Dear Change Leader, “I need to protect my team from all this chaos,” Priya told me during a recent coaching session. As CEO of a growing company, she’d been absorbing every shock from the organization’s turbulent environment — shielding her directors and managers from the worst of the uncertainty. She meant well. But when I […]
Disruption Is Your Teacher: Developing Leaders in Today’s Environment Read More »
One Map, Many Eyes: Learning To See What Surrounds You When the environment around you keeps shifting, it’s tempting to stay heads-down and react to whatever comes next. But that approach has a cost. You end up making decisions based on partial information and assumptions you haven’t examined. Your team may be operating from
Leadership In Action: Context of Change Maps Read More »
Setting Your Change Initiative Up for Success Dear Change Leader, “We don’t have time to plan—we need to act now!” If you’ve felt this pressure, you’re in good company. The urgency to launch, to show progress, to respond to mounting demands—it’s real. Unfortunately, it’s often exactly what derails change before it has a chance
Measure Twice, Change Once Read More »
Dear Change Leader, Janus, the Roman god of doorways and transitions, possessed something most gods lacked: two faces, looking in opposite directions. One gazed backward, at the path traveled. The other looked forward, toward the road ahead. The Romans weren’t being whimsical. They understood something essential about transitions: you can’t move forward well without
“Looking Both Ways: The Janus principle for leaders navigating year-end transitions” Read More »
Most teams start January with renewed energy and all the best intentions to make positive changes for the year ahead. By February, the momentum inevitably stalls. By March, people have reverted to their usual ways of working. Successful teams invest time upfront to align on what work matters most for them to achieve their shared
Building Team Alignment for the New Year Read More »
Leading with presence when you don’t have all the solutions Dear Change Leader, “I need to have the answer before I can talk to my team,” Jennifer said during a recent call. As a senior leader, she’d been dealing with shifting customer demands and three rounds of budget revisions in the past six months.
Why Your Team Watches Your Calm, Not Your Answers Read More »
Finding Clarity in the Year-End Clearing December brings a peculiar challenge. As a leader, you’re expected to plan for the coming year—to set goals, establish priorities, and project confidence about a future you can’t fully see. But reacting and adapting to the current year’s constant disruptions has left you feeling exhausted, and the
Leadership In Action: Perspective Building Read More »
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 »