Power shapes every decision we make as leaders. Yet, many of us move through leadership roles without fully understanding how power influences our actions, relationships, and impact. Developing a power lens means intentionally examining how power operates within ourselves and our organizations. Without this awareness, we risk blind spots that can undermine trust, stifle innovation, and limit our effectiveness. Growing up in a military environment, I initially saw power as aut

Leading through complexity means more than managing tasks or hitting targets. It involves navigating the unpredictable challenges that life and work bring, often all at once. Imagine a leader who supports a team carrying a heavy workload while also caring for an aging parent, a recent loss of a beloved pet and acclimating to an empty nest. At the same time, a high-performing team member struggles with personal issues outside work and there are two vacant positions that need f

"I know what I should do...I'm just not doing it." Finishing up spring break this week AND noticing a few things I don’t always have time to say out loud. There’s a lot in the background right now—globally, economically, and yes, a ton of crappy weather. Even when it’s not directly impacting us, it changes how people show up at work. There’s a layer in organizations carrying more than we acknowledge. Mid-level leaders. They sit between competing priorities, personalities, pow

Let’s be honest. Most of us don’t actually fear failure, we fear looking incompetent. Failure can be reframed and dressed up as resilience, grit, or a good learning story. But, incompetence? That one lands differently. It whispers (with hand on the hip), You should know this by now.  And for leaders, especially the capable, steady, people-rely-on-you kind, that whisper can easily turn into a scream. For many, competence has felt like the currency of worth . In the mainstream