Leadership Ready Room

Leading change isn’t just about new plans or structures. It’s about what happens when leaders feel pressure to act like they have all the answers, even when uncertain. In today’s Leadership Ready Room Chats, Tom and I talk about: • Communicating clearly what’s changing, why it’s changing, and what’s not • Admitting what you don’t…

One of the easiest leadership traps to fall into is this: • You see the situation. • You’ve done something similar before. • You know how you would handle it now. So you tell your teammate what to do. It feels efficient. Helpful, even. But there’s a cost most leaders don’t notice until later. When…

The beliefs that limit you the most don’t sound negative. They sound responsible. They show up as thoughts like: “I can’t afford to mess this up.” “I need to handle this myself.” “This isn’t the time to take a risk.” And because they feel protective, they rarely get questioned. But when you slow down enough…

Before next year starts asking more of you, it’s worth noticing what this year already changed. Not in terms of titles or accomplishments. But in how you experience your role. For many leaders I work with, this is the year where: • the work felt heavier than expected • decisions took more energy than they…

The pressure isn’t from not knowing what to do. It’s from believing you should. When you carry that expectation, you start doing everything yourself: • You protect your image • You avoid asking for help • You convince yourself you “should” know • You shut out perspectives that would make you better And it’s costing…

Consistency grows faster when you’re not doing it alone. High performers don’t struggle with discipline. They struggle with doing everything alone. When motivation dips and the days get heavy, even the strongest leaders need another human in the loop. Someone they respect. Someone who’s walking a similar road. Someone who cares about their success. Not…

Alignment doesn’t come from telling people what to care about. It comes from helping them connect what they already care about to the mission. Here’s something we do with each ready room in LRR: (🎥 Check out the clip: https://lnkd.in/eiMC8CwR) Ask your team to reflect: 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘸𝘦…

Leaders talk a lot about giving feedback. But how often are you getting it? The higher you climb, the harder it becomes to receive honest input. People hesitate. They soften the truth. That’s why, as Tom Murray shared during our recent Leadership Ready Room Chats, sometimes you have to fight for feedback. He literally scheduled…

Tough times reveal your default mode. Do you get anxious? Withdraw? Overreact? I learned that without self-awareness, those automatic reactions run the show. Working with a coach helped me understand my values, strengths, and tendencies, and just as importantly, where I might get in my own way. That awareness enabled me to pause before reacting.…

Leaders, we all have triggers. A teammate walks into the room. Your chest tightens. Your vision narrows. And before you know it, you’re reacting. Those automatic responses exist for a reason. But if you’re not aware of them, they can derail you. That’s where self-awareness changes everything. Noticing the trigger. Pausing before the reaction. Choosing…

Ever find yourself saying: “I know the plan says do this, but it’s just not working for me.” That inconsistency is usually a signal. The problem isn’t discipline. It’s alignment. Maybe the plan goes against one of your core values. Maybe it was built for a previous version of you. Maybe it simply doesn’t fit…

Self-clarity in leadership isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s what allows leaders to respond with emotional intelligence, especially when the pressure’s on. One Blueprint client put it like this: “𝘔𝘺 𝘉𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘢 𝘤𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧- 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘺𝘱𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴… 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦…