Articles
You Got Passed Over. Now What?
Your colleague gets the promotion over you. Someone else on the team is invited into a high-profile project that you had your eye on. A peer is tapped for an opportunity you assumed would be yours. This is one of the often unspoken pains of organizational life.
The Best Laid Plans: What happens when leaders don’t follow through?
That’s what’s happening when leaders say that development, culture, or strategic work is a priority, but can’t find time for it. As long as the cost of not doing the work isn’t felt yet, they can defer.
When Friction Breeds Fiction: The Hidden Cost of Workplace “Othering”
We’ve all been there. The meeting ends, and as you walk back to your desk, you lean over to a colleague: “Can you believe what the launch team just asked for? They’re clueless. They have no idea how long the work itself actually takes.” Or maybe it’s: “Those design guys always do this. They never consult with us first to get the actual consumer point of view.
AI: The Question Worth Asking
If there were a “word of the year” last year, and likely this year too, it would be AI.
How Individual Leaders Shape Culture: Three Everyday Choices That Make or Break It
Everyone is talking about culture—how to build it, fix it, transform it—and organizations spend billions each year on surveys, initiatives, and culture-change programs in pursuit of it. But culture is far more straightforward than all that. It’s shaped by the everyday behaviors people bring to work. And because leaders set the tone, their daily actions matter most.
Reflect to Restore
As the year winds down, the nights grow longer and days shorter, it’s a natural time to turn to reflection: What did I accomplish? What fell short? What goals will I set for next year?
Making Feedback Work for You: How to Develop an Evolve Mindset
There is endless advice on how to give feedback, but surprisingly little on how to take it. Yet, receiving feedback is just as important and just as much a skill. Great leaders do not wait for perfect feedback to arrive. They take ownership in making it useful, no matter how it is delivered. The best leaders are true learners, operating with what we call an Evolve Mindset, which turns feedback from something to fear into fuel for growth.
Why Politics Matters in Leadership—And Why You Should Know Your Profile
Politics. It’s a word that triggers eye-rolls and heavy sighs. Many leaders think it’s just an ego-driven or manipulative game. But the reality is, in every organization, politics is simply how power moves through relationships and networks.
Reclaiming Your Time: Leadership Insights for Real Change
Do you find your days running away from you? Caught in a cycle of endless meetings and urgent requests, with precious little time left for what really matters? This is the world of work today, unrelenting busyness and feeling trapped by your calendar.
When the Promotion Comes Too Fast: What to Do When You Feel Over Your Head
You celebrate, but only briefly. Then reality sinks in. The role sounds great and you’re happy for the salary bump. The congratulations roll in, but inside you feel unsettled. You have been promoted much faster than you expected.
Hero as Rookie: The Leadership Challenge of Career Pivots
A career pivot often begins with excitement. The vision is alluring: launching your own business, moving into another sector, joining a nonprofit, or pursuing work aligned with your values. At first, the dream feels shiny and full of possibility.
Stepping Outside the Conflict: The Power of the Third Perspective
In our conflict workshops, we offer an exercise called The Three Sides of Conflict. It’s simple in theory, but surprisingly radical in practice. Here’s how it works: every conflict has at least two obvious sides—my side and your side. We instinctively defend our position and scrutinize theirs. What we usually forget is that there’s always a third side—the outside.
Landing Feedback, Not Just Delivering It: How to Make Your Message Matter
We’ve all been there: carefully composing feedback—worrying about the right words, rehearsing examples, maybe even sweating the tone. We agonize over delivery, but here’s the hard truth: it doesn’t matter how smart, thoughtful, or necessary your message is if it never truly lands.
The Invisible Promotion: Building Your Reputation Beyond Being the “Doer”
You get things done, deliver under pressure, and never drop the ball. But here’s the paradox: the more you excel as the executer, the greater risk of not being seen as a leader.
Leadership Detox: Cutting Through the Noise to Focus on What Really Matters
You’re running hard. You’re busy. But are you actually moving forward—or just spinning your wheels? If you’re like most leaders, you’ve felt that creeping sense of frustration: projects stall, decisions drag, and your team’s energy fizzles. The culprit? Friction.