The Transparency Paradox Every Leader Faces Dear Change Leader, “I can’t tell them the whole truth,” Marcus said quietly. As Executive Director of a regional nonprofit, he’d been carrying difficult news for three months—uncertain funding, potential program and staff cuts, strategic questions about the organization’s future. “If my team knows how serious this is, they’ll […]
What Leaders Fear to Say (But Teams Need to Hear) Read More »
When Everything Is a Priority, Nothing Is You have too much on your plate. You’re wearing yourself out by trying to attend to everything you believe you have to do. What’s worse, you are not leaving yourself any ‘strategic slack’ to either deal with unexpected developments nor prepare for the future. I’ll be frank––you
Leadership In Action: Priority Anchors Read More »
Dear Change Leader, “I thought being steady meant staying still,” Marcus told me during our coaching session last month. As the newly promoted Director of a fast-growing tech startup, Marcus had been trying to project unwavering confidence and consistency. He believed that good leadership meant being the organization’s anchor—solid, immovable, predictable. But the more he
The Art of Dynamic Balance Read More »
Dear Change Leader, In 1972, a small team at Royal Dutch Shell gathered to do something that seemed almost absurd: imagine a future in which oil prices would skyrocket. At the time, oil had been cheap and stable for decades. The entire industry operated on the assumption that this would continue. Planning for anything else
The Leadership Trap That Creates Tomorrow’s Crises Read More »
How leaders can reignite purpose and hope when teams are running on empty Dear Change Leader, “I look around the room and see people who used to light up when we talked about our work,” Stefan shared with me last week. “Now they just look… tired. Really tired.” As Executive Director of a community
When Your Team’s Spirit Feels Broken Read More »
Addressing Collective Exhaustion Without Trying to Fix the Unfixable Your team is exhausted. This is a reality that is not discussed much. This is not simply the exhaustion that follows long hours or challenging projects. This is the bone-deep weariness arising from months, perhaps even years, of operating in stress mode. They’ve survived layoffs
Leadership In Action: Team Perseverance Read More »
What high-performing leaders discover when they stop trying to have all the answers Dear Change Leader, “Do you mind if I ask your opinion on something?” a seasoned executive asked me recently. “If you could share one thing that many leaders miss—something that could unlock a new level of leadership for them—what would that
The Freedom to Not Know Everything Read More »
Finding Your Foundation When Everything Feels Unsteady The Resilience Paradox: Why Optimism Isn’t Optional Here’s what I’ve learned after years of working with leaders in crisis: resilience isn’t about being tough enough to power through. It’s about being adaptive enough to find solid ground, even when the landscape keeps changing. A seasoned CEO
Leadership In Action: Optimism Read More »
How accomplished leaders can guide their teams through constantly shifting organizational landscapes Dear Change Leader, “I feel like I’m kayaking through an estuary where the channels keep shifting,” shared Rebecca, a seasoned C-suite executive, during our recent conversation. “Just when I think I’ve found the safe passage, the tide changes and suddenly I’m navigating
Navigating the Estuary: Leadership in Ever-Changing Terrain Read More »
How seeing systems reduces your overwhelm and increases your influence Dear Change Leader, “I kept thinking there had to be one key thing causing our retention problem,” explained David, a department head at a consulting firm. “I’d tackle communication, then discover it was workload. I’d address workload, then find out it was career development.
Seeing the Systems that Enable Everything Read More »