third time you’ve heard the same thing from different people. The second report showing the same red flag. Your gut noticing the same pattern you hoped was a blip. That’s when it’s time to name it.

The consistency of the signal, not the volume of the noise, is what turns weather into a storm. When instinct, feedback, and data all start rhyming, that’s your cue something is brewing.

Avoidance itself is the first trap. You’re trained to stay composed, to hold the center, but that can slip into silence. When something’s brewing, your job is to notice early and look into it calmly. Pretending not to see it doesn’t protect anyone—it just prolongs the storm.

The second trap is the opposite: turning every cloud into a crisis. Credibility comes from discernment. You have to learn the difference between noise and signal, and that takes time and judgment. Your work is to advise with steadiness and to match urgency to truth, not emotion.

Once the storm is real and the call is made, steadiness is your value. Stay anchored in fact. Ground your principal in what’s true, not what’s feared. Frame the consequences clearly but without pressure. Then prepare the conditions for courage: the right time, the right room, the right people, the right words.

Clarity is contagious. If you stay calm in the weather, so will everyone else.

Storms ignored become systems accepted.

Your work is to shorten the distance between seeing the storm and facing it together.

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