Leadership Values

A few weeks ago I did a series on my Personal Core Values. I use the values of Grace, Joy, Agency, and Belonging to guide my decision make in life. My favorite Principal Engineer asked me if I also have values that I use in a professional setting that help guide me as a leader. […]

Know Your Worth…

Know your worth. That’s it. No big speech. Just that…know your worth. Not only your worth in terms of what you can do for your company and teamNot only your worth in terms of what someone is willing to pay youNot only your worth in terms of what you do to sustain and nurture those […]

Leadership & Storytelling

As my final project for receiving a Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership, I had to create some curriculum. I got to decide where to focus my attention and I immediately wanted to focus on the role of storytelling in becoming a great leader. I thought I’d share here what I built and just say that […]

Words Matter. Some Words Matter More than Others

Words matter.Some words matter more than others.Use your words well. Anyone who has ever heard the words “I’m disappointed in you” knows the power of words to cut. And anyone who has ever heard the words “I am better for having known you” knows the power of words to heal. “I appreciate you”“Your opinion matters”“I […]

It is Okay to Change Your Mind!

It is okay to change your mind. Sometimes the simplest act is to say “I don’t want to do that/think that/be that anymore.”It doesn’t make you a criminal. It makes you human. And seriously being human is where it’s at. Pretending that every decision you ever made was great is silly. No one nails it […]

You Get to Decide How You Spend Your Energy

You get to decide how to spend your energy. This can mean giving everything you have for one big push to a launch. It can also mean looking at the landscape of issues in front of you and saying “This is not a fight I’m willing or able to take right now.” The tricky part […]

Bring Your Whole Self to Work

Free Advice… Bring your whole self to work. “Obviously Leah, what else would I do?” It might sound obvious. And of course I don’t mean that you leave your feet at home or your knee caps or something. I mean bring all the parts of you…body, mind, spirit. A little story…I worked with a guy […]

The Round Table

Last week in a post about asking more questions, I mentioned my “round table of advisors”. A few of you asked me about this so I thought I’d give you a quick rundown on choosing advisors. —— This imagery all came about for me once when I was trying to make an important career decision […]

Ask More Questions

Anyone who is coached or mentored by me has probably heard me say “I don’t make decisions in the midst of chaos or stress because the data is bad.” Which means when you are in the middle of a crazy season, you need to gather information rather than make hasty choices. Those I coach also […]

I love you. Please leave me alone.

No. This is not a post about dating or stalkers or even romantic love. But the title is still appropriate… Let me explain. On a regular basis I think that everything I’ve ever done was leading me to this place in my career. Every step on the path was just bringing me to Tourlane. To […]