The Power of “How Can I Help?” Did you know “How can I help?” is a powerful de-escalation skill for leaders to hone? It’s such a simple thing, yet incredibly underutilized. As leaders, when we’re faced with emotionally charged situations, we tend to move straight into fixing, defending, teaching, or shutting the conversation down. Those…
Did you know most leadership goals don’t fail because they’re unrealistic? We don’t achieve goals because we didn’t make them meaningful. It’s February now, and if you’re a leader, now is the time to make sure your commitments for 2026 are clear. What makes a leadership goal meaningful? Meaningful leadership goals are clear and specific….
Feeling overwhelmed by year-end demands? Being present may be the gift you need most right now.
What if that boss you could never please was trying to accelerate your leadership growth? Maybe that question triggered an eyeroll or a flashback to a performance review you’d rather erase. Stay with me on this idea for a minute though, and consider the possibilities… What if the leader who challenged your work, questioned your decisions, or pushed…
Have you ever had to work with a leader who has a perpetually bad attitude? I have, and it negatively impacted my perspective of the company, my stress level, and my results. A leader’s attitude sets the tone for decisions, team dynamics, and performance. When a bad attitude is ignored – your own or someone…
Procrastination is sneaky, especially for leaders. I know every month I find loads of other “important” things to do, instead of focusing on writing the two blogs posts I committed (to my team) I would do. No, procrastination usually doesn’t look like laziness… We use busyness and competing “priorities” to justify it. I mean, there’s…
Ever had a leader whose words and actions didn’t match? I have. It was disappointing, demoralizing, and frustrating. But more than anything, it left me skeptical of everything he said. Once you’ve experienced that kind of disconnect it’s hard to fully trust a leader’s word, and that’s when leadership credibility begins to erode. Our actions will…
As a leader, this is a question worth asking: are you leading a team of leaders or a leadership team? This isn’t a question of semantics. This is the difference between division heads rowing in different directions and a team rowing together, guided by a shared vision, goals, and organizational priorities. A team of leaders remains siloed, with each…
One of the most extraordinary leaders I’ve worked for was my boss of nearly 20 years ago, Ed. He was smart, no-nonsense, with a dry, witty humor that surfaced at just the right moments. To some, he was intimidating—but as his direct report, I found him approachable and deeply thoughtful. Ed was an extraordinarily good…
Authored by Karen Pelot, Edited by Becca Whipple Attitude is Everything Have you ever worked with a leader who makes difficult things feel easy? What about a leader who made everything feel more difficult? Juxtapose those two. If you could choose, which would you spend time working with? Years ago, I was working with a…
Organizational culture as a strategy first got my attention when I heard the phrase “Culture eats strategy for breakfast” in a customer-service workshop as a young leader. The idea resonated with me immediately, and over the years I’ve repeatedly experienced it firsthand. Sometimes in great ways, sometimes like a SH*% show. Peter Drucker is credited…
Author: Karen Pelot, Edited by Becca Whipple Why do conflict styles matter? Did you know your go-to leadership conflict style could be costing you in your working relationships and results? As a leader, the opportunity for conflict is embedded in nearly everything you do: feedback, prioritization, boundary-setting, change management, and the list goes on. Leaders…