What does joy actually look like when your world feels heavy? And what does it mean to lead, not just at work, but in your home, your community, and your own life? Friends, I had such a rich and honest conversation sitting down with Gretchen Schott at The Engine Room in Broad Ripple, and I can tell you, I walked away with things I'm still processing. Gretchen Schott is a leadership expert and executive coach with more than 30 years of experience helping leaders build confidence, trust, and impact. She is the founder of Leading Well, the chief learning officer at Threefold, and host of the Made for Impact podcast, with a brand-new podcast, Leading Well, on the way. But beyond her credentials, Gretchen is a woman who has walked through deep loss, professional transition, and the very human work of learning to love herself, and she brings every bit of that into what she teaches. In this episode, Gretchen opens up about one of the most devastating experiences of her life: the loss of her father to suicide. She shares how she chose to remember him not by the way he died, but by the way he lived, and how being "loved well" by friends, family, and coworkers in the aftermath of that loss became the seed of her entire philosophy on leadership and joy. We talk about the difference between management and leadership (and no, they are not the same thing, Joseph Rost's work on this genuinely blew both of our minds), why joy isn't something you find but something you create, and what it looks like to do the hard inner work of a "highlight reel" or "cleaning the windshield" when life feels overwhelming. Gretchen also shares her word of the year, humility, and the prayer called the Litany of Humility that stopped me cold and sent me back to re-read it three times. I also shared some of my own story in this one, including what resentment taught me about grief, what a cardinal outside my window had to do with gratitude, and how I finally learned what loving myself actually means. Gretchen and I are very much on the same page: without hope, the world is lost. And as Langston Hughes said, if dreams die, life becomes a frozen barren field of snow. We close with the one text Gretchen would send to every leader in the world, and it is three words. I co-signed it immediately. Key Takeaways: Joy is not something you stumble upon, it is something you actively cultivate through self-knowledge, self-love, and intentional practice. Leadership and management are not the same thing. Leadership is about influence, not authority, and everyone, including stay-at-home parents, is a leader. The Highlight Reel exercise: identify three to five moments in your life where you felt most proud, supported, and alive, then invite the people who love you to add to that reel. You may be surprised by the words they have for you. Cleaning the Windshield: when you are overwhelmed, write down what is most taxing, identify what brings joy versus what drains your soul, and ask honestly, what can I delegate? What can I let go of? Gratitude is where you start when joy feels impossible. Sometimes you dig for a cardinal outside the window. That is enough. Humility and confidence can coexist, but pride in disguise will quietly sap your joy and distance you from the people you are trying to serve. Being loved well in grief does not require grand gestures. A text that says "I'm thinking of you" or a story about someone who is gone, that is gold.Resources: Dinine's LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dinine-sig-917784252/ Dinine's Website: https://dininesig.com/ Dinine's Instagram: @dininesig Dinine's TikTok: @dinine.sig Gretchen Schott’s Website: https://www.gretchenschott.com/ Gretchen Schott’s LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gretchenschott Made for Impact Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/made-for-impact/id1628873464 Leadership Excercises: https://www.gretchenschott.com/leadership-exercisesLeading Well Podcast: https://www.gretchenschott.com/leading-well-podcastThe Book: https://www.gretchenschott.com/shopGrow Threefold: https://www.growthreefold.com/growu