Great leadership is rarely taught, but it can be mastered. I break down complex topics and offer insights, resources, and challenges to help you strengthen your skills, build confidence, refine your mindset, and lead high-performing teams.
The Power of Strategic Restraint
The Power of Strategic RestraintYears ago, I made a very smart move — I declined a promotion. Yes, the salary would have been higher. And yet… I knew I’d be bored. That role would have pulled me away from my inherent strengths. I would’ve been busy — productive even — but disconnected from the work that excites me. Busy and bored is a dangerous combination. One of the most important elements of great leadership is knowing your sweet spot. It’s easy to get pulled off track — to manage, fix, and do all the things just to keep things moving. Before you know it, you’re no longer orchestrating or guiding your organization toward its North Star. You’re head down, wading through the weeds. Busy… and bored. Andy Stanley talks about this beautifully when he says leaders should focus on “only doing what only you can do.” When leaders jump into everything — saying yes, rescuing, shepherding every detail — they unknowingly give up the opportunity to inspire vision and develop others. Leadership isn’t about doing more. We often confuse busy with valuable. It’s having the discipline to hold yourself accountable to your strengths — to invest your time and energy where the return is highest for the organization and the people within it. How to break the cycle:1. Get radically clear on what only you can do. 2. Use accountability wisely.
Many leaders carry an old story that says, “If I’m not at every table, I’m not adding value.” Real value comes from clarity. That’s where transformation happens. So get out of your own way. |
Weekly Wisdom
Great leadership is rarely taught, but it can be mastered. I break down complex topics and offer insights, resources, and challenges to help you strengthen your skills, build confidence, refine your mindset, and lead high-performing teams.
When “No” Becomes a Negotiation This past weekend, a dream came true. I taught the first—of what I hope will be many—self-defense classes for high school girls. While preparing, I came across a quote that landed hard: “When a man says ‘No,’ it’s the end of the conversation.When a woman says ‘No,’ it’s the beginning of a negotiation.” I haven’t been able to stop thinking about it. Because that same dynamic shows up every day in the workplace. We spend an extraordinary amount of time navigating...
“Fear is the most expensive leadership strategy we never budget for.” While not captured on a P&L, the loss is real. More than $1 billion dollars is lost each year to fear-based leadership—through disengagement, burnout, turnover, and rumination. One of the biggest culprits? Unconscious cognitive load. There’s a scientific term for this: Perseverative Cognition—the repetitive mental replaying of worries, assumptions, stories, and imagined futures.Not the event itself, but the thinking about...
I recently learned a term that stopped me in my tracks: “Bliss Station.” Coined by Joseph Campbell in The Power of Myth, it refers to a sacred place—or time—where you intentionally disconnect from the noise of the world and reconnect with your deeper self. Campbell spoke about carving out this space unapologetically, slowing down enough to listen, reflect, and create. I want to put a small spin on this idea. My first job in a hospital placed me in a sterile room—four blank walls, little...