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.
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.
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.
There’s a unique energy that comes with stepping into a new leadership role—especially when it’s an elevated one. Excitement, pressure, big ideas, a fresh mandate, and the desire to make an early mark all collide at once. Most leaders describe this moment as a mix of adrenaline and responsibility: “This is my chance to make an impact.”
And it is.
But here’s what often gets lost in the noise of expectations, strategy refreshes, and early wins:
You’re not the only one transitioning—your team is too.
In fact, while you’re thinking about the big strategic shifts, your new executive peers, and the expectations of the CEO or board, your team is silently trying to answer a different set of questions:
What does this mean for us?
How do we work with you?
What do you expect?
And how do we succeed under your leadership?
This is where many new leaders unintentionally misstep. Not because they aren’t capable, prepared, or well-intentioned—but because their focus tilts upward and outward, rather than downward and inward. They invest heavily in the organizational transition, while under-investing in their team’s transition to them.
And that gap becomes costly.
Much has been written about the importance of a leader’s first few months on the job. Michael Watkins’ classic book, The First 90 Days remains a go-to resource for leaders everywhere—because it teaches you how to diagnose the organization, gain early wins, and build momentum quickly.
What’s important to remember … you cannot accelerate your impact if your team stays stuck at the starting line.
I’m working right now with a leader who was recently promoted to a C-level role. He has plenty to focus on—aligning with a new executive team, reshaping his strategy, and identifying the levers he can influence now that he’s sitting one seat higher.
Yet one of the most important questions he’s learning to ask is also the simplest:
“How is my team experiencing me in this transition?”
That awareness is the difference between a leader who simply steps into the role and one who truly lands in it.
That’s why I use a New Leader Assimilation process with newly elevated executives—a focused, insight-driven approach that gives leaders the clarity, expectations, and early alignment they need to lead effectively with their teams. It’s not heavy, and it’s not a long-term intervention. It’s a quick-hit, high-impact alignment that ensures the team moves forward together, not in parallel.
Like it or not, assumptions are the silent killers of a new leadership role.
When a leader doesn’t take time to understand how their team is experiencing the transition, here’s what usually happens:
And the worst part?
By the time misalignment becomes visible, it’s already impacting performance.
Early alignment is not about hand-holding. It’s about eliminating ambiguity before it becomes friction. It’s about equipping your team to move with you, not behind you. And it’s about avoiding the trap so many new leaders fall into …
Leading with horsepower instead of partnership.
If you’re stepping into a new leadership role — especially an elevated one — here are four intentional leadership moves to ensure you don’t leave your team behind as you surge forward.
You won’t get real insights by asking, “How’s everything going?”
You will get real insights by asking:
Whether gathered through a structured interview process or through your own conversations, these insights are gold. They tell you exactly where your early leadership will matter most.
Because your team will absolutely follow you—but they want to know you see them first.
You know what you expect from your team, but do you know what they expect from you?
One of the most important parts of assimilation work is surfacing mutual expectations early. People rarely say these things out loud, yet they shape everything: trust, accountability, communication, decision-making.
Think of it as closing the gaps before they become frustrations.
Great teams don’t happen by accident. Even small agreements—how you communicate, how you meet, how decisions get made, become the scaffolding for trust and performance.
This is where I lightly weave in principles from frameworks like The Five Behaviors®—trust, communication, clarity, accountability, and results—to create shared language and early norms.
It doesn’t need to be exhaustive. It just needs to be intentional.
If there’s one idea to carry with you from all of this, it’s that early impact is never created in isolation. While your role may have changed, your success is still deeply connected to the people who now look to you for clarity, direction, and leadership in this next chapter.
You were selected for this role because of your experience, your judgment, and your ability to think strategically. Those strengths matter. But what ultimately determines whether your first 100 days build momentum—or quietly create friction—is how well your team understands you, trusts you, and feels equipped to succeed alongside you.
This is why leading the work and leading the team must happen at the same time. When leaders focus exclusively on strategy, speed, and early wins, teams are left trying to catch up. But when leaders slow down just enough to create alignment, surface expectations, and establish clear ways of working, something powerful happens: the team moves forward with them, not behind them.
Your first 100 days aren’t about proving that you belong in the role. They’re about creating the conditions for others to do their best work under your leadership. And when you do that—when you bring your team with you intentionally—your impact doesn’t just grow.
It compounds.
If you’re navigating a leadership transition and want to set your team up for success early, let’s connect!
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.
Leaders today aren’t just being asked to perform—they’re being asked to transform.
Transform teams. Transform strategy. Transform business models.
And in many cases? Transform themselves.
What once made you successful—deep expertise, reliable execution, clear ownership within your silo—isn’t enough anymore. Today’s business landscape demands something different. Something bigger.
Leaders are being stretched across boundaries. They're now expected to deliver enterprise‑wide outcomes in areas where they’ve never been before.
They’re moving from contributor to connector. From functional expert to visionary integrator.
I saw the early signs of this shift in my own corporate leadership over 15 years ago. Back then, “transformation” was the buzzword we were just starting to wrap our arms around—new operating models, service transformations, product pivots. I sat in more than a few strategy sessions where we debated whether the term transformation was already losing meaning.
But fast forward to today and there’s no debate.
Transformation isn’t a trend. It’s the norm.
And the pace hasn’t slowed. My coaching clients are consistently navigating software transformations, digital maturity efforts, cross-functional redesigns, and new product launches. They’re not only leading business change, they’re being asked to become the change.
And it’s exhausting.
Studies now show that the average leader faces nine major changes a year—and nearly 4 in 10 say they’d rather quit than lead through another transformation. This isn’t a matter of laziness or lack of talent. It’s the cumulative weight of change fatigue, unclear expectations, and the pressure to be brilliant in unfamiliar territory.
So what do you do when the scope of your leadership expands faster than your certainty?
In today’s landscape, the most effective leaders aren’t the ones with all the answers—they’re the ones with the confidence to figure it out.
This is the quiet skill that underpins today’s most adaptable, impactful leaders.
They don’t wait until they feel ready.
They lead while they’re learning.
They trust their ability to move forward—even when the path isn’t fully mapped.
Leadership Now Requires moving from → to …
McKinsey recently described what they call the evolution toward “networked leadership.” It’s a shift away from traditional, hierarchical models—and toward collaborative, cross-boundary influence.
Here’s a snapshot of how leadership is changing:
These shifts aren’t just theoretical—they’re what I see playing out with my clients every day.
In this new reality, leaders can’t rely on subject-matter mastery alone. Confidence now comes from the ability to move forward, collaborate widely, and think systemically.
One client’s recent experience brought this to life in the most powerful way.
One of my clients—a highly capable executive with a strong track record—was tapped earlier this year to stand up an enterprise innovation function from scratch.
Here’s the catch: she had no experience in innovation.
And worse, the function had failed at the company multiple times before.
She was met with skepticism from all sides.
“Been there, done that. What’s different this time?”
I remember those first coaching conversations. She felt like a fish out of water. And she admitted it. The scope felt massive. The expectations were unclear. And her past success had been built on deep functional expertise—not ambiguity.
But just a few months later, she lit up when I asked her what she was proud of.
“I created an advisory board. I pulled in employee fellows from across the business. I have board-level exposure and credibility with my CEO. And I didn’t burn a single bridge along the way.”
Her final reflection?
“I can run an innovation team. Nothing is impossible.”
So, what changed? She didn’t magically become an innovation expert.
She became a more confident, adaptive leader.
Here’s what I observed in her transformation—and what any leader can apply:
She made the complex accessible. No jargon. No over-explaining. Her clarity helped others say yes.
Tip: When overwhelmed, ask yourself: What’s the simplest way to say this? Start there.
She removed her bias, listened actively, and approached conversations as a collaborator—not a commander.
Tip: When you don’t know something, ask. Curiosity builds connection. Control shuts it down.
Her mantra became “just do it.” She started small, built early momentum, and let progress speak for itself.
Tip: Don’t wait to feel confident. Move anyway—and let action build belief.
She didn’t assume people knew the why or the plan. She shared, realigned, and invited others in.
Tip: If you want people to trust your leadership, communicate like it’s your #1 job. It is.
She paused often to celebrate wins and recognize growth. That reflection helped her track her own development—and show up stronger each time.
Tip: Confidence grows when you take time to notice how far you’ve come.
This is the moment to lead differently. To step out of the comfort of knowing—and into the confidence of becoming.
You don’t need to know everything. You need to lead with courage, clarity, and the conviction that you’ll figure it out as you go.
That’s what today’s transformations require.
If you’re being asked to lead in unfamiliar territory, know this:
You weren’t chosen by accident.
You were chosen because your leadership is ready for what’s next.
You don’t need to feel fully confident yet. But you do need a foundation of self-trust—and a few powerful strategies to lead with courage and clarity.
That’s why I created Unleash the Confident Female Leader—an online course designed for women like you, who are ready to rise into more visible, more impactful roles without waiting to feel “perfectly” ready.
Let’s stop waiting to be ready. Click here to learn more
It couldn’t be done. Until it was.
A client recently shared a story that’s stuck with me. He had approached a vendor with a challenge: an ambitious deliverable in an aggressive timeframe. The vendor replied with certainty, “It can’t be done.”
Their response wasn’t malicious. It came from experience, from the data they had, and from what had been possible in the past. But that’s the problem, isn’t it?
So many of us lead from what was—not what could be.
This leader, however, knew better. Just three years earlier, he had done something transformational for his company: he stood up a new data lake in six months, a record-setting achievement. It had never been done before in that organization—and yet, they did it.
Now, three years later, with even more complexity and constraints, he faced a similar challenge. The timeline? 60 days.
The verdict? “Impossible,” they said.
But here’s what he told me after his team pulled it off:
“We were ready. My team has been preparing for this moment. It wasn’t an option to not figure it out. The fact that we did it in 60 days? Stellar—but expected.”
That line hit me.
Stellar. But expected.
Because great leaders today are not waiting for all the information, the perfect plan, or ideal conditions. They’re readying themselves and their teams for what’s next—even when what’s next doesn’t yet exist. They're creating new possibilities by stepping forward with trust, not certainty.
We are now in a leadership era where the impossible is becoming the norm. Things are being done today that have never been done before—and at a breakneck pace.
In this world, leading from the rearview mirror won’t cut it. As Korn Ferry put it in a recent article, Beware the Black Swans, unpredictability has become our norm—and flexibility, adaptability, and intentionality are more important than ever.
Gone are the days when linear planning could carry you from idea to outcome. In today's reality, you often have to jump... and build the parachute on the way down.
The leaders who thrive in this space aren't necessarily the ones with the most knowledge or the best playbooks. They're the ones who lead with trust—in themselves, in their teams, and in their ability to figure it out along the way.
This brings us to something deeper. When the pace is fast and the stakes are high, you don’t have the luxury of overthinking, overplanning, or overdoing.
You have to shift from doing to being.
Instead?
The leader in this story didn’t need more time. He needed more clarity—on who to involve, what success looked like, and where certainty could be found, even in the unknown.
And from there, he moved.
Because confidence doesn't come from having all the answers—it comes from knowing you'll find them. Again and again.
If you're navigating complexity, leading transformation, or simply feeling the stretch of doing what’s never been done before, here are three shifts to help you BE the kind of leader today’s world demands:
If it feels like you’re being asked to do something that’s never been done before, you’re not alone.
That’s not a flaw in today’s leadership landscape—it’s the new normal.
The question isn’t: Can it be done?
It’s: Are you willing to trust yourself enough to go first?
You don’t need to have all the answers. But you do need to show up. Be present. Lead with clarity and conviction.
Because leadership today is less about having a map and more about becoming the compass.
If this message resonates with you, I invite you to take the next step. Let’s explore what it means to show up with more presence, more purpose, and more confidence—even in the unknown.
👉 Book a conversation with me to talk about how you or your team can lead with heart through whatever comes next.
There’s a phrase I’ve been thinking about a lot lately: “leaving it all out on the field.”
It comes from the world of sports, where effort, grit, and heart matter just as much as skill. It’s about showing up fully—mind, body, and soul—regardless of the outcome.
And after recently facilitating a leadership workshop for a client I’ve had the privilege to partner with for two years now, I realized that this phrase doesn’t just apply to athletes. It perfectly captures what real leadership looks like and what so many leaders are doing right now, every single day.
They are leaving it all out there.
The workshop was focused on Communication and Conflict—timeless and relevant topics, for sure. But if I’m being honest, it’s not the content itself that lights me up. It’s what happens around the content.
It’s the moment someone shares how they’re barely holding it all together but are still leading with heart.
It’s the pause when someone gets vulnerable enough to admit, “I can’t do it all—and that has to be okay.”
It’s the real, raw, unfiltered conversations that make leadership come alive in the room.
That’s where the magic is. That’s what keeps me coming back.
Before the session, I met with my client contact—someone I deeply admire—and she said something that stuck with me:
“Our goal isn’t just about results. We’re trying to create better human beings.”
And let me tell you—it shows.
This company is investing in leadership not as a means to an end, but because they believe leadership is the end. They care about their people as humans first—and it’s reflected in how their leaders show up, engage, and grow.
And they’re not alone. Companies that take this kind of intentional, human-centered approach to leadership development are seeing the benefits—not just in business results, but in wellbeing, culture, and connection. A recent Harvard Business Review article affirms this: when done right, leadership development can lead to personal growth, greater purpose and meaning at work, reduced stress, and a boost in mental health and happiness.
That’s not just a “nice to have.” It’s the kind of transformation that fuels long-term performance, loyalty, and resilience.
So what are these organizations doing differently?
After years of facilitating leadership experiences across industries, I’ve seen clear patterns emerge in the organizations that truly get it. The ones who create space for meaningful leadership growth—not just training—tend to share a few key behaviors:
1. They Focus on the Whole Human, Not Just the Role
The best organizations understand that leadership isn’t just about competencies—it’s about character. They invest in emotional intelligence, self-awareness, confidence-building, and resilience. They support not just the leader, but the human behind the title.
They ask, “How can we develop strong leaders and good human beings?”
2. They Create Space, Not Just Content
Content is important—but it’s not what transforms people. The most powerful development happens when leaders are given a safe, intentional environment to reflect, share, and connect. These companies create experiences that feel human, not corporate.
They prioritize honest conversation over information overload.
3. They Play the Long Game
The best leadership development programs aren’t one-and-done. They’re woven into the culture. These companies bring teams back together, reinforce learning, and stay consistent in their commitment to growing leaders at every level.
They know that real transformation takes time, and they stay in it for the long haul.
When I opened this session, I asked a simple question:
“What’s one moment recently where communication either helped or hurt your ability to lead?”
What followed was a flood of honesty. Stories of misalignment, exhaustion, overcommunication, and silence. Stories of leaders navigating hybrid environments, spinning too many plates, and still—still—striving to lead with clarity and compassion.
One leader said, “If we had a 28-hour day, that would be helpful.”
Another shared, “I’ve had to remind myself that if a few plates fall, it’s okay—it’s how I clean it up that matters more.”
That’s the kind of reflection that doesn’t come from a textbook. It comes from being in the arena. It comes from leading through complexity, change, and pressure—without having a playbook in hand.
One of my favorite moments came at the end of the session, when a participant summed it up with a twist on a familiar phrase:
“Well, sometimes you just have to make chicken salad out of chicken… stuff.”
Not an exact quote, but you get the idea.
That’s leadership. It’s messy. It’s imperfect. It’s about making something meaningful, even when the circumstances aren’t ideal.
People often assume I’m the one doing the teaching during these sessions. But the truth is—I learn just as much.
This particular group reminded me that while tools and models (like the SBI or LEAP frameworks we covered) are valuable, they don’t create impact on their own.
It’s the willingness of leaders to try the tools. To practice empathy. To navigate the discomfort of conflict with curiosity instead of avoidance. That’s where growth happens.
It’s not easy. But it’s necessary.
And for those organizations that recognize the value of creating space for this kind of work—bravo. You are investing not just in stronger teams, but in more resilient, connected, human workplaces.
If you’re a leader reading this and you feel like you’re spinning too many plates or wondering if all your effort is being noticed, please hear this:
You’re not alone. You’re not behind. And you are making a difference.
Keep showing up with heart. Keep having the hard conversations. Keep creating space—for yourself and others—to reflect, reset, and realign.
Because how you lead matters. And the impact you make? It’s bigger than you think.
Are you looking for ways to invest in your leaders beyond the typical training playbook? Let’s talk.
Click here to book a conversation and explore how we can create meaningful leadership experiences together.
Let’s help them leave it all on the field—and feel proud of how they showed up.
In my work with senior leaders across industries, one conversation comes up again and again—especially for leaders stepping into VP or senior leadership roles for the first time.
They say:
“I know how to deliver results. I’ve built my career on execution and getting things done. But now, the expectations feel different. I’m not just leading a team; I’m expected to influence across the organization, partner with the C-suite and think far beyond my function. How do I make that leap?”
That’s what I call the growth edge—the space between where you are today and the leader you need to become to thrive at the next level.
The shift from delivering results to driving strategy can feel like stepping onto a completely different playing field. And that’s because, in many ways, it is.
At the Director level, success often comes from execution excellence—delivering projects on time, leading teams to hit targets and ensuring operational efficiency. Those skills don’t disappear at the VP level, but they become table stakes. They’re the minimum expectation, not what sets you apart.
At the VP level, the spotlight widens. Suddenly, you’re:
It’s not like there’s a playbook or checklist for this shift. No one hands you a “how to VP” manual. The roadmap is unwritten because the real growth edge isn’t about what you do—it’s about how you show up.
Your growth edge is in your how.
This is where the biggest mindset shift happens—and where many leaders get stuck.
At this level, your how matters more than your what. How you engage your peers. How you frame and communicate ideas. How you build trust across functions. How you elevate the conversations you’re in.
Your growth edge is defined by how you step into that bigger, broader, more visible leadership role. It’s less about the technical mastery that got you here and more about the leadership presence and strategic thinking that will keep you here—and help you thrive.
As I recently shared recently with a team of senior leaders, those who successfully navigate this shift do three things consistently. These aren’t just “nice to do”—they’re essential for leaders operating at the VP level and beyond.
At the operational level, it’s easy to get caught up in the what—tasks, deliverables, and updates. But senior leaders don’t need (or want) to be in the weeds. They care about the why—the business impact, the risks, the opportunities.
Every time you communicate—whether to your team, peers, or boss—ask yourself: Am I framing this conversation around why it matters? Am I connecting this work to the bigger picture?
This small shift in framing elevates your voice and positions you as a strategic partner, not just an executor.
At higher levels, the ambiguity factor skyrockets. Change happens fast, decisions are made with limited information and senior leaders often operate in gray areas. In these moments, clear communication is a superpower.
If you don’t shape the narrative, someone else will. Be intentional about how you communicate, whether it’s a status update, a team meeting, or a one-on-one with your boss. Ask yourself:
Clear, intentional communication helps you manage up and foster alignment across your peers and teams.
It’s easy to get stuck in the day-to-day grind. But the leaders who thrive at the VP level are the ones who carve out time to zoom out. They don’t just execute—they ask bigger questions:
That shift—from short-term tactics to long-term strategy—is a hallmark of leaders who own their growth edge.
The truth is, no one is going to tap you on the shoulder and say, “Here’s exactly what you need to do to succeed at this level.” The most successful leaders write their own playbook, one built on intentional leadership.
Intentional leaders know that how they show up matters as much as what they deliver.
That’s why your growth edge isn’t just a career milestone—it’s a mindset shift. It’s about owning how you show up, how you add value and how you lead when the path forward isn’t always clear.
So, I’ll ask you the same question I asked that senior leader: What’s your growth edge right now?
Maybe it’s elevating your voice in executive meetings. Maybe it’s becoming more comfortable navigating ambiguity. Or maybe it’s building stronger cross-functional relationships to drive enterprise-wide initiatives.
Wherever your edge lies, I encourage you to lean into it—intentionally. The biggest growth happens when we’re willing to step into the discomfort of not having all the answers—and lead anyway.
If you’re navigating this shift—or preparing for it—I’d love to help you explore your growth edge and build the intentional strategies to thrive. Let’s connect to discuss how executive coaching or leadership workshops can help you (or your team) make the leap.
