Am I crazy? I lead with this question often when I am contemplating a new idea. My husband replies with “Yes, but not about this.” It’s sweet and grounding. He knows I have that founder, entrepreneurial attitude. I chase squirrels. But he believes in what I’m doing, mostly.   I know that many people do not have that person in their life. A recent coaching client of mine told me she didn’t feel like she had anyone to pop the good champagne with when things went well. I complet

Some teams really nail the strategic planning = results thing. They really do. These teams are laser focused on what matters. They usually have years of experience doing the work of planning and they don’t get distracted. But most teams aren’t quite that effective. Most teams (still good, just not great) achieve some version of the most important goal for the year and justify pushing or completely cancelling the remaining 60% of the goals. The executive leadership teams that

Every CEO/Founder has one. A leader who should be showing up more reliably but somehow does not. Someone smart, loyal, and capable who still sends decisions back to you and can’t quite seem to lock in.  Someone who knows the business but keeps hesitating when the stakes rise. They tell you they are fine. They tell you they have it under control. They nod in meetings, repeat the priorities, write down the action items, and walk out with the same uncertainty they walked in with

Yesterday morning I walked into the kitchen and found my teenage son standing in front of the open fridge staring at a single breakfast burrito, as if it had wronged him personally. He did not move. He did not speak. He just stood there, blinking at it. I asked him what he was doing.He said, “Thinking about my life.” The breakfast burrito was not involved in that reflection, but it was clearly the staging area. A few minutes later, he announced that he was “not in the mood fo

Sitting next to my dear friend David last Sunday, looking out over White Bear Lake, something lost was returned to me. It came over me like a wave. My mojo.I found my mojo. If you’ve been following along, you know that 2025 has been absolute garbage. My dad died. I took a role that turned out to be a bad move. My uncle died. Through all of it, I kept trying to write, to market, to coach, but everything fell flat. Nothing new was coming out of me. I could barely say the word 

After I’ve worked with someone for a few months, our conversations naturally start to shift to a more existential direction. They learn...

While cutting my dog’s hair today I started to think about leadership. Just kidding. I did not think about leadership at all. But...

Let’s start with a confession: I love a good analogy. I’ve written about leadership through the lens of parenting, nachos, and one time I...

When I took a brief coaching detour this past April, I stopped pursuing new clients. As a result, I selected a small core of long-term...

I’ve had a rough couple of months. Life and work have been hitting me hard. My dad recently died unexpectedly (at 67) and I made a major...

I know I’ve hit the red flashing “it’s time to coach” button when I find myself saying the same thing over and over again. It’s like...

Every manager-employee relationship has "rules." The trouble starts when they’re invisible. These are the unspoken contracts —the silent...

Don Miguel Ruiz says, Be impeccable with your word.  It’s a beautiful principle. And in leadership, it doesn’t just mean don’t lie or...

“We need an immediate solution.” That phrase shows up like a fire alarm. Usually delivered with a furrowed brow, tight jaw, and the...

For years I’ve noticed something slipping through the cracks of even the most well-meaning leaders—and honestly, through my own life...

For the past several years, I’ve lived and breathed leadership development. I’ve coached executives through major decisions, mentored new...

Executive leadership is begging you to step up and be more strategic. Why is it so hard??? Losing Your Identity as a Doer and Fixer For...

Solving everything is so hard!   Look, I get it. You’re a CEO. A fixer. A problem-solving machine. You see an issue, and before anyone...

2024 offered countless headlines like: “ So and So celebrity  accused of using Ozempic. This ruffles my feathers to say the least. I...

In a world where remote work has become the norm, it's time to shift our focus from merely criticizing this model to evaluating our...