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The Problem with the Heroic Leader: Where Leadership Ends and Personal Responsibility Begins
For thousands of years, cultures around the globe have told a version of the same story: the hero leaves home, faces trials, slays the dragons, and returns with treasure that saves the community. Joseph Campbell called this the Hero’s Journey, and it has shaped our imagination of what leadership should look like. Even today, we unconsciously expect ourselves as leaders to embody this myth. We look up to that elusive notion of a heroic solver of all problems, the one who leave
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Oct 136 min read


Leadership Is Creative Work: Conversations as Exhale
I watched an interview with musician and songwriter Phil Cook recently, where he said something that stuck with me: “When you’re...
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Sep 44 min read


Why Your Team’s Power Struggles Are Not About Power at All
It’s Friday afternoon. You’ve worked hard all week, but instead of feeling accomplished, you feel wrung out. It’s not the workload that...
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Aug 295 min read


The Five Truths of Strong Teams
And How to Use Them to Strengthen Yours When Fin took over a passionate literacy team, he thought things would click quickly. Seven staff...
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Jul 256 min read


What Got You Here Isn’t the Only Way to Get Here. Rethinking “Fit” Through Strengths-Based Hiring
Great leadership requires humility, it means recognizing that the route you took to success isn’t the only valid route. When we hire...
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Jul 123 min read


Strengths-Based Leadership & Why “Performance” Takes Care of Itself
How to replace dread-inducing reviews with talent, engagement, and belonging It’s Time to Retire the Old “Performance Machine” Picture...
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Jun 264 min read


Why "Weaknesses" Are a Myth and Why Investing in Your Strengths is a Smarter Choice
We live in a culture that’s obsessed with what’s broken. Somehow, criticizing and pointing out flaws is considered a sign of...
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Jun 165 min read


The Power of Strengths-Based Leadership Development
Do you really know who you are as a leader? Far too often, we step into leadership because we excelled at our last role. Maybe we were...
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Jun 97 min read


New Leadership Skills: Embracing a Human-Centered Future
Even if you’ve never watched Grey’s Anatomy , there’s a scene that captures something important about leadership. Dr. Cristina Yang,...
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Jun 69 min read


Why Leaders Need Both Empathy and Perspective-Taking (and How to Do It)
Why slowing down, asking better questions, and being present still changes everything. In leadership, we often talk about communication,...
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May 167 min read


Courageous Conversations: The Shift from Reflex to Reflection
You’ve felt it before, that moment where everything in you wants to speak up, but something holds you back. Maybe it’s fear of conflict,...
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May 115 min read


Nature as Leadership Strategy: Cultivating Strength, Perspective, and Resilience
“Studying the impact of the natural world on the brain is actually a scandalous ly new i dea.”— Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods It should have been studied 30-50 years ago. So why now? Perhaps because we are losing our connection to nature more dramatically than ever. Thanks to a confluence of technology, modern lifestyles, and shifting demographics, we’ve moved further away from the natural world than any generation before us. In 2008, for the first time in
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Apr 296 min read


Learning to Lead Again (And Again and Again): The Myth of Certainty
Good leaders never stop learning. Great leaders, the kind who leave a positive lasting impact not just on organizations, but on people’s...
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Apr 48 min read


Transformational Leadership, One Conversation at a Time
Whether we speak or remain silent, show up or withdraw, every action, or inaction, sends a message. Communication isn’t just about what...
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Apr 38 min read


What Is Happiness? The Simple Brilliance of a Complex State
A much-discussed and often worn-out topic, and yet, one that holds a quiet, awe-worthy brilliance in how its deep complexity can,...
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Mar 288 min read


What is Creative Leadership?
The word "creativity" derives from the Latin creare , meaning "to make," and the Greek krínein , meaning "to fulfill." We can approach...
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Feb 186 min read


What Is The Meaning Of Thriving?
Thriving and happiness are often used synonymously, but positive psychology distinguishes them in meaningful ways. Ha ppin ess is...
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Jan 296 min read


Is Change Possible? Can People Really Change?
Neuroscience provides a clear and compelling answer to the question, "Can people change?" The answer is an emphatic yes, rooted in the...
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Dec 8, 20243 min read
© Copyright Monika Kawka
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