From Coping to Creating: The Real Journey of Self-Leadership
- Shantanu Chakraborty
- Aug 21
- 3 min read
Let’s be honest—most of us didn’t start our careers dreaming of becoming “coping experts.”And yet, here we are:
Coping with deadlines.Coping with bosses.Coping with meetings that could have been emails.
For a while, coping feels like an achievement. After all, surviving is better than sinking. But here’s the twist:
Self-leadership begins when we move from coping with life to creating life.
My “Coping” Phase (Yes, Coaches Have Them Too)
Years ago, I had a job where my calendar looked like a bad game of Tetris—blocks crammed together, no space to breathe. My main strategy? Survive till Friday.
If you’d asked me my career goals back then, I’d have said:
“Clear my inbox.”
“Finish this month’s reports.”
“Avoid eye contact with my boss when he’s in a bad mood.”
That was coping—playing defence in a game I didn’t even design.
The Shift: A Story from a Coaching Session
One client, let’s call her Meera, came to me saying she felt “stuck.” She was excellent at her job but constantly drained.
When I asked what she wanted instead, she shrugged:“I just want fewer fires to fight every day.”
We explored further. Slowly, she admitted she used to love designing new processes, mentoring juniors, and pitching ideas—but now her time was swallowed by “urgent” tasks.
Her lightbulb moment?Realizing she’d been operating like a firefighter, not an architect.
That’s when the journey began:
From reacting to problems → to creating opportunities.From surviving in the role → to shaping it.
Coping vs. Creating: The Difference
Coping is:
Meeting expectations.
Solving today’s problem.
Thinking: “What do I need to do to get through this?”
Creating is:
Setting the agenda.
Building for the long term.
Thinking: “What do I want to make happen?”
In short, coping is like rearranging chairs in the meeting room every time there is a Town Hall meeting. Creating is designing a better meeting room which does not need to be rearranged every time a bigger meeting is planned / held.
The Self-Leadership Formula
To move from coping to creating, try this:
Audit Your Energy – List the activities that drain you vs. those that energize you.
Redefine Your Role – Ask: “If I could design my role, what would it look like?”
Say No (Strategically) – Every “yes” to something reactive is a “no” to something creative.
Think in Projects, Not Tasks – Coping is ticking boxes; creating is connecting dots.
Another Client Story
Raj, a senior manager I worked with, was drowning in meetings. His calendar was so packed, I half-joked that he’d need to schedule time to breathe.
One day, he blocked out two hours each week for “strategy thinking.” At first, people thought he was slacking off. A month later, he had a proposal ready that saved his company ₹15 lakhs in operational costs.
When you start creating, you stop explaining—and your results do the talking.
The Takeaway
Self-leadership isn’t about becoming invincible—it’s about becoming intentional.You can’t always choose your circumstances, but you can choose your response. And sometimes, that response is to stop patching the roof and start building a better house.
So, are you still coping… or are you ready to create?
Over to You:
When was the last time you shifted from firefighting to building something new? I’d love to hear your “coping to creating” moment.
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