A few years ago, I probably wouldn’t have written this blog. Actually, that’s not true. Twenty-five years ago, I definitely wouldn’t have written it.
Early in my corporate career, I picked up a copy of Meditation for Dummies. At the time, my interest in meditation had very little to do with leadership. I was exploring it as a tool for my personal life and, if I’m being completely transparent, hoping to manifest some of the things I dreamed about—the husband, the beautiful home, the perfect family, the life I imagined for myself.
I achieved much of that, by the way!
What I didn’t realize when I picked up that book was that meditation would eventually become one of the most valuable tools in my leadership toolbox. Not because it magically created the life or career I wanted, but because over time, it helped me quiet the noise, become more self-aware, trust myself, and feel more connected to what I know to be true.
Today, as an executive coach, I see just how much leaders need that kind of space.
So many of the leaders I work with are smart, capable, successful high achievers who are managing a lot. Their minds are still running long after the workday ends. They’re thinking about the meeting that didn’t go well, tomorrow’s presentation, the difficult conversation they need to have, the organizational change coming around the corner, and the 47 other things on their list. They have trouble turning it off at night, transitioning from work to home, and creating boundaries between all the different parts of their lives.
I often describe it as living on the hamster wheel.
For years, I’ve talked about helping leaders get off that wheel so they can become more intentional about their choices and how they show up. But lately, I’ve been thinking there may be an opportunity to go a little further.
What if leadership isn’t only about becoming more intentional? What if it’s also about becoming more aligned?
And this is where things might get a little “woo woo.”
Many of us learned how to compartmentalize as we moved through our careers. I certainly did. Work went in one box. Family went in another. Stress, fears, dreams, relationships—they all had their own boxes too. We became incredibly skilled at packaging things up, putting them on the appropriate shelf, and opening whichever box the situation required.
In my corporate leadership years, that served me well. I followed the rules, worked hard, delivered results, and did what needed to be done. I always had a thread of care, concern, and heart running through my leadership, but I was still separating parts of myself rather than considering how all those pieces fit together.
Over time, that began to change. I became more intentional about how I showed up and more attuned to the people around me. In the workplace, we called some of that emotional intelligence and empathy. Later, I described it in my book as “leading with heart” and being intentional in how you show up.
Today, I think I would describe it a little differently.
I would call it aligned leadership.
Aligned leadership is what happens when your values, intuition, actions, energy, and intentions begin working together rather than competing for your attention. You aren’t leaving parts of yourself at the door when you walk into work because, really, none of us do. We are one whole human being showing up every day to interact, connect, influence, impact, and lead other whole human beings.
When you begin leading from that place, something shifts.
I have a coaching client who is incredibly open to growth. He rarely comes into our conversations with a perfectly packaged coaching topic. Instead, he brings whatever is occupying his mental real estate at that moment—a relationship, an anticipated conflict, a challenge, or something he can’t quite stop thinking about.
Our conversations are fluid. We explore what’s happening, look at it from different perspectives, and consider how he wants to show up. And then, inevitably, the thing we’ve been talking about seems to appear in his work.
Sometimes within days. Recently, it happened within an hour of our coaching conversation.
We joke about these moments, and he calls them coincidences. He would also really like us to spend more coaching time talking about his college football team so he can speak another national championship into existence. 😂
But I’ve come to believe there are very few coincidences. Maybe there are more coordinated incidents.
When something occupies our thoughts, attention, and energy, we become more aware of the opportunities, patterns, people, and circumstances connected to it. We notice things we might have missed before. We’re more prepared when the situation arrives, and because we’ve created space to consider our intentions, we can respond differently when it does.
Is that “woo woo”? Maybe.
But it’s also incredibly practical leadership.
Leadership is fundamentally about awareness, and that awareness has to start with ourselves. The most effective leaders don’t just understand business metrics, market conditions, and organizational challenges. They understand what’s happening inside themselves, too. They recognize when they’re operating from fear instead of confidence, reacting instead of responding, or forcing an outcome instead of creating enough space for clarity to emerge.
Meditation has helped me create that space, but meditation isn’t the only answer. I have clients who use apps like Headspace, while others insist they “aren’t good at meditating” because they can’t turn their brains off. My response is always that the goal isn’t necessarily to turn your brain off.
Find what works for you.
Maybe it’s exercise, a long walk, time in nature, prayer, journaling, or even a walking meditation. Maybe it’s simply ten quiet minutes before everyone else wakes up. The practice matters less than your willingness to create enough space to hear yourself again.
Because beneath all the business buzzwords we use—resilience, agility, adaptability, change leadership—there is something much more human: connection.
Connection to yourself. Connection to your purpose. Connection to the people you lead.
My own journey to understand this has been decades in the making. From watching Oprah as a teenager in the '80s, to Tony Robbins, Brendon Burchard, Abraham Hicks, Gabby Bernstein, and so many others along the way, I’ve absorbed ideas and inspiration that have ultimately helped me arrive at my own sense of what I know to be true.
And today, that feels grounding. Calm. Confident. Connected. There is less forcing and more knowing.
Maybe that sounds “woo woo” to some people. I’m okay with that.
Because I’m beginning to think the leaders we need for the future aren’t those who get better at compartmentalizing, pushing harder, or running faster on the hamster wheel. We need leaders who are deeply connected to themselves so they can more authentically connect with others. Leaders who create space to listen, notice, trust, and choose. Leaders who bring their whole selves to the responsibility of leading other human beings.
Perhaps that is the next evolution of intentional leadership.
A little less forcing. A little more alignment. And yes, maybe even a little more “woo woo.”
If you’re ready to get off the hamster wheel and explore what greater intention and alignment could look like in your own leadership, let’s connect. Sometimes the most powerful shift starts by simply creating enough space to hear what’s already there.
There is a particular kind of exhaustion that leaders are carrying right now.
It's not necessarily burnout in the traditional sense. It's something more layered than that. It's the mental and emotional weight of trying to lead change while simultaneously living inside of it.
In coaching conversations, leadership offsites, and keynote discussions across industries, I'm hearing a similar theme emerge. Leaders are making decisions without complete clarity, managing today's realities while trying to anticipate tomorrow's challenges, and supporting teams through uncertainty while quietly navigating their own questions and concerns. I see it everywhere.
Recently, I spoke at the Ultimate Medical Academy Leadership Conference about what it means to "learn at the speed of change." We discussed the pace of transformation happening across healthcare and healthcare education—technology shifts, workforce changes, AI, evolving expectations, and the emotional toll leaders carry while helping people adapt. But the more conversations I have with leaders, the more I realize this is not simply a healthcare story. It's happening everywhere.
Not long ago, one of my clients described feeling as though he was holding three leadership realities at the exact same time. He was trying to make the best decisions possible in the present while keeping his organization pointed toward the future. At the same time, he felt deeply responsible for implementation—making sure his teams could successfully execute, adapt, and move forward. As he talked, I could hear the weight behind his words. Not because he lacked capability, but because he cares deeply. He wants to get it right and he feels responsible not only for the quality of the decisions being made, but for whether the organization can actually carry those decisions forward successfully. Honestly, I think many leaders are quietly carrying this same pressure right now.
Leadership today often feels like trying to rebuild the airplane while flying it.
There was a time when organizations experienced change in waves. A new system rollout, a restructuring, a strategic shift—and then a period of stabilization before the next significant change arrived. That is no longer the world leaders are operating in.
Today, change feels constant. Technology evolves before teams have fully adapted to the previous version. AI is reshaping workflows in real time. Employee expectations continue to shift. Markets change rapidly. Leaders are being asked to move faster while simultaneously maintaining culture, engagement, trust, and performance.
Many leaders are trying to answer what feels like an impossible question:
How do I keep everyone moving forward when I don't fully know what the road ahead looks like either?
That question requires a very different kind of leadership than many of us were originally taught. Because the leaders who navigate change most effectively are not necessarily the ones with all the answers. They are the ones who are willing to learn, adapt, communicate, and build trust in real time.
One of the biggest traps leaders fall into during periods of transformation is believing they must personally hold everything together ... every answer, every decision, every implementation detail, every emotional burden. I understand that instinct deeply.
During my corporate career, especially in periods of significant transformation, I often felt responsible for carrying both the strategic direction and the emotional weight of the organization. Somewhere along the way, I had convinced myself that strong leadership meant holding it all. Over time, I learned that you cannot scale leadership if you do not trust your people.
At some point, leaders have to stop trying to control every moving part and start creating the conditions where teams can figure things out together. That doesn't mean stepping away from accountability. It means recognizing that sustainable leadership requires shared ownership.
The client I mentioned earlier is learning this in real time. His breakthrough isn't about having every implementation detail perfectly solved before moving forward. It's about trusting that his team has more capability than he sometimes gives them credit for. And frankly, that's uncomfortable for many high-performing leaders. Trusting people often feels riskier than over-functioning which creates bottlenecks, exhaustion, and dependency. Trust, on the other hand, creates growth.
One question I often encourage leaders to ask themselves during periods of change is:
Where am I over-functioning in a way that may unintentionally be limiting my team's growth?
That question alone can create powerful awareness.
At the conference, I shared an idea that continues to stay with me:
The future does not belong to leaders who can simply keep up with change. It belongs to leaders who can learn at the speed of it.
That kind of leadership is not about perfection. It is about mindset, staying open instead of shutting down when uncertainty rises, curiosity instead of defensiveness and resilience instead of rigidity. Most importantly, it is about understanding that change is not just operational—it is deeply human.
Every organizational change eventually becomes a human experience for the people being asked to execute it. People don't simply adapt to new processes or technologies; they experience uncertainty, loss, excitement, fear, resistance, and possibility. That is why leaders set the emotional tone during change. Teams pay attention to how leaders respond when things feel uncertain. They notice whether leaders create fear or clarity. Whether they communicate consistently or disappear into overwhelm. Whether they attempt to carry everything alone or intentionally create connection, trust, and shared ownership.
The leaders who build change-capable cultures are not eliminating uncertainty, they are helping people move through it together.
I don't believe leaders need more pressure to have all the answers. I think they need permission to lead differently-to ask better questions, involve their teams earlier, communicate more openly about uncertainty, let go of the illusion that leadership means always appearing fully certain.
Leadership today is not about standing above change, it’s about learning inside of it alongside your people. Perhaps the greatest leadership shift happening right now is moving from believing our job is to control change to recognizing that our job is to help people navigate it. That requires trust, adaptability, humility, and it requires leaders who are willing to continue learning themselves.
The pace of change isn't slowing down anytime soon. But maybe leadership today isn't about carrying more ... maybe it is about learning to trust, adapt, and navigate change together. Leaders were never meant to carry transformation alone.
What would shift for you as a leader if you trusted your team just a little bit more during change?
If your organization is navigating transformation and looking to build more resilient, change-capable leaders and teams, I'd love to partner with you through speaking, workshops, or leadership coaching focused on leading through uncertainty with greater clarity, connection, and intention.
There’s something about the summer-time—longer days, summer vacations, and a subtle shift in pace—that creates space to step back and reconnect with what matters most. It’s a season that invites more connection, especially with the people we love. For many of us, that means more time with family. And if you’re anything like me, you’ve likely noticed that as your kids get older, that time together doesn’t happen as naturally as it once did.
Everyone has their own plans, their own interests, their own version of fun. And while that independence is something to celebrate, it also means that creating meaningful family moments requires a bit more intention than it used to.
That’s where something we call forced family fun comes in.
In our family, forced family fun isn’t about obligation—it’s about intention. It’s about creating moments that wouldn’t happen otherwise unless we made the effort. Sometimes it’s something simple, like a night at the pool hall followed by sushi. Other times, it’s planning a long weekend or a short getaway.
This year, my family took advantage of the Fourth of July falling on a long weekend and headed out to Colorado together. No friends invited, no splitting off into different directions—just time for us to reconnect as a family. While it may have started with a little resistance due to competing plans and a few questions about why we have to do this, it didn't end that way. What we’re really doing is creating space for connection and once we’re in it—laughing, sharing stories, being present—that initial resistance fades, and what’s left is something much more meaningful.
That idea—of intentionally creating connection—has been sitting with me lately, not just in my personal life, but in the work I do with leaders and teams.
I believe this same dynamic is playing out in the workplace.
The way we work has changed dramatically over the past few years. Hybrid and remote models have created flexibility and autonomy, which many employees value, but they’ve also introduced a new challenge—one that isn’t always immediately visible.
Connection no longer happens organically the way it used to.
And it's not just because people are working remotely. Even in organizations where employees are physically together, many spend their days moving from one back-to-back meeting to the next, often joining virtually from behind their own desks. Increasing workloads, competing priorities, and the constant pressure to keep up can leave little time for anything beyond heads-down execution.
As a result, the informal conversations, spontaneous brainstorming, and moments of shared laughter between meetings—those small, everyday interactions that quietly build trust and relationships—have become far less frequent. In their place, we have more structured communication, more scheduled meetings, more transactional exchanges. And while work is still getting done, something is missing.
Leaders are feeling it in the form of lower engagement, slower alignment, and teams that don’t quite feel as connected as they once did. It’s not that people don’t want connection. It’s that connection doesn’t just happen anymore. It has to be created.
That’s why so many organizations are investing in bringing their people together again.
In fact, according to a recent Korn Ferry commentary on workplace trends, nearly all companies are now hosting off-site events—far more than before the pandemic. At first glance, this might seem surprising, especially in a time when employees value flexibility and autonomy. But when you look a little deeper, it makes perfect sense. Organizations are trying to rebuild something that used to happen naturally—connection, trust, and a shared sense of purpose. In many ways, these off-sites are the workplace version of “forced family fun”. They are intentional moments designed to bring people together, even when it might feel inconvenient or unnecessary at first.
And just like at home, not everyone shows up fully on board. Some employees question the value. Others feel the tension of stepping away from their workload or personal responsibilities. There can be a quiet sense of skepticism—this better be worth it.
Over the course of my corporate career and now in my work with leadership teams, I’ve seen both sides of this.
I’ve experienced off-sites that felt like a nice break from the routine but didn’t create any lasting impact. People connected on the surface, enjoyed the experience, and then returned to work exactly as they were before. I’ve also been part of gatherings that were truly transformative. The difference wasn’t the location, budget, or even the agenda, it was the intention behind it.
When leaders are clear about the purpose of bringing people together—whether it’s to build trust, align on strategy, or create space for honest conversation—the experience shifts. It becomes more than just time away from the office. It becomes a catalyst. Trust, alignment, and connection aren’t built through email threads or status updates. They’re built through shared experiences, meaningful dialogue, and moments where people feel seen and heard. Those outcomes may not show up neatly in a spreadsheet, but they show up everywhere else.
In how quickly teams make decisions.
In how openly people communicate.
In how willing individuals are to support one another and move forward together.
What I find most interesting is how closely this mirrors what happens in our personal lives.
At home, we can’t assume connection will happen as our lives get busier and more complex. We have to create it. We have to make the time, even when it’s not the easiest option. And the same is true in leadership.
We can’t rely on connection to happen organically in today’s work environment. We have to be intentional about creating opportunities for it.
That doesn’t mean every team needs a large-scale off-site. It might be a smaller gathering, a team dinner, or even a well-designed working session that prioritizes meaningful interaction over just getting through an agenda. What matters most is the clarity of purpose.
Why are we bringing people together?
What do we want them to walk away with?
How will this experience help them show up differently afterward?
When those questions are answered with intention, the return becomes clear.
As you move through the summer, I invite you to think about where you might need to create more intentional space for connection. Maybe it’s with your family—planning that trip or that evening together that might not happen otherwise. Maybe it’s with your team—bringing people together in a way that goes beyond the transactional and into something more meaningful. The moments that feel a little forced at first … are often the ones that matter the most.
If you’re thinking about how to create more meaningful connection within your team or leadership group, I’d love to support you. Whether it’s designing an intentional off-site, strengthening alignment, or building trust in a more hybrid world, let’s start a conversation.
Reach out and let’s explore how you can create moments that truly make an impact—for your team and for yourself.
A CEO once told me it was my job to “sell hope.”
If I’m honest, I didn’t like it.
At the time, I was sitting in a C-level role, part of a leadership team navigating a significant transformation. The organization was evolving in ways that touched nearly every part of the business—our strategy, our structure, how teams operated, and how success would be defined moving forward. There was pressure to move quickly, to adapt, and to lead others through something that didn’t yet feel fully formed.
So when I heard the phrase “sell hope,” my immediate reaction was resistance.
It felt disingenuous. Like we were being asked to paint a picture that might not come true. Like we were leading people somewhere we couldn’t guarantee. And as a leader who deeply valued trust and authenticity, that didn’t sit well with me.
But over time—and through that transformation—my perspective began to shift.
What I came to understand is that selling hope isn’t about spin. It’s not about glossing over the hard parts or pretending uncertainty doesn’t exist. It’s about belief. And more importantly, it’s about helping others find belief when they’re still trying to make sense of what’s changing around them.
During that time in our organization, we were asking people to stretch in new ways. To let go of what was familiar. To adopt new ways of working and, in some cases, redefine their role entirely. And while we as leaders had been part of the conversations shaping that future, our teams were just beginning to process what it meant for them.
That gap—between where leaders are and where their teams are—is where hope either takes hold or begins to break down.
Because in that space, people are quietly asking themselves:
Where are we going?
Why does this matter?
Is this going to be worth it?
That’s where leadership shows up in a very real way.
If I’m being completely honest, part of my initial resistance to “selling hope” came from the fact that I hadn’t fully done the work myself.
I understood the strategy.
I could communicate the plan.
But I hadn’t yet connected to it on a deeper level.
And you can’t sell something you don’t believe in.
That realization was a turning point for me. I had to slow down and reflect—not just on what we were doing, but on why it mattered. I had to find my own connection to the future we were trying to create before I could expect anyone else to follow.
Because hope isn’t something you simply communicate. It’s something people experience through you—through your energy, your clarity, and your conviction.
This is especially true in times of change. Leadership insights continue to reinforce that hope isn’t passive—it’s something we actively create by helping others move forward with purpose and belief.
As leaders, we are naturally ahead. We’ve had more exposure to the strategy, more time to process it, and more context around where things are headed.
But if we move too far ahead without intentionally bringing our teams with us, something begins to shift.
It can feel like we’re moving confidently forward—clear on the direction, energized by what’s possible. But when we pause and look back, our teams are further behind than we realized. They’re still trying to understand, still processing, still questioning.
And in that moment, the gap between leader and team isn’t just about pace—it’s about perception.
When people feel too far removed from where their leaders are, they can begin to feel disconnected from the vision. They may question the intent behind decisions. They may feel like things are happening to them rather than with them.
And if that gap continues to widen, something even more important is at risk—trust.
Because when leaders appear too far ahead, without bringing others along, people can stop seeing them as someone to follow and start seeing them as someone they don’t fully understand… or trust.
Selling hope, then, isn’t about pulling people forward faster. It’s about staying connected enough to guide them forward. It’s about helping them see what’s ahead without losing sight of where they currently are.
So what does this look like in practice?
There are a few intentional shifts that can make all the difference when you’re leading through change:
We are leading in a time that feels faster, more complex, and more uncertain than ever before. Change is no longer a one-time event—it’s constant.
And in that kind of environment, hope becomes a stabilizing force.
Not as a slogan.
Not as a leadership tactic.
But as a responsibility.
Because whether we realize it or not, people are always looking to their leaders for signals. They are watching how we show up, how we communicate, and how we respond to uncertainty.
And in many ways, they are asking: Is there something here worth believing in?
If there’s one takeaway from my own experience, it’s this:
You can’t sell hope if you don’t feel it yourself.
So before you try to inspire others, pause. Connect to the deeper purpose behind where you’re going. Ground yourself in the impact you want to create.
And then lead from that place.
Because when hope is real—when it’s felt, not forced—it becomes one of the most powerful forces in leadership.
If this resonates with you and you’re leading through change right now, I’d love to connect. You can learn more about my work or start a conversation here.
I have never been great with directions.
When my son was a toddler sitting in his booster seat in the back of the car, he would confidently tell me which way to turn when I got flustered and unsure.
Imagine that — a tiny human calmly navigating while I was second-guessing every intersection.
Some people just seem wired with an internal compass. He clearly did not get that from me.
Over the years, I’ve realized my relationship with direction has shaped more than how I travel. It has shaped how I lead. And I know many leaders quietly wrestle with the same thing — making decisions and moving forward without complete clarity.
In fact, I think I know exactly where my own sense of direction comes from. My mom often tells the story about when my dad took me with him on a quick errand to the post office. What was supposed to be a short trip turned into four hours. He got completely lost. She was home with my baby brother worried about what might have happened.
Somewhere along the way, I adopted a similar relationship with direction. Not just on roads and highways, but in life too.
There have been many seasons where I have not felt one hundred percent clear about where I was headed. Times when I made what felt like the right turn only to realize later it meant recalculating. Times when I wondered if progress would lead to a breakthrough or simply a U-turn.
If you are a leader, you probably know this feeling.
Today we have incredible tools to help us find our way. GPS. Strategy frameworks. Leadership models. Data dashboards. AI. Advisors and coaches. All of these can help us move faster. They can reduce friction and provide guidance when the path feels uncertain. And yet, tools are not perfect.
Even now, when I travel to a client’s city filled with tall buildings and unfamiliar streets, my GPS will occasionally fail me. I will confidently start walking only to realize a few minutes later that I am heading in the wrong direction. Sometimes the signal drops. Sometimes the map spins. Sometimes I simply misinterpret what I see.
Leadership is no different.
You can have a beautiful strategic plan and still feel unsure. You can have access to more information than ever before and still wrestle with doubt. You can be surrounded by smart people and still need to make a decision without full clarity. The myth that great leaders always know the exact direction keeps many talented people stuck.
Where in your leadership might you be waiting for perfect clarity before taking the next step?
For years I tried to fix my lack of directional confidence in very practical ways. I challenged myself to get better. I would hear my mom’s voice in my head reminding me that streets run north and south and avenues run east and west. It is a grid. It should be simple. Some days that helped and other days it made things more confusing. Kind of like leadership advice.
Over time, my focus shifted. Instead of obsessing over always knowing the precise route, I began practicing something more important — trusting that clarity often comes after we begin moving.
Directionally, I might know I need to go that way. Not with perfect certainty. Not with a fully mapped path. Just with a quiet internal nudge.
So I step forward.
Sometimes the GPS locks in and confirms I am exactly where I need to be and sometimes I need to adjust. Occasionally, I have to turn around completely. None of that means I am lost. It means I am learning.
One of the most defining moments of “moving before I was fully clear” came when I made the decision to leave corporate.
For most of my career, I never imagined I would step away from that world. I loved leading teams, the pace and the impact. My identity was deeply connected to being an executive.
But a serious health scare became the nudge that said, go that way.
Or maybe more accurately… take a left here.
I did not have a perfectly mapped path. I did not know exactly what my next chapter would look like. I only knew that staying where I was no longer felt aligned.
Over the past nine years since making that decision, the road has not always been clear. There have been unexpected turns. There have been U-turns. There have been moments of recalculating and there has also been so much growth, purpose, and joy.
I made a commitment to myself to keep the road open — to stay curious, to listen for new direction, and to trust that adjusting along the way was part of building a meaningful journey.
Leadership often asks us to do the same.
Modern leadership requires both external guidance and internal connection. We absolutely should use the tools available to us. They make the journey more efficient and often more effective. But we cannot outsource our intuition. We cannot silence the voice that tells us when something feels aligned or when a different path might serve our people better.
Intentional leadership is not about having every answer before you begin. It is about developing the self-awareness and courage to move forward while listening deeply.
When leaders learn to trust their inner compass, they give their teams permission to do the same. They create cultures where movement matters more than perfection and learning matters more than always being right.
If the path ahead feels unclear right now, here are three practices that can help:
Perhaps the most powerful shift for me has been making peace with imperfection. I may never be the person who can instantly orient herself in any city without help. I may still have moments where I second-guess a turn. I may still find myself walking a block or two in the wrong direction. And that is okay.
Because I trust that I will find my way.
Leadership is not about flawless navigation. It is about resilience. It is about adaptability. It is about the willingness to keep going even when the signal drops or the map spins. The practice is not just about knowing where north is. It is about strengthening your inner compass so you can move with intention even when the path is unclear.
I am still learning. Still recalculating. Still listening.
It is not perfect.
But I am getting better. And that feels like exactly the right direction.
If you are navigating uncertainty in your leadership right now, you don’t have to figure it out alone. Coaching can help you strengthen your inner compass, build confidence in decision-making, and lead with greater intention. If this message resonates, I would love to connect and explore what direction might look like for you.
Years ago, I was working closely with a large sales organization, and there was one business book that seemed to be circulating through every corner of the team.
The book was Raving Fans by Ken Blanchard, and the concept quickly became a favorite among the sales leaders I worked with.
The idea behind the book was simple: when you create an experience that truly stands out, you don’t just earn satisfied customers—you earn advocates. People who talk about you, recommend you, and share their experience with others without being asked.
Looking back, I’ve often thought of that concept as the precursor to something most organizations measure today: Net Promoter Score. That familiar question many companies now ask their customers:
How likely are you to recommend us to a friend or colleague?
But what always stood out to me about Raving Fans wasn’t the measurement itself. It was the mindset behind it. The goal wasn’t simply to satisfy customers—it was to create an experience so positive that people naturally talked about it.
You created raving fans.
I remember our sales team even turning the idea into a bit of a friendly contest. The idea stuck with them so much that some created playful posters hanging in their cubicles that looked like those old bulletin board flyers you might see in a laundromat—“Roommate Wanted” or “Guitar Lessons”—with the little tear-off phone number tabs along the bottom.
Their posters said something along the lines of Raving Fans Wanted.
It was clever and interestingly the memory resurfaced recently during a coaching conversation with a leader who was feeling frustrated in her career.
She had been passed over for promotion twice and was struggling to understand why. Her results were strong, her work was thoughtful and consistent, and she was respected by the people who worked closely with her. Yet she kept coming back to the same question:
Why wasn’t her work speaking for itself?
As we talked, it became clear that the challenge wasn’t capability or performance. It was visibility—and more specifically, how uncomfortable she felt with the idea of promoting herself. She felt awkward, almost self-serving, highlighting her accomplishments. She preferred to focus on doing great work and trusted that others would notice. At the same time, she was watching colleagues around her openly share their successes and make sure their contributions were visible ... sometimes appropriately and sometimes a little generously.
This is a tension I see often with leaders I coach, and especially with women. Many thoughtful, high-performing leaders believe that if they simply do excellent work, it will eventually be recognized. For many women, advocating for themselves can feel misaligned with how they want to lead, so reframing visibility through the lens of advocates and champions often feels far more authentic. But the reality inside most organizations is that many of the conversations that shape careers happen when you are not in the room.
In many ways, this is really a conversation about leadership visibility, how your reputation and contributions are understood and advocated for even when you’re not present.
Leadership teams regularly gather to discuss promotions, succession planning, and new opportunities. When those conversations happen, people inevitably begin talking about people, about who might be ready, who has demonstrated leadership potential, and who could step into the next opportunity.
In those moments, reputations travel through the room. And often, the most influential voice advocating for you in that conversation isn’t your own.
It’s someone else saying, “Let me tell you about her.”
That realization brought me back to the concept of Raving Fans, because the idea applies just as much to leadership as it does to customers.
Instead of asking, How do I promote myself?, a more helpful question might be:
Who are my raving fans?
Who are the people who will speak about your leadership when you are not in the room? Who has experienced your work closely enough to advocate for you? Who believes in your judgment, credibility, and the way you lead?
Those voices matter. In many cases, they carry far more influence than anything you could say about yourself. This doesn’t mean leaders should ignore visibility altogether. Part of leadership is helping others understand the impact of your work and the value you bring to the organization. But effective visibility isn’t about constant self-promotion, it's about building trust, relationships, and credibility so that others naturally talk about your leadership when the moment calls for it.
So how do you intentionally build the kind of reputation that creates these advocates?
In my experience working with leaders and teams, raving fans are rarely created through self-promotion. They are created through consistent leadership behaviors that others experience firsthand.
Deliver meaningful results that others experience.
Strong work matters, but it becomes far more powerful when people experience it directly. When colleagues or leaders work alongside you on important initiatives and see how you think, solve problems, and navigate challenges, they gain firsthand insight into your leadership.
Make your impact visible without making it about you.
One of the most effective ways to share your contributions is to frame them around outcomes and team success. When leaders communicate progress, lessons learned, and results achieved, they help others understand the value of their work without needing to center themselves in the story.
Build strong relationships across the organization.
Advocates rarely come from people who only know you through reports or occasional meetings. They come from people who have worked with you, collaborated with you, and seen how you show up in real situations.
Support and elevate others.
One of the most powerful ways to create advocates is by becoming one yourself. Leaders who notice great work, recognize others publicly, and speak positively about colleagues create a culture where advocacy becomes mutual.
Over time, these experiences build trust and credibility. They shape how others talk about your leadership when you’re not present and this is when the real power of reputation begins to show up.
There is another side to this idea that I believe is just as important.
If you’re in a leadership role today, you also have the opportunity to become someone else’s raving fan. When leaders speak up for others in the room, recognize their contributions, and advocate for their potential, they create moments that can shape careers. Some of the most meaningful moments in my own career came from leaders who did exactly that—leaders who believed in my capabilities and spoke up for me when opportunities were being discussed. Those moments matter more than we sometimes realize.
So here’s a question worth reflecting on.
If your name came up in a leadership conversation tomorrow, who would be your raving fans? Who would be the person in the room willing to say, “Let me tell you about her.” And perhaps just as importantly—whose raving fan are you becoming?
Because leadership impact doesn’t grow only through the work we do. It grows through the trust we build, the experiences we create for others, and the people who believe in the way we lead—enough to say our name when we’re not there.
If you’ve ever struggled with how to advocate for yourself without feeling like you’re self-promoting, you’re not alone. Many of the leaders I work with—especially women—are navigating how to make their impact visible in a way that still feels authentic.
Building credibility, cultivating advocates, and ensuring your work is recognized in the right rooms are leadership skills that can transform a career.
If this resonates with you, I’d love to connect.
A few weeks ago, I noticed the word “vibe” kept showing up everywhere.
You probably hear it all the time too.
“We had a great vibe.”
“The vibe felt off.”
“I don’t know… something about the vibe just wasn’t there.”
It’s one of those words we use casually, almost instinctively. We may not always be able to explain exactly what we mean, but we know when we feel it.
The vibe is vibing.
And lately, I’ve been thinking about it a lot—especially in the context of relationships and leadership.
At the beginning of this year, I set a personal intention: to make energy decisions.
Not ego decisions. Not obligation decisions. Just energy decisions.
After years of running my own business and working closely with leaders and teams, I’ve become more aware of how precious our energy really is. Where we invest it matters. Who we spend it with matters. And the energy we bring into a room often shapes what’s possible in that moment.
That intention came into focus recently during a simple coffee meeting.
A friend who knows my work introduced me to another woman in our community. She thought there might be some alignment between what we both do professionally, and I’m always open to meeting thoughtful, accomplished people who care about making an impact.
So we met for coffee.
The conversation was nice. She was smart, kind, and clearly passionate about her work. But as we talked, I noticed that I was working really hard to find the connection.
I kept trying to imagine how our work might overlap. I searched for ways we could collaborate or support one another professionally. I found myself asking more questions, digging a little deeper, hoping something would click. It never quite did.
When the conversation ended, I walked away feeling surprisingly drained. Nothing had gone wrong. She was lovely. But I knew that I had just spent an hour trying to manufacture a connection that didn’t naturally exist.
The old version of me probably would have scheduled another coffee. After all, she had been introduced to me for a reason. Maybe the next conversation would reveal something. Maybe I just needed more time to figure out how we could work together.
But I reflected on my intention for the year to make energy decisions. Honestly, the energy just wasn’t there.
For the first time in a situation like this, I made a different choice. When she suggested getting together again, I politely declined. Not because she wasn’t wonderful, but because the energy didn’t feel aligned.
That decision might sound small, but it felt significant. It was a reminder that energy is a form of currency—and we get to choose where we spend it.
Around the same time, I came across a preview of a new book by Adam Grant called VIBE which caught my attention. In introducing the book, he talked about something many of us have experienced but rarely stop to analyze … why some interactions feel electric while others fall flat.
He shared a story about a speaking event where he had to replace a conversation partner at the last minute. On paper, the two of them didn’t seem like an obvious match. They had different personalities, interests, and barely knew each other. Yet when they stepped onto the stage together, the chemistry was undeniable. People assumed they had been friends for years.
He couldn’t stop thinking about why that moment worked so well. What he realized was that connection isn’t really about how much time we spend with someone, it’s about how we spend that time.
In this case, his conversation partner—an actor—encouraged them to rehearse the rhythm of the conversation backstage. Instead of exchanging long personal stories, they riffed on ideas together. They created momentum and energy before they ever stepped in front of the audience.
Reading that, I found myself nodding along.
In my experience as a coach, the most impactful moments in my work often happen when that same kind of energy is present.
There’s a certain ease to those conversations. I’m not searching for the perfect question or trying to impress anyone with insight. I’m simply present—fully listening, curious, and engaged.
My client is leaning in, I’m leaning in and ideas begin building on each other. Something new starts to emerge in the space between us.
Those are the moments when coaching isn’t “work”, it’s “ease”. The conversation flows, the insight lands and the energy expands.
You could say the vibe is right.
One way I’ve come to think about it is that a vibe is simply energy made visible.
You can feel it in a room. You can sense it in a conversation. You know when it’s present—and you know when something feels off.
Why don’t we always trust that signal?
Often we override it with logic or obligation. We convince ourselves we should keep investing time because the relationship makes sense on paper. Or because someone introduced us. Or because we don’t want to disappoint anyone.
But the longer I do this work, the more I believe that connection is the true catalyst for impact.
When people feel a natural alignment in energy:
In a world that’s moving faster than ever, that ability to connect quickly matters.
We don’t always have months to build relationships anymore. Leaders are navigating constant change, packed schedules, and endless demands on their attention. Many of our interactions happen in short windows—meetings, quick conversations, brief collaborations.
In those moments, the energy we bring matters … your presence matters, your curiosity matters … and the way you listen, respond, engage with others sets the tone for what happens next.
Which means the vibe you create isn’t just a personal experience—it’s a leadership signal.
Energy is contagious.
When a leader shows up distracted or disengaged, people feel it immediately. But when a leader brings genuine presence, curiosity, and openness into the room, the entire dynamic shifts. Conversations become more real. People feel safer speaking up. Ideas begin to flow.
The vibe changes and with it, the possibilities for connection, collaboration, and progress.
So if you’re thinking about how this shows up in your own leadership, here are a few simple practices that can help.
Notice how conversations feel—not just what is being said. Are people leaning in or pulling back? Does the conversation feel open and engaging, or forced and transactional?
Energy often tells you more than words.
In a distracted world, presence is powerful. Put the phone down. Listen fully. Ask one more curious question. When people feel truly seen and heard, connection accelerates.
Pay attention to where ideas start building naturally. Those are often the places where collaboration, innovation, and impact are waiting to happen.
Sometimes the most important leadership decision isn’t pushing harder—it’s recognizing when the energy isn’t aligned and adjusting accordingly.
Lately I’ve been asking myself these questions:
Where does the energy feel expansive?
Which conversations leave me feeling energized and inspired? Which relationships create momentum instead of depletion?
Sometimes the most powerful leadership decision we can make isn’t about doing more. It’s about paying attention to the energy in the room - and trusting what it’s telling us.
If you are curious about how your leadership presence and energy show up for the people around you, I invite you to take my Heart Leader Assessment. It’s a simple way to reflect on the intentional energy you bring to your team, your conversations, and your leadership.
Your vibe might matter more than you think. 💜
There is a shift happening inside organizations right now.
The pace is accelerating. Expectations are rising. And the margin for sitting back and waiting for clarity has nearly disappeared.
More and more companies are asking their teams to move with urgency. And it’s becoming increasingly obvious who is operating with that urgency—and who is quietly leaning out.
Leaders and teams are no longer in a position where they can afford to simply wait for things to settle down.
I know what the waiting looks like.
Early in my corporate career, I was part of an executive team navigating, what felt like, constant change. We were in growth mode, under pressure to hit ambitious targets. Product teams were chasing the “shiny pennies.” New initiatives would surface quickly—sometimes to close a deal before year-end, sometimes to respond to a competitor, sometimes just hoping to find the bluebird that would fix everything.
The pattern was predictable.
A big idea would launch.
Energy would spike.
Resources would shift.
And then, before the strategy had time to fully take hold, another pivot would arrive.
Over time, something subtle happened … leaders across the organization became conditioned to it.
You could hear it in quiet hallway conversations:
“If we wait long enough, this will change again.”
“Don’t get too invested.”
“Let’s just see where this lands.”
It wasn’t laziness. It was self-protection.
When change feels temporary, when direction shifts frequently, you learn to conserve your energy. You learn not to overcommit emotionally or strategically.
Instead of leaning in to shape the change, you may begin to lean back.
In looking back on that experience, I will admit that many of those initiatives did fade or morph into something else. So for a while, that strategy worked.
But it doesn’t anymore.
This speed of change is different. The scope of transformation is broader. Technology, AI, market shifts, talent expectations—everything is moving at once. Sitting back and waiting for it to pass is no longer a neutral stance. It’s visible.
And costly.
We are no longer operating in an environment where change cycles quietly reset themselves. The speed of transformation—driven by technology, AI, evolving customer expectations, and global uncertainty—means that leaders who hesitate stand out.
And the data reinforces this reality.
McKinsey has long reported that nearly 70% of transformation efforts fail, with the most common reasons being employee resistance and lack of management support—not flawed strategy. In other words, it’s not the plan that fails, it’s the leadership behavior around the plan.
Gallup research also shows that managers account for at least 70% of the variance in team engagement. When leaders are disengaged, hesitant, or resistant to change, their teams feel it immediately—and performance follows.
When you lean out, your team does too.
When you lean in—demonstrating curiosity, courage, and openness—your team has permission to do the same.
When I talk about “going faster,” I am not talking about piling more work onto already full plates. I am not suggesting reactive decision-making or abandoning thoughtful planning.
I am talking about speed in:
The leaders who are thriving right now are not necessarily the ones executing the most tasks. They are the ones who are quickest to reframe. They move more rapidly from resistance to curiosity. They transition more quickly from “Why are we doing this?” to “What opportunity might this create?”
That kind of internal agility is what organizations need.
When a leader leans out—emotionally or intellectually—it becomes apparent. In meetings, they are quieter. Their language is more cautious. Their energy feels reserved. And teams pick up on that subtle withdrawal.
But when a leader leans in—even without having every answer—the impact is noticeable. They ask thoughtful questions. They engage in shaping the outcome. They model adaptability in real time.
And those are the leadership muscles required for what’s next.
If you are honest with yourself, you likely know the answer.
Change fatigue is real. Transformation can feel relentless. It is human to want stability and clarity before fully committing.
But the leaders who will thrive in this season are not the ones who wait for certainty. They are the ones who build comfort with ambiguity. They understand that leaning in does not require blind optimism—it requires engagement.
Here are three practical ways to assess where you stand and, if needed, recalibrate.
Pay attention to how you talk about change.
Are you using phrases like, “Let’s see how this plays out,” or “This will probably shift again”?
Those statements may feel pragmatic, but they can signal hesitation to your team.
Experiment with language that invites ownership instead:
“What would success look like here?”
“How could we test this thoughtfully?”
“What role can we play in shaping the outcome?”
Language influences mindset, and mindset influences culture.
Your team reads your posture and tone long before they analyze your strategy.
Are you contributing ideas? Asking questions? Demonstrating engagement? Or are you observing from the sidelines, waiting for direction to solidify?
Leaning in does not require dominating conversations. It requires visible participation in building the future.
You do not need sweeping gestures to demonstrate commitment.
Often, it is the small, consistent signals that matter most: volunteering to pilot an initiative, publicly sharing what you are learning, inviting feedback on how you are adapting.
These actions communicate forward motion. They signal that you are not waiting for change to pass—you are helping shape it.
The future will not belong solely to the most experienced leaders or the most technically skilled. It will belong to those who are adaptable enough to evolve alongside the change.
Adaptability is not about constant reinvention. It is about maintaining engagement when conditions shift. It is about choosing curiosity over cynicism and contribution over observation. It is about modeling for your team that forward motion is possible—even when the path is not perfectly clear.
The pace of change isn’t slowing down.
But how you show up inside of it is still within your control.
So here’s the question I’ll leave you with:
Where are you leaning?
And what would shift if you leaned in just 10% more this month?
If you’re recognizing areas where you may have been leaning back—or if you want to strengthen your ability to lead with greater adaptability, clarity, and intention in this next season—I’d love to partner with you.
As we turn the page into 2026, I’ve been reflecting on the conversations I’ve had with leaders this past year, from executives navigating AI expansion, to high-potential talent building confidence, to teams trying to transform how they work together.
One thing is clear:
2025 changed us.
It reshaped expectations. It stretched our capacity. It asked us to step into leadership with more intention, more courage, and more humanity than ever before.
And the leaders who rose to the moment—the ones who inspired connection, sparked possibility, and created meaningful impact—shared something in common.
They didn’t wait for clarity…
They created it.
They didn’t chase perfection…
They led with heart.
As we step into 2026, here are the five leadership essentials I believe every leader will need to navigate the year ahead with confidence, courage, and clarity.
If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that change is no longer an event—it’s a constant. AI, restructuring, new operating models, evolving customer expectations… the pace isn’t slowing down.
But here’s the real truth leaders can’t ignore:
Change doesn’t fail because of strategy. It fails because of people.
This year, I watched leadership teams thrive when they paused long enough to ask:
How will this change impact our people? What will they fear, hope, or wonder? What do they need from us to feel supported and informed?
Leading change in 2026 means focusing on alignment, communication, clarity, and emotional connection—not just systems and tools. The leaders who embrace the human side of transformation will be the ones who sustain momentum long after the excitement of the plan fades.
I said it all year long because it kept proving true:
Intentional leaders create the greatest ripple of impact.
Whether you’re rolling out new technology, preparing your team for a big initiative, or simply navigating the everyday pressures of leadership, intention is the difference between:
Your leadership presence matters.
Your tone matters.
How you show up—especially in moments of pressure—matters.
Going into 2026, ask yourself regularly:
What does this moment need from me?
What outcome do I want to create—emotionally, relationally, and operationally?
How can I model the mindset I want others to carry?
Intention is not a skill you master once. It’s a daily practice. And it’s one of the most powerful tools you have.
So many leaders I coach struggle with confidence—even those who seem most put together on the outside. I get it. I spent too many years in corporate honoring my own inner critic.
But here’s the shift I want every leader to make in 2026:
Confidence isn’t about knowing all the answers.
It’s about trusting your ability to figure things out.
Real confidence is built through self-awareness, preparation, and the steady belief that you can navigate whatever comes your way. It’s strengthened when you speak to yourself with more compassion, set boundaries that protect your energy, and take steps forward even when you’re not 100% sure how things will unfold.
It grows from acknowledging your competence, owning your strengths, and trusting that—even in moments of uncertainty—you will rise to meet the moment.
Doubt will whisper. It always does.
But your confidence will grow strongest when you decide to show up anyway, anchored in the belief that you are capable, adaptable, and resourceful.
This year, leaders everywhere learned to navigate the tension between efficiency and empathy. AI accelerated work, elevated expectations, and reshaped roles. But it also highlighted something important:
People still crave what only leaders can give—connection, trust, safety, and belonging.
As workplaces evolve even more in 2026, here’s what your people will need from you:
Yes, AI will continue to expand, but so will the need for human leadership—leaders who understand that culture is built in moments, not memos.
That starts with you.
Whether I was facilitating leadership offsites or guiding teams through transformation this year, one theme kept surfacing:
Collaboration isn’t a “nice to have.” It’s a strategic advantage.
Silos slow organizations down.
Misalignment creates friction.
Lack of clarity drains energy, trust, and execution.
In 2026, the most effective leaders will be the ones who:
One of my favorite leadership moments this year was hearing a technology leader use the word collectively seven times in a single kickoff.
That’s the mindset 2026 demands.
Not just leading independently…
But leading collectively.
If 2025 was the year of expansion, then 2026 will be the year of integration—blending technology with humanity, urgency with empathy, and strategy with intention.
Leadership is changing.
Expectations are rising.
But so is your capacity.
You’re not leading in spite of the change—you’re leading because you’re uniquely equipped to make sense of it, humanize it, and guide others through it.
Lead with intention.
Lead with connection.
Lead with heart. 💜
If you’re ready to step into 2026 with clarity and renewed confidence, I’d love to partner with you. Let’s explore how coaching can help you elevate your impact and lead the way—with purpose, courage, and heart.
You don’t have to lead alone.
Let’s make 2026 your most meaningful leadership year yet.
We’re in a moment unlike anything most leaders have ever experienced. Technology, especially AI, is moving faster than our structures, our policies, and honestly… our comfort zones.
Organizations are racing to capture the benefits of efficiency, insights, and productivity. CEOs are pushing for acceleration, eager to stay competitive. Teams are ready to experiment, innovate, and learn.
And then there’s the leader who unintentionally slows everything down.
Not because they want to, and not because they don’t see the opportunity. More often, it’s because their leadership instincts were built for a different era, one that valued certainty, caution, and control. Those instincts once made them effective. Today, they can hold leaders back at the exact moment their organizations need momentum.
This tension is real, and I see it in many rooms I work in. Leaders are being asked to empower their teams and unleash new technology, while also protecting the business from risks we’re still trying to understand.
It’s a delicate balance and a harsh reality that everything around us is changing, and leaders must change too. The leadership behaviors that once made us successful are not the behaviors that will carry us forward.
And that’s where unlearning comes in.
Insights from the Stanford Digital Economy Lab’s Canaries in the Coal Mine highlight just how much the ground beneath us is shifting. For the first time in a long time, workers in their 40s and beyond are being hired at faster rates than early-career talent.
This trend is emerging because AI is absorbing the task-heavy, entry-level responsibilities that used to serve as foundational training grounds. Organizations now need people with judgment, critical thinking, and the capacity to navigate complexity—skills that come from real-world experience.
But, here’s the nuance … experience only creates impact when leaders are willing to rethink and relearn. Those who cling tightly to the leadership patterns that once defined their success may find themselves unintentionally creating friction where momentum is needed most.
I worked with a leader recently who faced this head-on. For years, she was known for her ability to anticipate risks, manage details meticulously, and ensure everything was buttoned up before moving forward. Her teams trusted her. Her results were strong. But as her company adopted AI-driven processes and began moving faster, those same strengths began slowing her team down. They hesitated to bring her ideas. They waited for her approval. They matched their pace to her comfort level rather than the pace the business needed.
In one coaching conversation, she said shared:
“I realized I was protecting the organization from risks that no longer mattered—and exposing us to risks I didn’t even see.”
That was the moment she began unlearning. Not her wisdom, not her experience—but the beliefs that no longer supported the leader she was becoming. As she let go, her team stepped up. They moved faster. They innovated more. They felt trusted and empowered.
That’s the shift unlearning makes possible.
As leaders, we must learn to hold two truths at once:
On one side, we have a responsibility to manage risk thoughtfully.
AI does raise questions about governance, accuracy, bias, legality, and ethics. Leaders cannot ignore these concerns.
On the other side, we must move quickly enough that our organizations—and our people—don’t fall behind.
The greater risk now is standing still.
Leading today means balancing these two forces, not choosing one over the other. And that balance requires unlearning old habits, old rules, and old beliefs about what “good leadership” looks like.
The leadership playbook that worked even five years ago no longer fits the world we’re operating in. A few old rules you may recognize include:
Old Rule: Wait for perfect information before deciding.
New Reality: Perfect information doesn’t exist in a landscape that evolves daily.
Old Rule: Protect your team by avoiding risk.
New Reality: Protect them by empowering thoughtful experimentation.
Old Rule: Leaders should have the answers.
New Reality: Leaders must create environments where the best answers can emerge.
Old Rule: Slow and steady keeps you safe.
New Reality: Slow and steady can mean falling behind.
Unlearning isn’t about discarding wisdom—it’s about updating it for the world we’re leading in now.
Here are three practical steps leaders can take to begin unlearning in a productive and confidence-building way:
As AI accelerates and organizations adapt, the leaders who succeed will be those who can let go of outdated patterns, embrace new ways of working, and create environments where teams feel empowered to learn, experiment, and grow.
Experience still matters—but only when paired with adaptability.
Confidence still matters—but only when paired with curiosity.
Leadership still matters—but it must evolve.
AI is reshaping how we work. Unlearning is reshaping how we lead. And in the coming years, the leaders who can do both—thoughtfully and intentionally—will set the pace for everyone else.
Let’s explore how unlearning old patterns, empowering your teams, and leading with intention can help you navigate change with clarity and confidence.
Book time with me here and let’s talk about what’s possible.
