You can have the right strategy and still walk into a room and lose it with one comment. You can mean well and still “fill the space” so completely that your team stops thinking out loud. That gap between intention and impact is where most leadership pain lives and it’s usually not a skill issue, it’s an autopilot issue. We pull together four big ideas from recent conversations with Susan Drumm, Brad Semmens, Dre Baldwin, and Robert Kennedy III, and we land on one shared thread: intentionality. Susan helps us notice the leader’s playlist, the thoughts and emotional loops shaping our state before we speak. Brad gives us clean language for choosing our stance in the moment: step in, step back, step up, step down, or lead from center. Dre pushes the uncomfortable truth that motivation is unreliable and that standards are built on the “third day,” when the shine wears off and discipline has to carry the work. Robert shows how storytelling turns raw moments into meaning, using a simple tool: moment, meaning, message. We make it practical with a 60-second reset you can use before any meeting, feedback conversation, or hard talk: check your state, choose your stance, live the standard, and tell or challenge the story. Small moves repeated consistently become leadership identity, and leadership identity becomes culture. If you want more intentional leadership, better team communication, and a culture people can trust, listen now, share it with someone you lead, and subscribe so you don’t miss what’s next. What’s the one lever you need most right now: state, stance, standards, or story? Send us Fan Mail Support the show ✅ Follow The Leadership Project on your favourite podcast platform and listen to a new episode every week! 📝 Don’t forget to share your thoughts on the episode in the comments below. 🔔 Join us in our mission at The Leadership Project and learn more about our organisation here: https://linktr.ee/mickspiers 📕 You can purchase a copy of the Mick Spiers bestselling book "You're a Leader, Now What?" as an eBook or paperback at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09ZBKK8XV If you would like a signed copy, please reach out to sei@mickspiers.com and we can arrange it for you too. If you're thinking about starting a podcast or upgrading your hosting, Buzzsprout is a great option! This link will give both of us a $20 credit when you upgrade: 👉 https://www.buzzsprout.com/?referrer_id=1701891 Create forms easily with Jotform! Sign up with my link: https://www.jotform.com/?referral=AkWimLxOBz Get extra Dropbox space—sign up with my link: Dropbox Referral Link Wise Referral link: https://wise.com/invite/dic/michaels11434 Strea...
