WHAT THE WORK KEEPS TEACHING ME
Leadership reflections
More than three decades into leadership, I’m still learning.
Some lessons came from getting it right. More came from getting it wrong, asking better questions, having hard conversations, finding my voice, and knowing when to listen.
These are the lessons I’m still thinking about.
READ BY THEME
Start with the idea you need today.
Courage. Move before confidence arrives.
Belonging. You don’t need permission to belong in the room.
Making Room. Your seat at the table comes with responsibility.
The Days No One Sees. The work counts before anyone applauds.
Every reflection, newest first, is below.
Welcome to the Circle
A few weeks ago, I was working on a presentation and found myself stuck on three words: Welcome to the Circle. Not the research. Not the content. Not the part of the presentation I expected to wrestle with. Those three words kept pulling me back.
The Days No One Sees
People sometimes ask how I have stayed passionate about leadership after more than three decades. I think part of the answer is that I stopped believing the most important work happens in the moments people see.
You Don’t Need Permission to Belong in the Room
For a long time, I thought belonging was something I had to earn. I would walk into a boardroom, a press box, a conference, or a meeting and quietly take inventory. How long had I been doing this? Who else was in the room? Had I done enough to deserve my seat?
Confidence Comes After Courage
For more than thirty years, I have learned that confidence rarely comes first. Courage does. The moments that shaped my leadership required me to act before I felt ready, trust the evidence I gained along the way, and eventually stop asking whether I belonged in the room.
What Being the Only Woman in the Room Taught Me About Leadership
For more than thirty years, I have walked into rooms where I was one of only a few women, and sometimes the only one. Over time, I stopped asking whether I belonged and started asking a more important question: Who else deserves a seat, and what am I doing to help them get there?