When coaching is the wrong tool — and what real coaching wisdom requires There is a version of coaching that looks right from the outside and quietly fails from the inside. It asks good questions. It listens carefully. It creates space for reflection and avoids telling people what to do. It uses all the right language — discovery, autonomy, growth mindset, psychological safety. And it never quite gets to the truth. I’ve seen this pattern in leaders who have genuinely embraced a coaching...

Self-silencing as a leadership pattern — and what it takes to change it The most talented people in the room are often the quietest. That’s not humility. That’s a cost nobody is accounting for. There is a particular kind of talent that organizations consistently fail to use fully. It sits in meetings and listens carefully. It forms clear, considered opinions and keeps most of them internal. It does excellent work, earns strong reviews, and is quietly indispensable — and yet somehow, when the...

THE COACHING EDGE: A LEADING WITH IMPACT SERIES · PART 2 OF 5 Two kinds of emotional hijacking — and the quieter one does just as much damage I’ve spent a lot of time in my career thinking about the leaders who lose their temper — the ones who raise their voice in meetings, who react before they think, who leave damage behind in moments of pressure. We talk about those leaders often. We recognize them easily. What we talk about far less is the other kind. The leader who goes quiet when they...