The Illusion of Momentum

Some people are brilliant at building momentum.

Grand opening, solid middle game—but the deal never lands. There’s a lot of positive activity, but no tangible results.

And as the pipeline grows, so does the inefficiency. The weight of too many open threads starts to slow everything down.

I’ve seen it in colleagues. I’ve seen it in myself.

The turning point for me was this: realising that closing doesn’t happen because you hustle harder. It happens when the other side wants to close as much as you do.

That shift only happens when they see genuine value in what you bring.

Not noise. Not pressure. Just honest alignment.

Every deal I’ve been part of has had this common thread—at some point, the stakeholder saw us trying to solve a real problem for them. And from that moment on, they started pushing the agenda.

And if things are meandering aimlessly, chances are they don’t see you creating as much value as you think you are.

Your opinion about your contribution isn’t the one that counts. The client’s perception is what matters. And if the agenda isn’t moving forward, it means that perception isn’t great.

Unless you face that with brutal honesty, you won’t move—because there’s no incentive to improve when you’re trapped in the illusion of momentum.