Ever try to help someone—and watch your “help” make things worse?

That happened to me. I thought I was being supportive. Turns out, I was creating pressure.

What shifted everything was one small change in how I started the conversation.

You don’t have to be the villain. Leaders don’t need one right way to decide. They just need to name which way they’re deciding.

How is your leadership team doing giving each other effective feedback? Here’s a different tool to try.

 When the future feels uncertain, is planning still worth the effort? We think it’s more important than ever. Here are four reasons leaders should still plan—plus how to do it without getting trapped by rigid forecasts.

It’s easy to assume a lack of motivation means a lack of will. That someone’s just not trying hard enough. Yet in most cases, something else is going on beneath the surface.

When a leader shared this concern in a recent session, we asked: What if “unmotivated” isn’t the right diagnosis? What if it’s a signal—an invitation to get curious?

When a change doesn’t stick, the problem often lies deeper in the leadership stack. Not in enforcement, but in how the change was created, communicated, and supported.

The frustration is real—and it’s not just you!

Even seasoned leaders ask themselves: Am I doing a good job for my team? Not just in terms of performance or KPIs—but in helping people feel seen, connected, and confident in their contributions.

And it’s a wise question to ask.

If you are creating an organization that can thrive regardless of who is in the room, you and your team will be best served by creating spaces where people can name what’s real and move forward together.

That feeling? It’s what I believe leadership feels like right now. Leaders are trying to keep the business running while facing one unexpected challenge after another. Here are four key places to start as you figure out what to do next.