Ever tried a new leadership skill - like being more assertive or changing how you run meetings—and felt like people were side-eyeing you?

“What the heck is she doing…?”

This week’s video is about how to avoid that awkwardness and instead get support, feedback, and faster growth - just by saying one simple thing out loud.

Tired of being treated like a glorified "order taker?" Start acting like the strategic partner you want to be by asking these 3 questions…

Consultants, HR peeps, communications & marketing, IT… the list goes on. There are a lot of us out there whose job it is to guide and help other people (and organizations) get things done.

Next time someone comes to you, increase your impact as a true strategic partner and start doing more fun work by asking these 3 questions:

1. "Tell me more about (that thing)"

2. "Where is this request coming from?"

3. "What are your intended outcomes?"

Your customers/clients are likely grabbing for one of few tools they know... it's your job to understand their need enough to provide the tool that actually solves their problem :)

When was the last time to wanted to get better at something? What did you use or do to improve?

While it might have been a combo of things, I can tell you it won't improve without some real-world application, trial & error, feedback, and good ol' hard work to improve.

Book learning and theories only go so far on this one... (check out this week's #lockerroomchat for an overdue sports analogy to make this point😉)

***spoiler alert*** stay to the end of the video for a teaser on something big coming later this week! :)

Last week, I talked about the difference between micromanaging and closely managing someone's performance, stemming from a common frustration I hear from leaders - "I have to micromanage because they're new or not performing well!" 

But the reality is that you shouldn't be micromanaging, you should be managing their performance more closely. 

The next question is this… How do you get to the point where you can trust someone to take over a task and deliver at a high level?

I learned this the hard way early in my leadership career - and it's a mistake I still see leaders make all the time. I had someone on my team who should have been able to complete a task - but it was clear they didn’t know how. My mistake? Assuming they’d figure it out on their own, instead of helping them develop the skill (and then getting frustrated when they didn't figure it out…).

Check out this week's video for what I should have done - and what you can do instead!

"Are there times when it makes sense to micromanage?" 👀

That's a no for me, dawg... 🙈 BUT it's a question I get a lot from leaders. Well, it's actually more of a comment -"sometimes you HAVE to micromanage!!"

And while I respectfully disagree, I can understand where the comment is coming from.

Check out this week's #lockerroomchat for a more productive approach.

Want a high-performing team? Here's how to get it right from the start!

hint it goes beyond hiring for a great culture fit...

The best teams don’t just have the right people... they have the right people, in the right roles, at the right time

Here’s how to make the magic happen:

🍩 Hire for today AND tomorrow – What does your team need right now? What will they need six months from now? Plan for both.

🍩 Balance experience levels wisely – A seasoned team might be the perfect place for a high-potential rookie. But a newer team? They might need a subject-matter expert to level-up the team.

🍩 Think beyond just culture fit – Culture is important, but a cultural fit isn't everything. Someone can be a great cultural "fit", but be completely wrong for that job.

Do you need leadership development or do you need culture change? 🤨

A lot of leadership development requests I get are actually not requests for a development program or a training, although they masquerade as this. They're requests for a fundamental change in how leaders in their organization behave.

And that, my friends, does not come from training (at least not from training alone 🙂 )

Check out this week's chat for tips on how to actually develop you leaders and shift the leadership culture in your organization.

If you aren't breaking your annual goals into quarterly goals, you are seriously missing the mark.

OKRs, milestones, targets, rocks... whatever you want to call them, they're crucial for making progress and achieving literally anything in your business.

Check out this week's locker room chat for the #hottake on how to get your team all headed in the same direction and achieving all the things.

Stop throwing money away by ignoring your struggling employees!

Put your college athletics hat on with me for a second… It doesn't make sense to pay an athlete a full-ride scholarship just to ignore them and let them sit on the bench for 4 years… right? So why do we do that in our businesses?

At least in sports you can say they aren't ready for the game just yet, so that's why they're riding the bench. But in the workplace there is no bench. Everyone is a starter. Time to start acting like it :)

Conflict management training is a waste of money

Yup, I said it! Waste of time AND money.

Conflict management and conflict resolution ARE very important and a legitimate area of expertise, but a quick-hit training just isn't going to do it. Why not? I address it in this week's locker room chat :)

Ain't nobody got time for a lecture… am I right?!

So why do we think that will work when we want people to improve something? You got me… but it's a REAL popular belief.

If you want to improve something on your team (or have a role in team improvement in some way cough cough #HR), for the love of Pete, ditch the lecture and do THIS instead. Everyone, including your metrics, will thank you.

You asked, and I heard ya 🙌🏼 ! Here's the 4-1-1 on improving your individual performance AND strengths and how to use them (hint... you can do both at the same time 🙂)

Two of the biggest reasons I see people FAIL to achieve their goals and how YOU can avoid them... I'm spilling the tea this week 🙂

If you want to accomplish big things this year (for yourself OR for your team!), check out this week's tip and learn how to avoid two of the biggest mistakes I see people make when working towards goals and outcomes.

Do you have big goals in 2025? Yeah, me too.. and I've got 3 tried and true steps to crush them! 👊 I don't subscribe to the ol' "new year, new me" narrative - but I DO believe in a new year, more FOCUSED me. And this year I've got some big goals for myself and my business - cue the focus - you with me?

Over-customization is killing your customer service! 😐 and the perceived (and sometimes very real) performance of your team is suffering as a result.

I see and hear this most often with internal-service departments and teams (HR, IT, Finance etc.) though it has impacts beyond just these teams.

If you find that your internal customers (aka the rest of the organization, leaders, execs!?) are battling with your teams and not trusting you or your team's expertise then it's time to check out this quick video 👇

How many of us in the leadership development space have received the request "can you provide communication training?" ..... what. does. that. even. mean!?

Before you go whip up the best communication training anyone has ever seen (again I ask.... what even is that...), please watch this video. Your clients, customers, and even you, will thank you 🙏

Giving your team clear direction, tons of support, and still not seeing the results you and your organization need? Might be time to do this...