Blog
How to Stay Level-Headed When Demands Exceed Your Inner Resources
How do you stay level-headed when leadership often comes with high-pressure situations, difficult conversations, tough decisions, and unexpected challenges? Some leaders seem to navigate these moments with ease, staying calm even when tensions are high, but the reality is that level-headed leadership isn't a natural trait, it's a learned skill....
Emotional Regulation Isn’t Something You Learn—It’s Something You Practice
Growing up, my mom wanted me to take piano lessons. I wasn't crazy about the idea, but I didn't have a choice, both my sister and I were expected to take lessons. As with learning any new skill, taking the lesson is one thing, practicing so the lesson sinks in...
How One Woman’s Internal Peace Saved Her Life and Hundreds of Others
August 20, 2013. Ronald E. McNair Discovery Learning Academy Elementary School. Antoinette Tuff was starting another typical workday when a gunman entered the building and said: "We are all going to die today." In that moment, Antoinette had a choice: React with panic or stay grounded in peace. She chose...
The Family Role You Can’t Escape in Your Role at Work (And Why That Might Be a Good Thing)
Lee sat across from her boss and felt an oddly familiar feeling. Within ten minutes, her boss had gone from a verbal rampage about an unexpected vendor change to acting as if nothing happened. The team sat silent, waiting for the storm to pass. And that's when Lee realized: This...
What If the Conflict at Work Is Actually Teaching You Something You Need to Know?
April is Workplace Conflict Awareness Month. This is your invitation to ask: What is this conflict at work trying to teach me? There's someone at work who makes your days unbearable. Maybe it's the colleague who flies off the handle, or the one who withdraws into silence when you need...
What If the Conflict You’re Avoiding Is Costing You Your Best Ideas?
April is Workplace Conflict Awareness Month. This is your invitation to ask: What If the Conflict You're Avoiding Is Costing You Your Best Ideas? You're in a leadership meeting, someone has an idea that challenges the status quo, it's bold, and maybe even a little outlandish. Your first instinct is...
The Leadership Behaviors That Make Your Team Feel Safe Enough to Tell You the Truth
Your team just left the leadership meeting, and you asked if anyone had concerns about the new strategy. Silence. You asked if anyone saw potential problems with the timeline. More silence. You said, "I really want your honest feedback." Still nothing. Later that afternoon, you overhear two team members in...
Why Your Team’s Best Ideas Never Surface During Crisis (And the Brain Science That Changes Everything)
Sheila had 15 days to meet a critical deadline when the unexpected happened. A key vendor fell through, her project suddenly derailed, and in that moment, her brain did exactly what the brain does when crisis hits: It shut down creative thinking and went into threat mode. Her usual take-charge...
The Cost of Staying Silent: What Happens When Abrasive Behavior Goes Unchecked
There's a moment most leaders know well. You've just heard again… that a high-performing employee crossed a line. Maybe they humiliated someone in a meeting. Maybe they snapped at a colleague in front of the team. Maybe the complaints landing on your desk have quietly multiplied over the past several...
The 5 Key Questions To Break Through What Keeps You From Addressing Abrasive Behavior
You know you need to talk to Claudie. You've known for months, maybe longer. Another employee came to your office yesterday—the third one this quarter—with the same story. Claudia yelled at them when they asked a simple question, spoke down to them like they were incompetent, and made them feel...