• Uncertainty Creates Chaos: A Leader’s System for Success

    Uncertainty can be scary. Whether you are in the leadership seat or a team member, navigating without clarity brings out unproductive behavior. Research from the American Psychological Association shows that uncertainty at work negatively impacts mental health, job satisfaction, and performance, while additional studies link uncertainty directly to emotional exhaustion and negative organizational outcomes. Worry, fear, short…

  • Leadership Intuition. Sometimes your gut knows best

    When was the last time you made a decision that went against the data, but aligned with your gut? As leaders, making sound decisions is a huge piece of our role. We analyze the metrics, seek expert input, and pressure test assumptions. This disciplined approach is important, but sometimes our internal signals capture what the…

  • Accountability or Justification? Leadership Communication Accountability is a Choice

    Have you ever worked for a leader who justified poor communication or alienating behavior with a “this is just who I am” attitude? I have, and it was a frustrating experience that severely limited our team’s productivity and results.  Many leaders underestimate how much leadership communication accountability shapes trust, engagement, and results. More recently, as an executive coach,…

  • One De-escalation skill for leaders 

    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…

  • Meaningful Leadership Goals: Why Most Goals Fail and How to Make Them Stick

    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….

  • Leadership Maturity: The Must have trait for leadership success

    Are your strong convictions demonstrating leadership maturity or hot-headed opinions? As a member of a leadership team, things won’t always go your way. While those moments can be frustrating and even perplexing, they are also opportunities to demonstrate your maturity as a leader. Recognizing when to back down, stay calm, and continue delivering with excellence…

  • Unending Hassle or Leadership Growth? Rethinking Tough Bosses

    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…

  • Bad Attitude? Beware of the Cost

    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: The Crippler of Accomplishment

    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…

  • The 100% Rule: How We Build (or Break) Leadership Credibility 

    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…