Consulting Series Part 1- You Can't Handle the Truth

“You Can’t Handle the Truth”  

The Truth Hurts  

“You can’t handle the truth!” We all remember that iconic moment from A Few Good Men when Jack Nicholson’s character is shouting the one line that makes your stomach flip. But let me tell you: it hits different when you’ve owned a business for 27 years, sold it, and then found yourself consulting behind the scenes, watching leadership teams flail and falter… all because they couldn’t handle the truth. I’m not talking about scandals or sabotage, although I’ve seen a few of those too. I’m talking about everyday truths.  Uncomfortable realities about miscommunication, broken workflows, overlooked staff, or poor customer experiences. The things your clients, your team, or your partners are trying to tell you, but you aren’t listening. Or maybe you are... but you're already preparing your defense. I’ve seen it up close, and I’ve lived it. And if you’re a business owner or in operations, you might already know what I’m talking about. But the question is: Are you brave enough to hear it?  

What Customer Success Actually Looks Like  

Here’s the truth no one wants to say out loud: customer success has become a buzzword with no backbone. It’s not a department. It’s not a dashboard metric. It’s a mindset, and it starts with listening, not explaining. I’ve worked with teams who were quick to respond, but slow to hear. When a client was upset, the instinct was to defend: “That’s not how we normally do it.” “They misunderstood the process.” “We already sent that to them.” Excuses that are dressed up as explanations. But what if we paused? What if we didn’t leap to justify, and instead got curious? In my years running a business and consulting, I’ve seen the difference between reactive and responsive leadership. The best operators don’t argue they investigate. They ask: What specifically is upsetting you? Why do you feel this happened? What outcome would feel like a real solution? What are we not seeing? Sometimes the client doesn’t even know the answer. That’s okay, it’s not their job to have your solutions. But when you dig deeper, when you shut up and listen, you learn where the real breakdowns are. And that’s where the opportunity lives… in the discomfort. 

The Cost of Avoiding the Truth 

What Happens When Leaders Stay Busy, Silent, or In Control Too Long 

You can avoid the truth, but not its consequences. 

Some costs don’t show up on a P&L. They show up in the form of missed invoices, exhausted staff, clients quietly churning, or trust so fragile that a sick day feels like a liability. 

When I sold my company and began to focus solely on consulting, I started to see the same patterns I had once lived through. People protecting their image, their control, or their fear… while quietly bleeding time, energy, money, and momentum. 

Here’s what it’s really costing you when you avoid the truth. 

1. Avoiding Delegation? You’re Paying in Burnout and Cash Flow. 

Let me tell you about the day I fired myself. 

It didn’t happen all at once,  I had to be coached into it, coached through it, and eventually coached out of my own way. I was the problem. I was doing everything  and while I could get it all done, it was at a terrible price, especially when it came to money. But not the way you would think.  

Invoicing would take me two weeks. Clients would take even longer to pay (if they paid at all). And all the while, I told myself I couldn’t afford to hire help. 

The truth? I couldn’t afford not to. 

Eventually, I brought in someone I affectionately called the “animal wrangler.” That animal was me. A CFO and operational lead who could keep things moving even when I was stuck, scared, or stretched thin. 

She once said to me, “Marnie, we don’t work for free.” And she was right. 

That was the day I realized: just because I could do it, didn’t mean I should. 

The longer I tried to hold onto control, the more we stalled. Fear made me inefficient. Ego made me fragile. And micromanaging disguised itself as dedication, when it was really a lack of trust in others and myself. 

2. Refusing to Let Go? You’re Paying in Trust and Team Longevity. 

Here’s another hard truth: if everything in your company runs through you, it doesn’t make you the boss. It makes you the bottleneck. 

I once had surgery… twice in one month, and I didn’t tell most of my clients. Why? 

Because I was afraid they’d lose trust in the business if they knew I was unavailable. Not because they weren’t loyal clients, but because I hadn’t trained them, or my team — to believe that anyone else could lead in my absence. 

That’s not leadership. That’s hostage-taking. 

If you want to build something sustainable, you have to build it so it runs without you. That’s not disloyalty to your mission. It’s proof of it. 

Every key player including you must be replaceable. Read that again. 

That’s not a threat. It’s a gift. 

Because the truth is: the only thing less sustainable than being irreplaceable… is being unavailable and pretending you're not. 

I now advise every client to audit their “single points of failure.” What happens if your head of billing quits tomorrow? If your front desk lead takes a vacation? If your only credentialing person burns out? If there is a national cyber-attack on the only insurance clearinghouse you are affiliated with?  

If you don’t have a real answer, you’re not running a business. You’re gambling. 

Coming Up Next: 
In the next installment, I’ll explore the real cost of avoiding the truth; what it does to your culture, your staff, your retention, and your bottom line. 

Because ignoring what’s broken doesn’t make it go away. It just makes it rot quietly until your best people, and your clients…leave. 

Stay tuned. And if this hit home, I’d love to hear where your business is struggling to be heard. Discovery Form: Listening for What's Not Working