Leadership Ready Room

One shift many leaders notice as responsibility grows is how quickly their calendar fills. What’s less obvious is how easy it becomes to stop questioning it. Here’s a simple exercise I’ve used with leaders navigating that transition. Look at your calendar for the next two weeks. Don’t change anything. Just notice how each commitment makes…

There was a calm that surprised me last weekend. I spent a couple hours shoveling snow. Cold air. Heavy shovel. No headphones. No agenda. Just the same motion, over and over. Scoop. Toss. Step forward. Repeat. Physically demanding. Mentally quiet. There was something grounding about watching the path slowly clear in front of me. One…

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…