What It Means To Be A CEO
How a bathroom crisis taught me that real leadership is about showing up and taking action, not waiting for the perfect moment.
The day I handled a frog in a toilet taught me more about leadership than any boardroom ever has.
The call sounded minor. A client asked me to check on his Airbnb. A guest reported a hair and a frog in the master bathroom. No urgency. No warning. No mention of where the frog was.
When I arrived, the guest looked rattled. She pointed to the bathroom and said the frog was inside the toilet. Not near it. Inside it.
She told me she almost sat down before looking into the bowl. She saw a hair. Then she saw the frog.
She tried flushing it. Nothing happened. I tried flushing it too. Still nothing. The frog did not budge. Her fear was simple: if it went down, it might come back up. The problem was not solved.
Leadership often starts like this. You receive partial information. You walk into a situation already in motion. You still own the outcome once you step inside.
I clean properties. I stage homes. I build businesses. I do not handle wildlife. None of that mattered.
What mattered was the guest experience. What mattered was resolving the problem in front of me.
The guest was scared. I was too. I chose calm anyway.
That is leadership: control before confidence.
I had my backpack purse on and my vacuum in hand. The guest laughed and said I looked like a ghostbuster. Humor helped. Fear did not get to lead.
I made a decision: remove the frog safely, restore the bathroom, release it outside.
When I lifted the toilet lid, the frog jumped onto the wall. I froze for a moment. Then I moved.
Leadership does not wait for fear to pass.
I turned the vacuum on and went after it. The frog hopped like it owned the space. I aimed. I focused. I committed.
Mission complete.
The frog landed in the canister and bounced around. I showed the guest. She relaxed. The tension lifted.
I drove to a nearby park and released the frog. It hopped away as if nothing had happened.
Later, the guest left a five-star review and a twenty-dollar tip. Not because of the frog—because of how the moment was handled.
That experience mirrors entrepreneurship more than any strategy session ever has.
As a CEO, you rarely get full context. Someone minimizes the issue. Someone omits a detail. You still step in and solve it.
You face problems outside your role. You test quick fixes. When they fail, you choose judgment over reaction.
You use the tools you have. You stay calm so others feel safe. You deliver results.
Leadership is not glamorous. It is situational. It shows up without notice.
It appears when someone needs reassurance. When a client trusts you. When the problem feels uncomfortable and urgent.
That toilet frog left me with a clear lesson:
Confidence grows from action. Trust builds through presence. Results follow leadership.
Women lead this way every day. Without titles. Without applause. With responsibility.
We step into messes others avoid. We make decisions with limited information and full accountability.
That is leadership. Not the frog. Not the toilet.
The choice to act.
And that choice defines a CEO.
