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I recently needed to make some choices about my business and was finding it hard to focus, discern the options clearly, and move forward. My thoughts were jumbled and racing, and I was distracted, unfocused. I decided to sit quietly for a while in my garden. As I took some deep breaths, all I could hear was the song of several birds and the soft fall of water in my fountain. When I looked around, I noticed a blooming pink rose and a hummingbird feeding on my red flowered bush. The tension eased …

When I was a CEO, we once failed to meet our quarterly fundraising goal. 

My first reaction was a wave of emotion: anger at the numbers, blame directed at my staff as I combed through mistakes that had contributed to the shortfall (one oversight was a doozy), and shame that I, as the person ultimately responsible, had let it happen. Layered on top of all that was dread. I had a Board of Trustees meeting in a week, and I had no idea how I was going to explain this. 

Fortunately, I caught myself…

As leaders, we are constantly balancing competing priorities, professional and personal.

I know that when stress from this balancing gets too hard overwhelm can set in and even result in a freeze response because everything starts feeling too hard.

When things feel overwhelming, many leaders assume the solution is to push harder, longer, or faster. But overwhelm can be operating at multiple levels of mind and body. So, when you notice you are overwhelmed it is best to stop and take stock of wh…

Early in my work with leaders, a pattern kept emerging. A CEO would describe a team conflict, a disengaged employee, a communication breakdown, and almost always, the root issue wasn't what they thought it was. They had been solving for the surface, when the real problem was beneath it.

Deep listening is what gets you beneath it.

Not the kind of listening where you're waiting to respond, solve, or redirect. The kind that allows another person to fully arrive in the conversation. When they do s…

There comes a moment in every leader’s journey when the question isn’t what to do — it’s whether you have the courage to do it. 

You’ve gathered the data. 
You’ve listened carefully. 
You’ve weighed the impact on people you care deeply about. 

And still, the decision in front of you feels heavy. Risky. Personal. 

My clients often tell me this is the loneliest place in leadership. You’re experienced enough to see the full complexity of the situation, but human enough to feel the cost of choosing…

This Sunday is the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year but filled with promise of the return of longer days. Some call it the rebirth of the sun. As we experience more darkness outside, it can be a perfect time to bring light indoors with lights and candles and is a propitious time to go within.  

This season invites introspection, rest, and reflection, mirroring nature's energy conservation and is ideal for setting intentions, releasing old patterns, and planning for new growth. 

Wh…

There was a time in my leadership journey when I felt drained. Long hours, shifting metrics, and relentless demands left me running on empty. Despite all the effort, something essential felt missing. I found myself dreaming of a workplace where success wasn’t measured solely by numbers, but by the quality of our relationships and the meaning behind what we did each day.

One day, as I was searching for a new leadership role, I had a simple thought: I’d love to work somewhere that begins the day …

One of my clients had just landed her dream position and after we celebrated together, I asked her how she wanted to be in her new job. I was asking not about what she would be doing as it was clear she was confident how to approach her role and responsibilities. My question pointed to her “beingness” which is the inner state of consciousness, presence, or energy you bring to any moment.

Beingness is your way of showing up — your energy, mindset, emotional tone, and authenticity that influence …

Most leaders who come to me for executive coaching assume there are a range of skills we will work on, and we do, but I think they are often surprised about how much I emphasize self-awareness, which I believe to be the premier leadership skill.  

When I had a leadership position within a large, complex organization, I found myself back in the same kind of situations multiple times. This was annoying and troubling to me, and I assumed that there was something wrong with the organization, or my …

In today’s complex organizational environment, including a turbulent economy, attacks on DEI and civil society, and the attendant effects of all of these things, even the most experienced leaders can find themselves overwhelmed by emotional turbulence. Whether it’s these larger forces and/or an unresolved workplace conflict or a change in roles, we can end up feeling reactive, anxious, and drained. Without practicing self-awareness and learning to productively manage our emotions, we might act i…