Yes, I do this reminder every year. Why? Because I personally need this every year, and I've heard from many of you that you do too. So here goes...

It's only November and the madness has begun. What day is available for everyone? Whose house might we gather at? What new food allergies or interpersonal conflicts must be navigated? The mental load of the holidays is a big deal.

I thought I was going to write this piece about functional burnout, because honestly that’s what I’m hearing about from a lot of women, and what I’ve been experiencing for a while myself. I think of functional burnout as that state where you feel exhausted, a bit flat and unsure how you’re going to keep going – but then you do keep going.

I love summer. The long days, the sunshine, jumping into a cold lake, getting out in my kayak or on my paddle board, flowers, farmers markets, eating outdoors, campfires…clearly, I could go on. But maybe the best thing about summer is shifting into a lower gear.

Okay, so I had my world rocked a while back and need to address it. As you know, I wrote this book about how women in leadership at parity could essentially save the world. I still believe that, by the way, but what I wasn’t as bold about in my writing before is that what we really need in leadership are feminists, be they of any gender.

A few weeks ago on a community call in a breakout room someone just said it clear as day – it’s not just that we need women to lead, we need feminists to lead.

As leaders, developing people becomes a huge part of the job. The key skill set is the ability to find the potential in people (and processes) and to develop that potential. One thing we’ve learned the hard way over the years is that if we don’t invest in developing the potential of our people, there are some predictable consequences.

The question of the day is, if I’m not going to be in my own corner, who is? This question came to me as I was skiing along on a quiet trail through the woods. My first ski of the season and one of the places I do my best thinking, like a moving meditation where my mind can just do its thing.

You know that old joke? The one where the guy is praying and says, “Please, please, let me win the lottery.” And then the higher power replies back, “Please, please, buy a ticket.”

I’ve been reflecting and writing a lot lately about the ways I don’t “buy a ticket”. The ways in which I limit myself and the core beliefs that underly those limitations. The times where I don’t even let myself fully want what I want, but instead placate myself with something more reasonable, more attainable, more mainstream.

Resilience is not about the challenges we face; it’s how we process those challenges. In our culture, we’re often told that it’s the challenges we face in life that make us stronger, more resilient. It’s a bit of a tough love mentality; what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger and all that. We see that as only part of the resilience equation.

I was doing a keynote back in September and during the Q&A we were talking about how equality begins at home. Claudia Goldin who recently won the Nobel Prize in Economics for her work on gender equality and the pay gap, at the age of 77 to boot (insert cheering here 😊) concluded that the degree of equality in our homes is a major indicator of our ability to achieve equality in our workplaces. We couldn’t agree more.

I originally wrote this article in August when I was spurred into action reading Sarah Kaplan's brief but impactful LinkedIn post stating "To whom it may concern: Don't try to bully me into working for free when I've said I like to be paid for my time and expertise."  To which I thought, "for goodness sake, if Sarah Kaplan of the Institute for Gender and the Economy is still being asked to do gender equity work for free, what hope is there for the rest of us?"

In a world that's constantly evolving, leading change is not just an option—it's a necessity. In this article, I dive deep into the importance of using our leadership roles to initiate meaningful change. You'll discover why maintaining the status quo isn't true leadership and why adapting to the ever-changing world is crucial, uncover strategies to overcome resistance, communicate effectively, and persistently drive transformation and step into your role as a change leader to leave a lasting impact.

A lot of leaders I talk with tell me about development planning time with a heavy sigh. It’s an additional piece of work in a world already too full, where the to-do list never seems to be done. And I get it. Without the time to reflect and focus that any planning process takes; development planning can feel like yet another hoop to jump through or checkbox to tick.

Back in the days before COVID, before the great awakening, I had an awakening of my own. I had been doing leadership development work as a consultant for over 20 years, and although I never stopped loving the work, I recognized the limitations of supporting leaders in the current limited, often broken systems and models of the modern business world.

It’s the holiday season. Some people call it the magical season, but who makes the magic happen? It’s not Santa or the elves who get the job done, it’s women who do the majority of holiday labour at home and at work. It’s primarily women who plan the parties, think through the gift giving, plan, shop and prep for meals, decorate, wrap, manage the calendar of events, and clean the house.

We hear a lot about values-based leadership, and leading with values is a core piece of the curriculum at the Women’s Leadership Intensive (WLI). But what does it actually look and feel like to make decisions based on our values? Making decisions based on values sounds great, but sometimes it’s not an easy decision, it’s not always black and white and there are potential risks and consequences.

Here’s the thing. Women are just over 50% of the world’s population. If we want something, anything, the numbers are on our side. We are a huge group when we come together, and this is a time for women to come together.

It’s a dark time for anyone who believes in equal rights for all genders. Regardless of whether you have a uterus, live in the US, have ever needed reproductive health care or not, when the human rights of any group are under attack, we should all be afraid and outraged. When a group of people are treated as less human, it opens the door for more of the same.