To see a picture of my family on social media, we looked almost perfect. Two beautiful little girls, an athletic, handsome husband, the quintessential golden retriever puppy, and me. Social media is this century’s biggest PR machine. But social media often doesn’t tell the story behind the photo.

My family is amazing, but we have been broken time and time again.

Today is my birthday! I am now 49 years of age.  You will never hear me complain about turning another year older.  Each year is a gift.  My husband, Jeff, died of esophageal cancer at the age of 46. I have gotten the gift of three extra years (and counting!) more than Jeff did on this Earth.

15 years ago, I created my Executive Coaching firm, Potential Unlimited, upon the philosophy that we need to look at developing leaders in the same way that we would develop any sort of initiative within our business.

We need to lay out all the parts, see how they are working together, and then create a strategic plan with timelines to achieve the goal. This is exactly what I do in my Executive Coaching. If someone comes to me wanting to improve their Executive Presence, we don’t just dive right into some tips and tools around Executive Presence, and then they are good to go. For the good or bad, people are way more complicated than that!

I have never seen stress levels, and I will call them burnout levels as high as they are right now.

We all have different leadership styles. That is what makes us unique. Even if you try to emulate someone else, you are you. And you are bringing your own unique variation of style with you to each organization you go to.

But, does your current leadership style mean that is your natural and only style? No way!

I see and even help leaders shift their styles. As we grow and develop, we change. You can’t really go back to the way you were. You can’t un-know what you know. So how does someone who isn’t a ‘People’ person who has been a strong contributor for years and found themselves in a leadership role now managing, and yes, even motivating people, do it?

Here are 3 components of helping develop a stronger Leadership EQ:

I have had a lot of days over the past dozen years, that just getting out of bed felt like climbing Mount Everest. With debilitating headaches from the brain injury. I had a broken heart after my beloved husband Jeff died at 46 years old of cancer. And then the toll of home-schooling my 8 and 10-year-old children while running a business amid a pandemic while deep in grief. I felt like I was in survival mode every day.

I knew I couldn’t keep going down this path. Being in survival mode for a sustained period doesn’t end well, and I need to be here for my kids. I knew I couldn’t control what was happening in the world around me. But, I could take more control over what was happening inside me.

I began to see that so much really all comes down to perspective. 

If you have been thinking about working with an Executive Coach to help you make a greater impact this year but still debating, let me tell you more about the process here to help you understand if it would be the right move for you now.

Growing up, most of us likely faced bullies on our school playgrounds. It is an awful feeling to be relentlessly teased or ridiculed by another person(s). It can erode our confidence, lead to a feeling of isolation, and reduce our performance.

When I was a child, I equated bullying to immaturity and expected that once I became an adult that this behaviour I witnessed happening around me would stop. But, the reality is that bullying still happens at workplaces. We may not see it from our leadership positions but don’t be too quick to dismiss that it isn’t happening at your organization.

So, how do we know if there is bullying in our organizations, and if so, how do we deal with bullies?