What Would It Feel Like to Let Go?

Debbie Fennell on April 27, 2026

Leadership often carries a quiet weight. Not because leaders are unwilling to share responsibility, but because they care deeply about outcomes, people, and mission. With that, care can come in the form of a subtle inner voice: If I don’t step in, this may not go well.

For many leaders, that voice feels protective. It has likely served you well. It has helped you anticipate risk, prevent mistakes, and move initiatives forward. Letting go can feel uncomfortable, even risky.

Yet it is worth asking: what would it feel like to loosen your grip, even slightly?

At work, the instinct to intervene can show up in subtle but powerful ways: jumping in to respond when others are fully capable, controlling the flow of information to ensure accuracy, requiring multiple layers of approval before action can move forward, and protecting team members from natural consequences that might support their growth.

At home, it may appear as over-managing schedules, solving problems before others have a chance to try, never saying no, or taking on more than what fully belongs to you.

These behaviors are rarely rooted in ego. More often, they stem from responsibility, experience, and a desire to prevent harm. As one client shared, “I shift into Mama Bear mode.” Yet over time, consistent intervention can narrow ownership, slow development, and unintentionally signal limited trust. What used to feel like support begins to limit growth.

There is honor in ownership. Effective leadership requires accountability, visibility, and care. But when ownership becomes overextension, it can quietly restrict others’ space to stretch. This is the often-discussed gap between intention and impact, where care is present, but space for others begins to narrow.

Letting go does not mean disengaging. It does not mean caring less. It is a choice to trust more and create room for learning, imperfection, and shared responsibility to take hold.

Food for thought:
Consider the members of your team. Where might holding tightly be protecting you more than serving those around you? And where might a small act of trust strengthen both your leadership and theirs?

Together, we rise.

Shared from APRIL 2026 Issue of Thunderbird Leadership Consulting ELEVATE – Tbird’s Hub for Practical Leadership Insights.

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Intention into Action: Taking Ownership of the Mentoring Relationship

Debbie Fennell on April 27, 2026

Author: Fred Amador, MC, ACC

High-impact mentoring relationships do not happen by accident. They are intentionally designed, actively managed, and grounded in mutual accountability. In organizations focused on building strong leadership pipelines, the effectiveness of mentoring often depends less on the mentor and more on how the mentee engages with the relationship.

High-impact mentees accelerate learning, respect executive time, and translate insight into better leadership decisions. They treat mentoring not as a courtesy meeting, but as a strategic partnership.

A mentor brings pattern recognition, institutional wisdom, and perspective shaped by experience. Unlike a coach—who primarily serves as a thinking partner—a mentor draws from lived experience to help mentees anticipate challenges, avoid common pitfalls, and strengthen judgment.

Because mentors invest their time and experience generously, mentees carry a responsibility to show up prepared, focused, and accountable. Becoming an effective mentee means owning the relationship and maximizing the return on that investment.

When approached intentionally, mentoring accelerates leadership readiness, strengthens judgment, and expands organizational capacity.

The following practices distinguish highly effective mentees.

1. Enter the Relationship with Clarity

Strong mentoring relationships begin with clear expectations and operating norms.

Determine the cadence. Agree on a meeting rhythm—monthly, bi-weekly, or quarterly—that reflects the goals of the relationship and the realities of both schedules.

Select the medium. Decide how you will meet (e.g., Zoom, phone, or in person), recognizing that flexibility and consistency matter more than format.

Take initiative. As the mentee, own the logistics. Schedule meetings, send calendar invitations, and confirm agendas. This signals professionalism and respect for time.

2. Take Ownership of the Learning Agenda

Clarity of purpose enables sharper conversations and better outcomes.

Define your objectives. Be explicit about what you want to work on. Effective goals are specific and decision-oriented—for example, strengthening executive presence, navigating a role transition, or preparing for broader leadership scope.

Establish communication boundaries. Discuss expectations for communication between meetings. Clarify when quick questions are appropriate and when topics should wait for scheduled conversations.

Track progress deliberately. Maintain a simple, shared or personal record of goals, insights, decisions, and action steps. Treat this as a living document that keeps the work focused and accountable.

3. Translate Insight into Action

Mentoring creates value only when insight leads to execution.

Arrive prepared. Send a short agenda or set of questions 24 hours in advance. This allows your mentor to prepare thoughtful, relevant input.

Close the loop. Begin each session by summarizing progress since the last conversation. Share what you did, what worked, and what did not.

Commit to next actions. End every meeting by identifying one or two specific actions. 

Calendar them immediately. Insight is nice, but without action, you lose momentum.

Surface obstacles early. Strong mentees use mentoring conversations to diagnose barriers. 

4. Build a High-Trust, High-Value Relationship

The most productive mentoring relationships are grounded in respect, appreciation, and reciprocity.

Share outcomes and wins. When guidance leads to results such as a successful presentation, a clearer decision, or a new opportunity, remember to close the loop. Mentors value knowing their investment made a difference.

Contribute where appropriate. While mentoring is not transactional, all-star mentees bring value when they can—sharing relevant articles, industry insights, or emerging trends.

Demonstrate respect consistently. Be punctual. Come prepared. Follow through. Express appreciation. These behaviors reinforce trust and credibility over time.

Mentors invest their experience to help others grow into greater leadership responsibility. When mentees approach the relationship with discipline, initiative, and accountability, mentoring becomes a force multiplier for the individual, the mentor, and the organization by accelerating leadership capabilities where they matter most.

For leaders who mentor, the greatest return on your investment comes from mentees who treat mentoring as a strategic partnership rather than a standing meeting.

Reflection

Where might you shift from participating in mentoring to actively owning the value you receive from it?

Shared from APRIL 2026 Issue of Thunderbird Leadership Consulting ELEVATE – Tbird’s Hub for Practical Leadership Insights.

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When Culture Work Strengthens Operational Discipline

Debbie Fennell on April 27, 2026

In reviewing recent client feedback, one theme surfaced consistently: our impact extends beyond shaping culture. It strengthens operational discipline.

That insight emerged alongside this reflection from a client:
“Our engagement led to measurable improvements in team performance, communication, collaboration, and workflow.”

At first glance, culture and operations can feel like separate conversations. Culture is often associated with trust, values, and behavior. Operations are associated with structure, execution, and workflow. In practice, they are inseparable.

Culture work is operational work.

When leaders clarify expectations, define decision rights, strengthen accountability, and establish consistent communication rhythms, they are not only reinforcing culture. They are improving how work moves. Teams experience less friction. Priorities become clearer. Collaboration becomes more coordinated. Performance becomes more consistent.

This is where the familiar question emerges: does culture drive operational discipline, or does operational discipline reinforce culture?

The answer is both. The sequence matters less than the alignment.

Values without structure create inconsistency. Structure without shared values creates rigidity. When leadership methodology aligns expectations, behaviors, and systems, operational discipline becomes a natural byproduct of cultural clarity. It reduces the friction that slows execution and limits innovation.

What often appears as a culture issue is frequently a signal of operational misalignment.

What It Looks Like in Practice

Leaders often label challenges as cultural issues when the root cause is operational. Consider the shift:

  • Is it a lack of focus or unclear priorities?
  • Is it delayed execution, or unclear ownership?
  • Is it poor communication, or inconsistent communication rhythms?
  • Is it low accountability, or undefined expectations?
  • Is it resistance to change, or lack of clarity on what success looks like?

When these underlying elements are clarified, behaviors often shift quickly. What once felt like a cultural challenge is beginning to resolve through operational alignment.

The question shifts from “What is wrong with our culture?” to “Where is our system creating confusion?”

What Leaders Can Do Now

  • Identify one recurring workflow that feels inefficient and clarify ownership, expectations, and decision rights.
  • Examine whether current meeting rhythms reinforce clarity or introduce unnecessary noise.
  • Select one operational process and intentionally align it with a stated cultural value. Observe what changes.

The true measure of culture is how consistently systems reflect stated values. When alignment is present, trust strengthens, execution improves, and teams experience greater clarity in how work gets done.

Shared from APRIL 2026 Issue of Thunderbird Leadership Consulting ELEVATE – Tbird’s Hub for Practical Leadership Insights.

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Self-Awareness Is Not a Soft Skill

Debbie Fennell on April 27, 2026

Across our client engagements, one theme has surfaced consistently. Leaders are not just gaining insight into others. They are gaining clarity about themselves.

This shift is not abstract. It is practical.

This matters more than many leaders realize. Research suggests that while 95% of people believe they are self-aware, only 10 to 15% truly are (Eurich, 2018). This is not a reflection of intent. It reflects how difficult it is to see the full picture when you are in the frame.

Recently, leaders shared how impactful the introduction and integration of DiSC has been across both executive and leadership teams.

Leaders shared:

“I thought I understood my communication style. I did not realize how it was impacting others.”

“Team collaboration and using DiSC to dial into the impact of our styles and how it affects communication and team results. We are using tools to guide differences and team projects.”

“The most significant changes for our teams and executive staff were the development of shared understanding of one another’s communication styles through DiSC and awareness of the consequences of our actions and words.”

Self-awareness is often discussed as a foundational leadership skill. In practice, it is a performance lever.

When leaders understand their natural styles, how they show up under pressure, how they communicate, and how they are experienced by others, several things begin to shift.

Conversations become more intentional.
Reactions become more measured.
Decisions become more thoughtful.

Understanding our natural styles is step one. The real value of a tool like DiSC emerges when it is integrated into day-to-day work, where leaders begin to recognize patterns in themselves and others:

These patterns often become most visible:

  • When urgency increases
  • When navigating tension
  • When decisions are uncertain

This awareness creates choice.

Instead of reacting automatically, leaders can adjust in real time to better align with the needs of the moment and the people around them.

This is where self-awareness moves from insight to impact.

What Leaders Can Do Now

  • Identify one communication pattern that may be helpful in some situations but limiting in others
  • Ask for feedback from a trusted colleague on how your style is experienced
  • Pause in one high-stakes interaction this week and intentionally adjust your approach by dialing up or dialing down your style

Self-awareness is not about changing who you are. It is about expanding how effectively you lead others.

Leaders who understand themselves lead others with greater care and precision.

Reference:

Eurich, T. (2018). What self-awareness really is (and how to cultivate it). Harvard Business Review.

Shared from APRIL 2026 Issue of Thunderbird Leadership Consulting ELEVATE – Tbird’s Hub for Practical Leadership Insights.

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Under the Radar: The Emerging Leadership Gap in Healthcare

Debbie Fennell on April 27, 2026

Healthcare workforce discussions are often framed around staffing shortages. Yet a deeper constraint is emerging. The system is not only experiencing a shortage of clinicians. It is experiencing a shortage of prepared leaders.

As highlighted in recent workforce analysis, the most critical challenge facing healthcare organizations is not only a shortage of clinicians, but a growing shortage of experienced leaders capable of navigating increasing complexity (Cross Country Healthcare, 2026). At the same time, more than 80% of healthcare executives expect workforce challenges to persist, reinforcing that this is not a short-term disruption but a sustained pressure on the system (Deloitte, 2025).

This creates a critical shift in how organizations think about capacity. The question is no longer only “Do we have enough people?” but “Do we have enough leaders equipped to lead effectively?”

Why This Is Emerging Now

Recent workforce analysis highlights that leadership gaps in healthcare are being driven by several converging forces (Cross Country Healthcare, 2026).

Retirements are accelerating at the same time burnout continues to impact experienced leaders. Many clinical and operational leaders are stepping away from roles that now carry increasing complexity across financial, operational, and people demands.

At the same time, traditional leadership pipelines are shifting. Fewer clinicians are pursuing long-term leadership roles without sufficient flexibility and support, creating a gap between leadership demand and readiness.

Layer onto this the pace of change. Evolving care models, workforce redesign, and increasing operational complexity require leaders who can navigate transformation rather than just maintain existing systems.

In response, many organizations are turning to interim leadership to maintain stability and momentum.

An Emerging Pattern

As highlighted in recent workforce analysis, leadership gaps are already influencing access, engagement, and operational performance across healthcare organizations. In practice, this often shows up as variability across teams, even when staffing levels are comparable.

Persistent patterns are emerging. Some teams operate with clarity, coordination, and steady performance. Others experience communication breakdowns, delayed decisions, and uneven accountability.

While staffing is a factor, these patterns often point to opportunities to strengthen leadership capacity.

This is where interim leaders can play a pivotal role. These leaders provide critical short-term stability and allow organizations to maintain continuity during transitions. However, their effectiveness depends heavily on how they are integrated into the system.

Without clear expectations, defined priorities, and structured support, interim leaders can quickly become overextended. In many cases, leaders stepping into interim roles are also expected to maintain their existing responsibilities. This creates competing demands that dilute focus and impact.

Impact

  • Increased variability in performance across teams despite similar staffing levels
  • Slower decision-making due to unclear ownership and competing priorities
  • Leadership fatigue and reduced effectiveness in interim and dual-role positions
  • Missed opportunities to build systems that support sustainable leadership pipelines

Assessing the Need and the Opportunity

Healthcare organizations do not just need more people. They need more prepared leaders, supported by systems that enable them to succeed.

This is particularly important when leaders are asked to step into interim roles or expanded responsibilities. Without intentional design, these situations can unintentionally create strain rather than stability.

Organizations can strengthen leadership capacity through:

Selection: Identifying leaders for their ability to lead people and manage complexity, not only to execute tasks
Integration: Establishing clear expectations, priorities, and support systems for leaders stepping into new or interim roles
Clarity: Defining what success looks like, including decision rights, scope, and what can be deprioritized

A critical leadership question becomes:
What must this leader focus on to be successful, and what must be released or reassigned to make that possible?

Learning Into Action

Rethinking Gaps

Leadership gaps often appear as operational friction. Variability in execution, delayed decisions, and communication breakdowns are frequently signals of constrained leadership capacity, not just staffing shortages.

Assess

  • Where are you experiencing inconsistent performance across teams?
  • How clear are expectations for leaders stepping into interim or expanded roles?
  • What support systems are in place for leaders during their first six months in a new or expanded position?

Do

  • Identify one leadership role where capacity constraints are most visible
  • Clarify top priorities and explicitly define what can be deprioritized or reassigned
  • Introduce one structured support mechanism, such as onboarding, coaching, or mentoring, for leaders in transition, including experienced leaders

Why These Insights Matter

Healthcare organizations are operating in environments where financial, workforce, and operational pressures are unlikely to ease in the near term. Strengthening leadership capacity is one of the most leveraged ways to improve performance without increasing headcount.

Organizations that intentionally design how leaders are selected, integrated, and supported position themselves to navigate complexity with greater consistency, coordination, and confidence.

References

Cross Country Healthcare. (2026). Healthcare workforce shortages in 2026: Why leadership gaps are creating new career opportunities.Deloitte. (2025). Global Health Care Executive Outlook.

Deloitte. (2025). Global Health Care Executive Outlook.

Shared from APRIL 2026 Issue of Thunderbird Leadership Consulting ELEVATE – Tbird’s Hub for Practical Leadership Insights.

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Strategically Designed Leadership Capacity in Constrained Environments: Without Burnout

Debbie Fennell on April 27, 2026

Leadership capacity is often misunderstood as stamina. Work longer. Carry more. Respond faster. Yet the leaders who sustain performance over time are not those who do more, but those who design their work differently.

According to the World Health Organization, burnout is linked to chronic workplace stress that has not been successfully managed, not simply to hard work itself (WHO, 2019). Similarly, Gallup research finds that role clarity and manageable workload are among the strongest predictors of employee engagement and well-being (Gallup, 2023). Capacity, then, is less about volume and more about design.

For many, capacity is often interpreted as a need for additional people. While in some cases that is appropriate, many organizations are operating within financial constraints that limit that option. In those environments, expanding capacity requires a different approach, one grounded in clarity, boundaries, and decision discipline.

The question shifts from “Who else do we need?” to “How can we work differently with the capacity we already have?” 

Consider three disciplines that strengthen leadership capacity.

Clarity

Clear priorities reduce friction. When leaders define what matters most, teams expend less energy guessing and more energy executing. Research from McKinsey shows that organizations with aligned priorities are significantly more likely to outperform peers in long-term results (McKinsey & Company, 2021). Essential to effective clarity is addition by subtraction. In fast-paced environments, resetting existing priorities when adding new ones signals that leaders understand the realities their teams are navigating.

Many leaders do not have a capacity problem. They have a prioritization problem that shows up as one.

Author Antoine de Saint-Exupery wrote, “Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

Boundaries

Sustainable performance requires visible limits. Harvard Business Review research on energy management suggests that leaders who model recovery and boundary-setting create healthier, more productive teams over time (Schwartz & McCarthy, 2007). This is often where leadership intent and behavior diverge. Without visible boundaries, teams learn that everything is urgent and nothing can wait.

Most leaders are committed to doing whatever it takes to get the job done, even at the expense of their own well-being. In a future article, we will explore five types of boundaries every leader should consider. In the meantime, executive teams can normalize reasonable boundary discussions, providing space to discover hidden barriers.

Decision Discipline

Not every issue requires escalation. Leaders who establish decision rights and empower others prevent bottlenecks and preserve cognitive bandwidth. Clear decision frameworks increase speed where it matters and prevent unnecessary rework (Bain & Company, 2019). When systems embrace the imperfections of nuance, leaders can lean in and balance ownership with growth.

Strong decision discipline requires leaders to consistently ask a different set of questions:

  • What truly requires my involvement?
  • Where is “good enough” sufficient to move forward?
  • What would happen if I removed myself from this decision entirely?

In many organizations, leadership capacity is constrained not by the volume of decisions but by the number of decisions that flow upward unnecessarily. When leaders remain involved in decisions others are ready to own, they unintentionally create dependency, slow execution, and increase their own cognitive load.

Reducing over-involvement expands capacity, strengthens ownership, and builds trust.

Strategically designed leadership capacity identifies and removes what no longer serves. When unnecessary friction is reduced, energy, judgment, and focus are applied where they matter most. The result is greater effectiveness and more sustainable leadership over time.

Executive Team Reflection

Clarity: Where might competing priorities be diluting focus, and what could be removed or reset to create sharper alignment?

Boundaries: What visible boundary could you model this month that would protect sustainability without compromising performance?

Decision Discipline: Where are decisions escalating unnecessarily, and how might clearer decision rights expand ownership and preserve leadership capacity? Where are you staying involved out of habit or protection rather than necessity, and what would change if you stepped back?

Capacity is rarely expanded by adding more. It is expanded by removing friction, redistributing ownership, and making fewer but better decisions.

 

References (APA)

Bain & Company. (2019). How clear decision roles enhance organizational performance.
Gallup. (2023). State of the global workplace report.
McKinsey & Company. (2021). The organization blog: Aligning priorities for performance.
Schwartz, T., & McCarthy, C. (2007). Manage your energy, not your time. Harvard Business Review.
World Health Organization. (2019). Burn-out an occupational phenomenon: International classification of diseases.

Shared from APRIL 2026 Issue of Thunderbird Leadership Consulting ELEVATE – Tbird’s Hub for Practical Leadership Insights.

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Meeting Overload: A Root Cause Analysis Approach

Debbie Fennell on March 29, 2026

Author: Rhonda Williams, MBA, MSN, RN


Across sectors, we continue to see leaders showing up with commitment, urgency, and a deep sense of responsibility. At the same time, one operational pattern frequently surfaces in our work with executive teams: calendars filled with meetings that leave little space for the work those meetings generate.

While this is no doubt a significant challenge, here is the good news. Often, this is a design issue.

Research shows that professionals now attend between 8 and 17 meetings per week, a dramatic increase compared with pre-pandemic norms, and 45% of employees report feeling overwhelmed by the number of meetings they attend (Microsoft Work Trend Index, 2023; Atlassian, 2022). When meeting time expands without corresponding clarity or decision discipline, focus becomes fragmented and execution suffers.

At the same time, leadership capacity is under pressure. Managers experience higher levels of burnout than individual contributors, according to Gallup’s global workplace research (Gallup, 2023). When leaders spend most of their time in meetings, strategic thinking and meaningful follow-through can be compressed.

In our discussions with executives and leaders, meeting overload is increasingly becoming a central factor in helping leaders navigate the real challenges that limit their effectiveness. Rather than asking how to endure an overwhelming meeting load, we have been diving into honest conversations about what’s driving it and what can be done about it.

If your team has expressed similar sentiments, consider conducting a brief root cause analysis with your team around these five drivers:

  1. Unclear Purpose and Outcomes
    1. Are meetings tied to specific decisions, or are they standing forums for updates?
    2. What percentage of your meetings end with a documented decision, owner, next action, and timeline?
    3. What information can be shared and acknowledged without a meeting?
  2. Diffuse Decision Rights
    1. Are meetings compensating for a lack of clarity around who owns final decisions?
    2. Where are decisions being revisited multiple times because ownership was never explicit?
    3. Does every leader have a purpose for being at each meeting?
  3. Redundant Communication Channels
    1. Are teams sharing the same information in multiple venues?
    2. How often is the same update delivered in a meeting that could have been shared asynchronously?
  4. Recurring Meeting Inertia
    1. Have standing meetings outlived their original purpose?
    2. If you cancelled this meeting for 30 days, what would meaningfully break?
  5. Cultural Signals of Busyness
    1. Is a full calendar unconsciously equated with value or commitment?
    2. Do leaders who protect focus time receive the same recognition as those who appear constantly available?

Addressing these causes requires honest diagnostic work and leadership discipline. It calls for the courage to resist the inertia of habit and sameness. In my experience, these conversations often begin with the belief that the meeting load is unavoidable. But as that assumption is examined, opportunities for redesign begin to surface.

Start by asking: Why does this meeting exist? What decision will it drive? Could this be resolved asynchronously? Even small adjustments can restore focus time, reduce the risk of burnout, and sharpen the distinction between urgency and strategic progress.

Full calendars are not a reliable indicator of productivity. Capacity is reclaimed through intentional design, disciplined prioritization, and empowered flexibility.


Executive Reflection
Which of these root causes show up most often in your team’s rhythm, and what intentional action could you take this week or this month to test an alternative?

References

Atlassian. (2022). The state of meetings report. Atlassian.

Gallup. (2023). State of the global workplace report. Gallup.

Microsoft. (2023). Work Trend Index annual report. Microsoft.

Shared from March 2026 Issue of Thunderbird Leadership Consulting ELEVATE – Tbird’s Hub for Practical Leadership Insights.

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Trust Grows When Leaders Stay in the Conversation

Debbie Fennell on March 29, 2026

Author:  Amy Milliron, M. Ed.

During a leadership session with a rural hospital executive team, the CEO made a comment that stayed with me. She said that their leadership meetings were respectful and efficient, yet she had the sense that some of the most important thinking in the room was not always making its way into the discussion.

As we explored what she meant, she described a pattern she had started to notice. A decision would be discussed in the meeting, and everyone would appear aligned. Later in the week, a director might stop by her office and raise a concern. Another leader might mention a potential issue in a hallway conversation. None of these comments was intended to undermine the decision. They simply reflected perspectives that had not surfaced when the team was together.

What the CEO was observing was not a lack of professionalism or commitment. Her team cared deeply about the organization and about one another. In many cases, people were trying to be thoughtful about timing, respectful of colleagues, and mindful of the pace of the meeting. Their intention was to protect the working relationship and keep the team moving forward.

At the same time, those good intentions meant that valuable information sometimes arrived after the moment when it could most easily shape the decision.

Staying Present Through Tension
We began experimenting with a simple change. As the conversations approached a conclusion, the CEO asked one additional question. She would pause and ask whether anyone saw a risk, trade-off, or perspective that the group had not yet explored. During the first few meetings, the room remained quiet, which is a normal response when a team is adjusting to a different expectation for dialogue. Eventually, one director spoke up about a staffing change discussed earlier in the meeting. The question led to a deeper conversation about scheduling, workload, and patient flow that had not yet been considered fully.

The quality of the discussion improved because the CEO responded with curiosity rather than defensiveness. She asked questions and invited others to build on the point. That response demonstrated that thoughtful disagreement was part of responsible leadership.

Understanding Conflict Styles
A similar dynamic appeared in another organization I recently worked with. A regional operations team had been struggling with decisions that seemed to stall after meetings. When we looked more closely, the team realized that many members relied heavily on a single conflict style. Several leaders preferred to avoid tension when discussions became uncomfortable, while others tended to accommodate the direction that appeared to have the most support in the room.

We used the Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument to help the team explore their patterns. The TKI framework identifies five approaches people often use when navigating conflict: competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, and accommodating. None of these modes is inherently right or wrong. Each one can be effective depending on the situation. (Thomas & Kilman, 1974.)

What the team discovered was that they were using only a narrow portion of that range. Avoiding and accommodating helped them maintain positive relationships, but it also limited the depth of their conversations. As leaders became more aware of the different modes, they began experimenting with collaboration and constructive competition when a decision required deeper examination.

Over time, the meetings changed. Discussions sometimes took longer because leaders were willing to ask harder questions and test assumptions together. At the same time, decisions became clearer, and follow-through improved because the thinking behind them had been examined more thoroughly.

Brené Brown describes this kind of engagement as a “rumble.” She defines a rumble as a conversation in which people remain curious, assume positive intent, and work through challenges together rather than avoid them. The purpose of the conversation is not to win an argument. The purpose is to understand the issue well enough to move forward with clarity. (Brown, 2018.)

When leaders demonstrate that difference can be explored with respect and steadiness, several positive shifts occur. Teams begin to bring forward perspectives earlier. Decisions benefit from broader insight. Engagement increases because people see that their thinking influences outcomes. Trust strengthens because conversations happen in the open rather than in private follow-ups.

Leaders sometimes ask how to build stronger trust across their teams. One practical step is to make room for the full range of perspectives that already exists in the organization. When leaders remain present in moments of tension and respond with curiosity, they send a clear signal that differing viewpoints are a valuable part of strong leadership dialogue.

That experience builds confidence. Over time, people learn that raising a question or offering a different interpretation is not a disruption to the work. It is part of the leadership responsibility they share.

 

Reflection
Before your next leadership conversation, consider where a broader range of perspectives might strengthen the discussion. Notice which conflict styles appear most often in your team and whether expanding that range might help the group examine important issues more fully. 

Leaders who remain steady and curious during disagreement help their teams develop the confidence to stay in the conversation together.

References
Brown, B. (2018). Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. Random House.
Thomas, K. W., & Kilmann, R. H. (1974). Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument.

Citations

  1. Brown, B. (2018). Dare to Lead: Brave Work. Tough Conversations. Whole Hearts. Random House.
  2. Thomas, K. W., & Kilmann, R. H. (1974). Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument.

Shared from March 2026 Issue of Thunderbird Leadership Consulting ELEVATE – Tbird’s Hub for Practical Leadership Insights.

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The Most Overlooked Leadership Lever

Debbie Fennell on March 29, 2026

Why the First Six Months For Middle Managers Matter More Than We Think

Across industries, organizations are rediscovering a powerful truth: middle management is the operational bridge between strategy and execution. When this layer is strong, strategy translates clearly, culture travels consistently, and performance stabilizes. When it is under-supported, friction increases across the system.

The influence of this layer is measurable. Gallup research indicates that managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement (Gallup, 2023). That means the middle layer is not simply administrative. It is determinative.

Middle management effectiveness does not begin on day one of promotion or hire. It begins with how organizations define, select, and integrate leaders into roles that require far more than technical expertise.

Research referenced by Gartner indicates that nearly 50% of first-time managers struggle significantly within their first 18 months. The issue is rarely intelligence or effort. More often, it reflects insufficient preparation for the relational and decision-making demands of leadership (Arruda, 2023).

What shifts this trajectory?

Consider these three factors: selection, integration, and success clarity.

1. Selecting candidates for leadership ability and technical excellence
Many middle managers are elevated for their executional strength. Yet leadership requires emotional regulation, communication discipline, influence without authority, and judgment under pressure. Organizations that assess readiness for people leadership, not just performance metrics, build stronger long-term capacity.

2. Treating the first six months as an integration window
New middle managers step into expanded complexity, even when they bring leadership experience from another organization. They translate strategy, coach performance, manage tension, and protect team energy. Structured onboarding, mentoring, and defined leadership development pathways signal that leading people is valued and recognized as a practiced capability, not an assumed trait.

3. Defining success with precision
Clarity accelerates confidence. When organizations clearly articulate what success looks like, including behavioral expectations, decision rights, and cultural standards, middle managers can align effort with impact. Precision builds momentum and reduces the strain inherent in ambiguity.

Empowering middle management does more than reduce early missteps. It strengthens retention, reinforces culture, and multiplies leadership capacity across the system.

The next big move is intentionally designing how the middle management team is selected, integrated, and supported.

Reflection
If you strengthened only one of these elements in the next six months, which would most improve middle management effectiveness and why?

References
Arruda, W. (2023, February 15). Why most new managers fail and how to prevent it. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/williamarruda/2023/02/15/why-most-new-managers-fail-and-how-to-prevent-it/

Gallup. (2023). State of the global workplace report. Gallup.

Shared from March 2026 Issue of Thunderbird Leadership Consulting ELEVATE – Tbird’s Hub for Practical Leadership Insights.

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Empathy is a Skill—Not a Mood

Debbie Fennell on March 29, 2026

Author:  Jill Bachman, MSN, BSN

Empathy has received well-deserved attention as a cornerstone of emotional intelligence, especially in leadership and workplace dynamics. It is very important to recognize the emotions of others and understand what they might be feeling. Yet empathy is often misunderstood as purely emotional: a shared feeling of sadness, joy, or frustration.

In professional settings, however, “feeling what others feel” is not always helpful and can even be counterproductive. Emotional contagion, or absorbing another person’s distress, may lead to burnout, impaired judgment, or inaction.

For workplace effectiveness, it is essential to understand this: Empathy is not primarily an emotion. It is a cognitive and behavioral skill.

What is Empathy?
A practical, actionable definition of empathy includes three distinct components:

  1. Cognitive Empathy

The ability to understand what another person is feeling and why.
This is perspective-taking, a mental exercise, not an emotional one.

Example:
“I understand that missing a deadline would increase her stress because leadership is closely monitoring this project.”

Cognitive empathy requires curiosity and analysis, not emotional absorption.

  1. Emotional (Affective) Empathy

The experience of feeling what another person feels.

While natural and sometimes valuable, this form of empathy can be draining. In professional environments, it is not always necessary, and in excess, it may cloud clear thinking.

  1. Compassionate Empathy (Empathic Concern)

The motivation to respond constructively once you understand the person’s experience.

This is the goal of workplace empathy:
Understanding → Thoughtful Action

In this sense, empathy can be defined as the ability to accurately perceive and understand another person’s emotional and mental state, and to use that understanding to guide an effective, supportive response.

Because it is skill-based, empathy can be developed.

How to Develop Empathy
Strengthening empathy means refining observation and analytical skills.

  • Practice Active Listening
    • Move beyond hearing words. Notice tone, pacing, hesitations, and body language.
    • Reflect back what you hear: “It sounds like you’re feeling overwhelmed by this timeline.”
    • This confirms understanding and builds trust.
  • Engage in Perspective-Taking
    • Intentionally step into the other person’s context. Ask yourself:
      • What pressures are they under?
      • What matters most to them right now?
      • What constraints might I not see?
    • This is cognitive work, not emotional immersion.
  • Seek Clarifying Information
    • Avoid assumptions. Ask open-ended questions:
      • “How is this affecting you?”
      • “What concerns you most about this situation?”
    • Curiosity strengthens accuracy.

How to Deploy Empathy
Empathy is most powerful when it translates into action.

  • Validate Before You Fix
    • People want to feel understood before they want solutions:
      • “That sounds incredibly frustrating.”
      • “I can see why that would feel discouraging.”
    • Validation does not mean agreement, it signals respect.
  • Make Your Communication Helpful
    • If someone is anxious, respond with calm clarity:
      • If someone is discouraged, offer structure and direction.
      • Empathy adapts your delivery, not your standards.
  • Collaborate on Solutions
    • Rather than prescribing a fix, invite partnership:
      • “What support would be most helpful right now?”
      • “What’s one step we can take together?”
    • This reinforces agency and shared ownership.

When You’re Not “Feeling It”
This is where professional empathy matters most.

You may not relate to the emotion. You may not agree with the reaction. You may be tired yourself.

And still—you can be empathetic.

  • Acknowledge the Gap
    • Privately recognize:
      • “I don’t personally feel this, but I accept that it is real for them.”
    • Your role is not to mirror emotion. It is to respond constructively.
  • Focus on the Underlying Issue
    • When emotions run high, look beneath the reaction. Is there a missed deadline? Conflicting instructions? Resource strain? Unclear expectations?
    • Addressing root causes is more productive than reacting to visible emotion.
  • Apply the Process
    • Use cognitive empathy deliberately:
      • Step 1: Listen.
      • Step 2: Take perspective.
      • Step 3: Validate.
      • Step 4: Collaborate on next steps.

When empathy becomes procedural rather than emotional, it becomes sustainable.

The Bottom Line
Empathy does not require you to absorb another person’s distress.
It does not require emotional agreement.
It does not require you to be in the same mood.

It requires attention, understanding, and intentional response.

When practiced as a skill, rather than as a feeling, empathy becomes both powerful and sustainable.

And yes, you can absolutely practice it, even when you’re not “feeling it.”

Reference
Goleman, D. (2012). Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ. Bantam.

 

Shared from March 2026 Issue of Thunderbird Leadership Consulting ELEVATE – Tbird’s Hub for Practical Leadership Insights.

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