The pace of change isn't slowing down. Technology like AI is transforming how we work. Generational dynamics are shifting as new generations enter the workforce and older ones retire. Best practices evolve. Leaders who stay curious adapt to these changes. They learn new tools. They understand new perspectives. They adjust their approaches based on new information. Leaders who think they already know everything become increasingly irrelevant. They keep doing things the way t

I worked with someone who wouldn't take accountability for anything. Well, unless it was taking credit for something. For that, credit would be taken. If they made a mistake however, the finger was pointed. The idea they were presenting suddenly became someone else's. The decision they had made became a decision they were overturning. Often this person did all of this behind the backs of others. We watched relationships crumble and trust fail and had no idea why.

I'm very imperfect in communication. Not to say I don't study what works, what doesn't, and make many attempts to regularly do better. But effective communication is hard. The line between too much and too little communication is so fine it's missed often. And here's what makes it even harder: the location of that line changes based on who you're working with, what the topic is, the day or time, the feelings of the other person, and so much more. A perfect way to communicat

Early in my career, if I had a question, I asked it. Didn't think twice about how to phrase it, how it would be received, or whether it might upset someone. I just charged ahead, oblivious to the wreckage I was leaving behind. If something frustrated me, you knew it. My face told the whole story before my mouth even opened. I thought passion and authenticity meant wearing your heart on your sleeve and letting people know exactly how you felt in every moment. I wasn't entire

And you know what happens? When politics enters the workplace, trust exits. Because people can tell. They always can. No matter how polished the performance, people sense when their leader isn't being real. And once they sense it, everything that leader says gets filtered through that lens of skepticism. That's why authenticity isn't just a nice to have quality in leadership. It's essential. Not because being real makes you likable, though it might. But because leading

I worked with a team once whose leader had a habit of taking credit for their work. Not in obvious ways. It was subtle. In meetings with upper management, the leader would present ideas the team had developed without mentioning where they came from. When projects succeeded, the leader's name was front and center. When things went wrong, suddenly it was a team effort and everyone shared the blame. The team noticed. Of course they noticed. And once they did, everything changed.

If I had to point to the most significant overall change in my leadership, it would be this: capping my emotions. The faucet is off, or at least on a slow drip. I can't react emotionally and build respect or relationships. I can be authentic without spewing my emotions all over the place. That shift has changed everything. It's changed how people experience me. It's changed what I'm able to accomplish. It's changed the quality of my relationships and my effectiveness as a l

Social awareness is your ability to accurately pick up on emotions in other people and understand what's really going on in social situations. It's reading body language, noticing tone shifts, picking up on group dynamics, and understanding the unspoken undercurrents that affect every interaction. It's not mind reading. It's observation. Attention. Tuning into the people around you instead of being so focused on yourself that you miss everything else.

I think the most interesting story about emotional intelligence I can think of involves a person who told me they didn't need any training on emotional intelligence because they were "a professional at it." At the same time, members of their team spent most of their time working around this person and rolling their eyes at them.

Tracking the wrong leadership metrics? Here's how to measure what actually matters for team health and effectiveness, not just what's easy to count. Here's a confession: I'm a finance person. Numbers are my language. I love data, spreadsheets, metrics, all of it. I can get genuinely excited about a well-constructed dashboard. (Yes, I know that makes me weird. I've made peace with it.) But here's what I've learned after two decades in leadership: most of the metrics we obses

The things I've gained from other leaders include learning everything I can to make smart decisions, collecting data and taking time to dive into a situation before making a knee jerk reaction, the art of storytelling and making real life situations interesting to help people learn and grow, and true compassion for others. But I've also learned what NOT to do. The things I've observed that I don't want to emulate include overconfidence, leading from ego, making decisions bas

There's something about January that makes us all lose our minds a little bit. We convince ourselves that this is THE month. The fresh start. The clean slate. The moment when everything changes. So we create these elaborate plans. We set impossible standards. We try to overhaul our entire lives all at once while still, you know, living our actual lives. And then reality hits.

I apologize when I have to bother someone to get details about a personnel matter. Even when that matter is as important (or more important) to the person I'm "bothering" as it is to the employee involved. Even when it's literally part of their job to provide me that information. Then on the flip side, I apologize when I have to deliver news that isn't what someone wanted to hear. When a project didn't make the priority list. When the outcome of a situation isn't exactly wha

It's the last Monday of the year, and if you're on social media at all, you've seen them. The posts about New Year's resolutions. The ambitious lists. The grand declarations of transformation.

Perfectionism is killing your productivity and stressing your team. Here's why "excellent and done" beats "perfect and never finished" every time.

Constantly checking work email at night and weekends? You're not alone. Here's why this habit hurts your leadership effectiveness and 5 practical strategies to finally set healthy email boundaries.

Here's the thing about leadership: we accumulate baggage. Not just physical clutter on our desks (though let's be honest, that happens too), but mental and emotional weight that limits our effectiveness. Habits that made sense at one point but don't anymore. Beliefs about leadership that sound noble but actually hold us back.

I wasn't setting my team up for success. I was holding everything so close that they couldn't function without me. And if I'm being truly honest, many years back I was probably a little too insecure in my role. There was some fear that went along with holding it all so close, fear that someone might take the ball and run with it, fear that they might not need me as much as I thought they did.

We all know social media isn't real life. Nobody posts pictures of their messy kitchen or their kid's meltdown in the grocery store or the fight they had with their spouse about whose turn it is to take out the trash. They post the vacation photos, the perfectly plated dinners, the smiling family pictures. But somehow, we forget that the same principle applies at work. You see other leaders in meetings where they're prepared and confident. You see them giving presentations

Let me paint you a picture of my past self: Friday afternoon, 4:30 PM. My desk looks like a paper explosion. Fifteen browser tabs open. Unread emails stacking up. Post-it notes stuck to everything. My brain is already halfway to the weekend, but there's this nagging feeling in my gut that I'm forgetting something important.