Leading with Integrity: Name Your Shadow, Drop Your Crown
Let's get one thing straight: Gallup found the two things people want most from their leaders are trust and hope. So here's the question I put to a room full of people-first leaders at EVOLVE — when you show up in that hard energy, talking over someone, shooting down their idea, firing off the "per my last email"... you're not being efficient. You're killing someone's hope.
I know that energy. I've lived it.
My EVOLVE session is part meditation, part confession. I walk through naming your shadow — I named mine — and I own the moment I shut down a junior teammate in front of the whole room. I walk through the repair that followed, the one that actually made me a better leader. Because here's what nobody tells you in your leadership development training: high standards are not the same as being harsh. High standards are a form of respect. Directness is just stating expectations clearly. That's not the hard energy. That's leadership.
People will forget what you said and what you did. They will never forget how you made them feel. True leadership isn't a title or a corner office — it's people feeling safe around you. Safe enough to bring you the bad news early. Safe enough to disagree with you in the room instead of in the parking lot after.
This is the work I do with C-suite leaders and HR executives every day through executive coaching: naming the shadow you bring into the room, owning your triggers instead of managing around them, and choosing truth over ego — even when ego would be so much more comfortable.
You don't have to be perfect. But you do have to be honest.
The full session — the shadow work, the confession, the breathing exercise, and the moment I ask a room full of leaders to drop their crown — is available now in EVOLVE On Demand.
Catch the trailer and tag along with @evolve.conf on Instagram and Evolve Conference on LinkedIn.