I work with senior leaders when change stops being theoretical and starts carrying real weight. 

I help organizations hold clarity through complexity—when strategy is sound, but execution is straining trust, energy, or alignment, when decisions carry real consequences. When leadership feels heavier than usual. 

My work sits at the intersection of people, structure, and leadership judgment. I partner with CEOs, CHROs, and senior teams to stabilize organizations during moments of transition—designing operating models, leadership alignment, and decision clarity that actually hold under pressure. 

Over the course of my career, I’ve led and advised executive teams across growth-stage and global organizations, supporting transformation efforts that required more than frameworks or playbooks. The work demanded discernment, steadiness, and the ability to see what was happening beneath the surface—before it showed up in performance or culture. 

Through Leadership Rewired, I work as an advisor, consultant, or interim partner, depending on what the situation calls for. The form flexes. The work doesn’t. 

My focus is consistent: 

→ Clarity over complexity. 
→ Systems over silos. 
→ Leadership that can carry responsibility without hardening or disappearing. 

Specialties: 

Organizational Design | Leadership Alignment | Change Navigation | Executive Advisory | People Strategy Under Pressure | Culture & Accountability

Allison Allen

Starting a three-month client engagement this week. 
→ New industry. 
→ Organization transformation. 
→ Opportunity to implement practices I’ve been refining for years.

That’s all exciting.

👉🏾 But here’s what I didn’t expect to feel this energized about: I get to wake up, get dressed, and drive to an office 20 minutes from my home.

For the last two years, all of my client work has been remote, day trips, or strategic offsites. And that’s worked. 

It’s been effective. 
I’ve built Leadership Rewired entirely that way.

But I’ve missed something.

Not the commute. 
Not the office itself.

👉🏾 I’ve missed working in person with a team focused on a common goal.

There’s something about being in the room…
→ seeing the moment someone gets it, 
→ catching the hesitation before it becomes resistance, 
→ reading the energy shift when the real conversation finally starts,
that you can’t fully replicate on a screen.

I’m not making a case for “everyone should be back in the office.” 
That’s not the point.

People should work in the way that’s most effective for them and their organizations. 
→ Remote works. 
→ Hybrid works. 
→ In-person works. 

It depends on the work, the people, and what you’re trying to build.

But for me? 

For this kind of work organizational transformation, shifting how teams make decisions, building new practices into the operating rhythm, I’ve genuinely missed the in-person collaboration.

So this week, I’m driving in. 
Getting in the room. 
Doing the work the way I’ve been wanting to for a while.

I’ll keep you posted on how it goes.
But right now? 

I’m looking forward to Monday in a way I haven’t felt in a while.

Allison Allen, ACC

Executive Advisor & Change Partner to CXOs Navigating Change | Org Design, People Strategy & Leadership Judgment | Founder, Leadership Rewired

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Yesterday, I was put on the spot to introduce myself during my client's townhall.

Normally, I'm good in those moments. 
But my camera wasn't working, 
I'm still getting used to working fully on Teams and being on a PC, 
and I fumbled it.

I said: "My name is Allison Allen and I am working with TA and I am so glad to be here."

Anyone who knows me knows I can do a lot better than that.
Towards the end of the discussion, I dropped a note in the chat:

Hi Everyone, sorry for the wobbly intro... I would like to try again. I am a:

→ Mother of 2 amazing humans who like to hang out with me
→ Partner to an Australian who does not say "good day" or eat fish
→ Content creator who talks about leadership
→ Believer that people are the center of business strategy (and impact)
→ Executive Advisor to CXOs

I got lots of heart emojis and likes. 
It felt good to be a part of it.

Later, a leader came up to me and said: 
"I really liked your intro in the chat. 

A lot of times we don't acknowledge how important family is to us at work."

I said: "It's everything to me. 
I've only come to this later in my career. 
I've always thought it was, but I wasn't living it. 
Now, I encourage anyone who will listen."

For a long time, I said family mattered,
but I was operating like work mattered more.

I took the calls that interrupted dinner. 
Scheduled the early meetings. 
Said yes to the travel. 
Always telling myself it was temporary.
But things never stabilize. Not really.

My values didn't shift. 
My choices did.

I started saying no to things that didn't honor what I said mattered. 
I started building work around life, not life around work. 
And I started leading with it, not hiding it, not apologizing for it.

That chat intro? That's who I am. 
Mother first. Partner. Creator. Advisor.

In that order.
Nothing is more continuous than time.

I've changed companies, most times at my choice, sometimes at theirs. 

Through all the change, I still had people at home who loved me 
and wanted to be around me.

That's what matters. 
And that's what I tell anyone who will listen.

You answered the question in the all-hands. 
You covered it in the leadership team meeting. 
You put it in the deck.

And this week, they're asking again.

"What's the priority?" 
"Are we still doing this?" 
"Did that decision change?"

Your first instinct: they're not listening. 
Or you're not communicating clearly enough.

👉🏾 But here's what's actually happening:
If your team keeps asking for clarity you've already given, the issue isn't communication, it's trust in steadiness. 
Repetition is often a symptom of leaked uncertainty.

They're not asking because they forgot. 
They're asking because they've learned that what you said last week might not hold this week.

Research shows that frequent shifts in leaders' priorities are strongly associated with burnout and disengagement. 

When leaders change direction without clear rationale, 
💥 teams protect themselves, 
💥 they do the minimum, 
💥 wait out the next shift, 
💥 discount current directives as temporary.

Studies analyzing over 80,000 360-degree reviews found that leaders who act inconsistently erode trust roughly three times faster than those who behave predictably.

So when your team keeps asking the same question, 
→ They're not being dense. 
→ They're being rational. 
→ They're checking whether this version of the answer is the one that will actually hold.

 🚩Here's where uncertainty leaks:
→ Tone and body language. You say "we're committed," but your tone is tight, your body language closed. They feel the hedge.
→ Decision reversals without narrative. You change course without explaining what changed or what you learned. It registers as unreliability.
→ Hedging language. "Maybe," "sort of," "we'll see." Softening feels collaborative but overuse reduces perceived authority.
→ Say/reward gap. You say innovation matters but penalize failed experiments. They watch what you reinforce, not what you announce.

People track coherence across your words, tone, and actions at a fine-grained level. When those don't align, they adjust. 

Not because they're bad listeners. Because you've trained them that clarity isn't stable.

✅ Here's the shift: 
1️⃣ When you give clarity, ask yourself, "Do I actually believe this will hold?" If not, don't give false certainty. Say: "Here's where we are. Here's what's still forming."
2️⃣ When you change course, name it explicitly: "Last week I said X. Here's what changed. Now we're doing Y."
3️⃣ Check your tone. If your words say "we're locked in" but your body says "I'm not sure," they'll trust the body.

👉🏾 Steadiness isn't rigidity. It's coherence, your words, tone, and decisions pointing in the same direction.

If your team keeps asking for clarity you've already given, look for where your uncertainty is leaking.

Because repetition isn't about them not hearing you. It's about them not trusting what they heard will still be true next week.

Check out the REWIRED. newsletter (link in comments).

Credibility Isn’t Built by Explaining. 
It’s Built by Holding the Line.

She set a clear priority: product development first.
 The board pushed. 
The CFO pushed. 
Two executives lobbied privately.

She didn’t argue. She didn’t elaborate. She didn’t adjust to relieve the pressure.
She just held the line, calmly, every time.

👉🏾 Leadership credibility isn’t built by saying more. It’s built by holding the same position when the pressure to move it keeps coming.

Research on leadership under stress shows followers track behavioral consistency more than explanations. 

When leaders become inconsistent under pressure, teams experience higher insecurity and strain. 

Calm, values-aligned behavior builds a trust reservoir teams draw on when conditions worsen.

Most leaders do the opposite. 
When pressure mounts, they explain more. 
→ Hedge more. 
→ Revisit the justification. 
→ Adjust slightly, not because new information arrived, but because the pressure is uncomfortable.
❌ And every time they do, credibility erodes.

High-trust leaders practice intelligent clarity: → What we’re doing. → Why. → What changes. → What doesn’t.
✅ Then they stop talking.

That CEO didn’t gain credibility because she was right. She gained it because she was steady.

👉🏾 Leadership credibility isn’t built the first time you state a position.
 👉🏾 It’s built the tenth time you hold it, calmly, when the pressure hasn’t let up.

What line are you holding right now?
 And are you holding it or explaining it away?

Check out the REWIRED. newsletter (link in comments).

Sunday night. 
You're already thinking about Monday,
what you'll need to manage, 
who you'll need to stabilize, 
what you'll need to carry so the team can function.

Here's a different move:

Before Monday, decide what you will stop compensating for this week.
Not what you'll take on. 
What you'll refuse to absorb.

Stability isn't doing more. 
It's refusing to absorb what isn't yours.

Most senior leaders spend their weeks compensating. 
You fill gaps your team should be filling. 
You absorb anxiety from the board. 
You take on responsibility that belongs to others because it's faster, easier, or because no one else will.
And you tell yourself it's leadership.

👉🏾 Leaders who set boundaries protect their own capacity and force the system to mature. 
👉🏾 Leaders who absorb everything burn out themselves, enable under-functioning in others, and quietly cap team development.

Over-functioning is taking on more responsibility than your role requires, 
often to "rescue" others. 

👉🏾 When one person consistently fixes, reminds, and rescues, others do less, depend more, and invest less in their own growth.

Your compensation sustains performance short-term. 
But it blocks capability building.

💥 Studies show that when leaders stop carrying all the load and instead set clear standards, avoidance of accountability decreases and peer-to-peer accountability increases.

So this week, choose one thing you will stop compensating for.
🛑 Stop absorbing the board's anxiety about timelines you can't control. 
🛑 Stop filling every gap in your team's execution. 
🛑 Stop taking on responsibility for outcomes your peers should be managing. 
🛑 Stop saying yes to everything just to keep the system calm.

🛑 When leaders pull back from automatic fixing, teams experience discomfort, but they gradually increase ownership, skill, and reliability.

The discomfort is the point. 
It's the signal that accountability is shifting back to where it belongs.

Organizations that normalize healthy boundaries see higher job satisfaction, stronger commitment, and better business results than cultures that rely on heroic, always-on leaders.

Stability isn't how much you can hold. 
It's what you refuse to take on in the first place.

When you stop compensating, the system doesn't collapse. 
✅ It adjusts. 
✅ People step up. 
✅ Accountability redistributes.

Before Monday, ask yourself: 
What am I compensating for that isn't mine to carry?

Then decide: this week, I'm not taking that on.

Not because you don't care. 
Because your compensation is capping the system's ability to grow.

If this hits, DM me "compensation." 

I'm working with a small group of leaders on exactly this, learning to stop absorbing what isn't theirs without the system collapsing.

Check out the REWIRED. newsletter (link in comments).

Nine months into the transformation.
The strategy is clear.
The direction hasn’t changed.

But you’ve started adjusting the signals.
Not big pivots.
Small moves.

“We’re still committed, but let me clarify.”
“The timeline is more flexible than we originally said.”
“We’re prioritizing X over Y for the next quarter.”

Each adjustment makes sense in the moment.
You’re responding to feedback. 
You’re being adaptive.

But here’s what’s actually happening:
👉🏾 In prolonged change, inconsistency rarely comes from strategy shifts.
It comes from leaders adjusting signals to relieve pressure, not because the direction changed.
→ The board is asking where the results are.
→ The team is tired.
→ The market isn’t responding fast enough.

And holding the same position, month after month, under sustained pressure, starts to feel intolerable.
So you adjust.

Not because new information arrived.
Because staying steady feels too heavy.

👉🏾 Under pressure, leaders default to emotion-driven adjustments unless they deliberately slow down and anchor decisions in evidence. 

The distinction matters:

🚩 Pressure-driven adjustment
→ Triggered by anxiety, stakeholder noise, or optics
→ Little reference to new data
→ Justification sounds like: “It feels like we have to move”

✅ Information-driven adjustment
→ Triggered by material data or real environmental change
→ Explicit about what changed and why
→ Framed as: “Given X, we’re updating Y while the goal remains Z”

Most leaders believe they’re doing the second.
They’re usually doing the first.
And the organization feels it.

👉🏾 Change-communication research shows that inconsistent signals erode trust, increase resistance, and amplify anxiety. When commitments shift without naming the learning, people experience it as misalignment or worse, hidden agendas.

🚩 Over time, these small, unnamed adjustments create narrative debt. Each gap between what was said and what’s done compounds.
→ You say “focus,” but keep adding initiatives.
→ You say “committed,” but keep moving timelines.

Eventually, people stop believing the direction will hold.

💥 When you adjust your message, priorities, or timing, ask yourself:
“Am I responding to new information or relieving the pressure of staying steady?”

If it’s the latter, you’re not adapting. You’re drifting.

👉🏾 And each time you adjust to relieve pressure, you teach the system something dangerous:
→ The direction isn’t stable.
→ The commitment isn’t real.
→ The safest move is to wait it out.

In prolonged change, leadership isn’t about making people comfortable. 
It’s about holding the line and naming clearly when and why you change it.

Because inconsistency doesn’t come from complexity.
It comes from not being able to tolerate the pressure of staying steady.

What are you adjusting right now to relieve pressure instead of responding to new information?

Check out the REWIRED. newsletter (link in comments).

First quiet morning all week. 
And the first thing you notice: how much you've been holding alone.

Most leaders don't burn out from the work. 
They burn out from being the only place uncertainty is allowed to land.

You absorb your team's doubt so they can stay focused. 
You hold steady while they process resistance and fear. 
You project calm, you don't feel. 
You answer questions you're still asking yourself.

And your own uncertainty? 
No sanctioned place to land.

The research confirms what you already know: 
It’s not the hours that drain leaders: 
It's not task volume that drains leaders, it's emotional labor. 

The invisible work of regulating your emotions, absorbing others' anxiety, and suppressing your own stress to keep the system stable.

56% of executives report burnout. 
73% say they're overworked without rest. 

But the real drain isn't the hours, it's being the emotional buffer with no outlet.
You can't share uncertainty with your team; they need you to be steady. 

Not with the board—they need you to be confident. 
Not with peers—they're carrying their own weight.
So you hold it. And over time, that holding becomes the work.

This is the hidden cost: 
You're not just managing outcomes. 
You're managing everyone's emotional experience of the outcomes. 
And there's no container for yours.

Where does your uncertainty land?

Because if the answer is ‘nowhere,’ the load doesn’t disappear; it accumulates.

Check out the REWIRED. newsletter (link in comments).

The leadership team met every Monday to address "urgent issues." 
Team conflicts. 
Slipping timelines. 
Escalating client concerns.

Six months in, they were exhausted. 
And the same issues kept recycling in different forms.

The problem wasn't the issues. 
It was that no one knew who actually owned decisions. 

So every decision became a negotiation. 
→ Every problem escalated. 
→ Every Monday, they firefought the same dysfunction in new packaging.

They were reacting to noise. 
And missing the pattern.

👉🏾 Not everything that feels urgent is actually unstable. 
Senior leaders exhaust themselves reacting because discernment requires staying with discomfort longer than reaction does.

👉🏾 The data backs this up.
68% of middle managers and 57% of C-suite leaders say most of their decision-making time is inefficient, spent rehashing issues instead of making high-stakes choices.

👉🏾 Urgency bias explains why. 
We reliably choose what feels urgent over what actually matters, even when it leads to worse outcomes.

It's automatic. 

→ The inbox fire pulls you in. 
→ The minor outage demands response. 
→ The loud problem gets attention.

While the quieter pattern, the one actually destabilizing the system, goes unaddressed.

Once the leadership team clarified decision rights, the "urgent issues" list shrank 70%. 
The work wasn't responding faster. 
The work was seeing what they'd been reacting around.

Pattern recognition is the capacity to stay with ambiguity long enough to see whether something is a real pattern or an isolated flare-up. 

❓It's asking: 
Is this unstable, or does it just feel uncomfortable? 
Is this a fire, or is this smoke from a fire I'm not looking at?

The leaders who exhaust themselves are often the most responsive ones.
→ They answer every message.
→ They jump on every issue.
→ They stay perpetually available.

But responsiveness without discernment is just exhaustion in motion.

Not every signal deserves response. 
Not every pressure requires containment. 
And treating all urgency as equal is how you miss the thing that actually matters.

❌ The question isn't "How do I respond to all of this?"
✅ The question is "What pattern am I missing while I'm reacting to this?"

Check out the REWIRED. newsletter (link in comments).

The board meeting was brutal.  Revenue miss.  Investor pressure mounting.

❌ The CEO walked into the leadership team meeting an hour later and transmitted all of it.

"We're in trouble. The board is furious. We need answers by Friday. Everything is on the table."

The room went silent.

Then it went into overdrive.
→ Teams scrambled. 
→ Projects paused mid-stream. 
→ People made decisions out of fear instead of strategy. 
→ Three key people updated their résumés that week.

💥 He thought he was being transparent. 
→ What he actually did was export panic. 
→ And it broke the team's ability to think.

👉🏾 Internal governance is knowing which pressure you must hold, and which you must not transmit. That distinction is what protects judgment during change.

Research shows this clearly.
→ When leaders fail to buffer harmful pressure, team stress spikes, error rates increase, and decisions turn defensive.
→ When leaders filter chaos while transmitting clarity and standards, teams maintain focus and decision quality, even under uncertainty.

✅ In the next board crisis, he held the panic. But he transmitted the standard:
"Revenue is down. We're addressing it. 

Here's what doesn't change: 
→ our product quality, 
→ our customer commitments, 
→ our decision process. 
Keep doing excellent work. I'll manage the board."

✓ Same pressure. 
✓ Different filter. 
✓ The team stayed steady.

👉🏾 Some pressure you must hold: board volatility, investor noise, shifting priorities that create whiplash, emotional load that would govern choices if transmitted unfiltered.

👉🏾 Some pressure you must transmit: the reality of change, performance standards, constraints that protect judgment, the expectation that people speak up.

Here's the diagnostic: 
→ "If I transmit this as-is, will it increase clarity and agency or only fear and confusion?"
→ If it's the latter, hold it. Translate it into something that helps people think, not panic.

Studies on psychological safety show that...
→ When leaders buffer unnecessary threat while transmitting clarity, teams take learning-oriented risks instead of defensive ones. 
→ When leaders transmit raw pressure without filtering, speaking up drops, errors spike, and teams become self-protective instead of strategic.

👉🏾 Internal governance isn't just what you carry. 
It's what you let through.

What pressure are you holding that you should be transmitting? 
And what are you transmitting that's breaking your team's ability to think?

Check out the REWIRED. newsletter (link in comments).

You stopped jumping on every escalation. 
You stopped responding to every email immediately. 
You stopped filling every silence in meetings.

You're practicing restraint. 
You're reacting less.
And your team thinks you've checked out.

The hardest leadership skill during change isn't reacting better, it's reacting less. But restraint without governance looks like disengagement.

Research shows that in high-ambiguity environments, low visible activity reads as low care, unless you actively signal otherwise. 

👉🏾 When you practice restraint without context, 
people fill the silence with worst-case narratives.

You're choosing not to react. 
They're experiencing you as absent.

The distinction is intent:
✅ Strategic non-reaction: "I'm actively taking in data. I'm choosing not to move yet so we don't move badly."
❌ Withdrawal: "I don't want to deal with this. I'm checked out."

From the outside, they look identical. 
Both involve silence. 
Both create space.
But one stabilizes the system. The other destabilizes it.

Research shows leaders are experienced as disengaged...
→ when connection drops, 
→ when they’re hard to reach, 
→ don’t explain pauses, 
→ or go quiet without context. 

In that climate, even healthy restraint gets read as neglect, not containment.

Internal governance is what keeps restraint from being mistaken for disengagement.

Governed restraint requires visible structure, not more activity.
1️⃣ Name the pause: "We're not changing direction this week. We're mapping second-order impacts first."
2️⃣ Put time boundaries on it: "I'll come back Thursday with options." Research shows trust increases when leaders break silence as planned.
3️⃣ Maintain relational contact: Increase 1:1s and check-ins while you withhold the decision. People need to feel seen even without closure.
4️⃣ Show work-in-progress: "Here's what we're looking at this week and how we're thinking about tradeoffs." 
5️⃣ Makes the pause legible as strategy, not drift.

Without these signals, your restraint reads as absence. 
With them, it reads as discipline.

👉🏾 The shift isn't from restraint to reaction. It's from ungoverned restraint to governed restraint.

Where are you practicing restraint right now without governing how it’s perceived?

Check out the REWIRED. newsletter (link in comments).

You're defending the AI roadmap to the CEO tomorrow. 
Your best engineer just went quiet. 
The reorg your team didn't ask for starts next month. 

And tonight, you're carrying all of it alone. 
This is the part no one talks about. 

You're not overwhelmed because the work is complex,
You've built systems under worse conditions. 

🚩 You're overwhelmed because you're holding the full weight of it privately. 

💥The budget pressure. 
💥 The skepticism from peers. 
💥 The team that's watching you for cues while you're still figuring out what comes next. 

Most VPs I work with absorb this silently. 
→ They manage up to execs who want speed. 
→ They manage down to teams who want certainty. 
→ They manage sideways to stakeholders who want promises. 

And they do it without acknowledging the toll because naming it feels like weakness. It's not. 

👉🏾 This is where internal governance comes in. 

Internal governance isn't a leadership buzzword. 
→ It's the structure that keeps pressure from leaking into your decisions, your tone, and your timing. 
→ It's what prevents you from reacting when you need to respond. 
→ It's the discipline that holds complexity, so you don't have to white-knuckle every call. 

👉🏾 Firms with stronger governance structures—independent boards, performance-linked accountability, systematic oversight—outperform on ROA and market value. 

Not because they're smarter, but because they've distributed the cognitive load. 

👉🏾 Governance works because it removes the burden of holding everything internally. The same principle applies to you. 

✅  When you build internal governance, you create: 
→ Decision frameworks so every choice doesn't feel existential 
→ Boundaries around what needs resolution now vs. what can wait 
→ Structured space to process pressure before it distorts judgment 
→ Permission to externalize complexity without losing authority 

✨ You already know how to lead under pressure. 

The question is: what systems are you using to hold it? 

Because isolation isn't strength. 
It's risk.

#LeadWithClarity #ChangeWithConfidence

Sunday night. You’re already carrying Monday, 

the decisions waiting, 
the pressure building, 
the questions you haven’t fully answered yet.

Here’s a different move:

Before Monday, identify one decision that is now closed.

Not just decided.
Closed.

No longer open for renegotiation.
No longer provisional.
No longer responsive to pressure.

Stability comes from knowing where the ground no longer moves.

Most senior leaders operate in environments where everything feels provisional. 

Every decision could be reopened. 
Every commitment renegotiated. 
Over time, that creates chronic instability.

When decisions are constantly revisited, execution stalls. 
→ People hedge effort. 
→ They delay commitment. 
→ They stop believing anything will hold long enough to matter.

Here’s what closed means:

Not “we’ve decided and might change our minds.”
But “we’ve decided and unless something material changes, this is no longer open.”

For example:

➡️ This org structure is closed until Q3.
➡️ These three priorities are funded. New requests wait.
➡️ This product line is sunset. We’re not reopening it.

👉🏾 When leaders clearly close decisions and behave consistently afterward, trust increases. 
→ People stop lobbying. 
→ Second-guessing drops. 
→ Energy moves back into execution.

Before Monday, choose one decision that is now closed.
Tell your team. 
Tell your board. 
Tell yourself.

Not because it’s perfect.
But because stability comes from knowing where the ground no longer moves.

And right now, your organization needs at least one thing to be final.

👉🏾 If this resonates, DM me “closed.” I’m working with leaders on creating stability without rigidity and learning to say this is no longer open without apology.

Sunday night. 

You're already carrying next week, the decision, the tension, the conversation no one else knows is weighing on you.

Before Monday: decide what you will hold and what you will stop absorbing.

Most leaders don’t burn out from leading. 
They burn out from absorbing everything that lands near them...
→ emotion that isn't theirs, 
→ doubt someone else should be managing, 
→ weight with no purpose except that it found you.

There's a difference between containment and absorption.

🌱 Containment is strategic. 
→ You hold tension so the system can function. 
→ You metabolize uncertainty so your team can move forward.

🚩 Absorption is uncontained leakage. 
→ You take on emotion because no one else will. 
→ You carry weight that serves nothing except the habit of carrying.

Most leaders don't distinguish between the two until they're already burned out.

Regulation isn't a wellness practice. 
It's an executive decision.

You decide what uncertainty enters your system. 
You decide which conversations drain you. 
You decide when you're containing for the organization and when you're just absorbing because it's easier than saying no.

What are you holding that actually serves the work? 
And what are you absorbing just because you can?

One strengthens the system. 
The other slowly drains it.

If you're rethinking what you're carrying, DM me "holding."

Check out the REWIRED. newsletter (link in comments).

Your team is watching you for cues. 
The board wants certainty. 
Your peer just asked if you're "handling it."

You are. Publicly.

💥 At senior levels, no one absorbs uncertainty for you, but everyone absorbs it from you.

🚩 Your team doesn't just hear what you say in the all-hands. 
→ They watch the micro-pause before you answer the hard question. 
→ They notice when your tone shifts between the morning standup and the afternoon strategy call. 
→ They feel what you're carrying even when you don't name it.
→ And they make it mean something about themselves, their projects, the future.

This is the part no one talks about. 

👉🏾 You're not just leading the change—
→ You're metabolizing the uncertainty so the system doesn't fracture. 
→ You're making decisions without complete information while being evaluated weekly. 
→ You're holding steady while others find their footing.

The data confirms it: 
31% of CEOs are fired for poor change management. 
73% of executives report being overworked without rest. 

You already knew this. 
You're living it.

Here's the question most leaders carry alone:
What's holding you while you hold everyone else?

Check out the REWIRED. newsletter (link in comments).

Month six of the transformation. 
Early wins are visible. 
The board exhales. 

Your team wants to know if they can slow down. 
And you're tempted to say yes. 

Most leaders don't fail change because of bad strategy. 
They fail it by deciding too early, trying to relieve pressure instead of holding it. 

Here's the moment: 
The reorg is done. 
The new systems are live. 
People are tired. 
You're tired. 
And declaring progress feels like leadership. 

So you do. 

You shift focus back to operations. 
You stop reinforcing the new behaviors. 
You treat "Day One" like the finish line. 
And the organization, still rewiring habits, still testing whether this is real—reads your retreat as permission to go back. 

60–70% of change initiatives fail. 
Not because the strategy was wrong. 

Because leaders couldn't hold the discomfort long enough for it to take root. 

Real transformation takes years. 

Culture doesn't shift because you announced it. 
It shifts when you stay present through the messy middle, 
when resistance peaks, 
when fatigue sets in, 
when everyone (including you) wants relief. 

The hardest move isn't launching the change. 
It's refusing to call it done when the pressure asks you to.

Check out the REWIRED. newsletter (link in comments).

The acquisition was falling apart. Integration slipping. Key talent leaving. 

The executive team wanted the CEO to calm everyone down.
Instead, she told the truth.

"This is harder than we expected. We're behind. We've lost people we didn't want to lose. 

Here's what we know: 
our product is strong, 
our customers are staying, 
we're learning fast. 

Here's what we don't know yet: 
how long this takes to stabilize. 
But we're not pretending it's fine when it's not."

The room didn't relax. But people stopped looking for reassurance and started problem-solving.

👉🏾 Your role in change isn't to reassure people. 
It's to stay coherent when reassurance isn't possible. 

Presence is what remains when certainty is gone.

Research shows this pattern clearly.
Reassurance provides short-term relief, but increases anxiety and dependency over time.

❌ When leaders promise “things will be fine” and outcomes stay unclear, trust erodes.
✅ When leaders stay coherent, when what they see, say, and do align, they become a psychological anchor.

Studies show calm, contained leaders help regulate team anxiety and support better decision-making under stress. 

Coherence is alignment between message, demeanor, and action. 
Your tone, your decisions, your visible choices, 
they all tell the same story about what matters.

That CEO didn't sugarcoat the chaos. 

But every decision reinforced what she said mattered: product quality, customer retention, learning velocity. 

When budget got tight, she protected the product team. 
When timelines slipped, she doubled down on customer communication.

The team stabilized. 
Not because they felt reassured. 
Because they knew where they stood.

The signals of strategic presence aren’t emotional. 
They’re structural:
→ Communicate what is known, what is unknown, and what is being tested, not outcomes you can't promise.
→ Demonstrate values-based decision-making. Your choices reflect your stated priorities, even under pressure.
→ Say "Here's what we don't yet know, and here's how we'll learn" instead of filling gaps with false comfort.

👉🏾 Reassurance teaches people that safety comes from external answers. 
When those answers don't come, dependency turns into distrust.

👉🏾 Coherence teaches people that safety comes from alignment, from knowing that what you see, say, and do are the same thing.

Here's the diagnostic: 
1️⃣ In your last major change, could people repeat your core narrative in one sentence? 
2️⃣ Did your visible choices match your stated priorities? 
3️⃣ How often did you say "we don't know yet" instead of reassuring?

Presence isn't reassurance. It's coherence under pressure.
And coherence is what people trust when certainty is gone.

Check out the REWIRED. newsletter (link in comments).

The executive team was aligned on paper.
Unified strategy. Clear priorities.

But in practice, each executive was optimizing for their own domain.

→ Sales pushed for speed—close deals faster, hit the quarter.
→ Operations demanded control—tighten processes, reduce risk.
→ Product wanted innovation—experiment, test, push boundaries.

Three different truths. All defensible. All in direct conflict.

The middle managers? Paralyzed.

They couldn’t move fast without breaking process.
They couldn’t innovate without risking the quarter.
So they stopped deciding and started escalating everything.

👉🏾 Most organizations don’t break under change.
They fracture under mixed signals.
And those signals almost always trace back to uncontained leadership stress.

Under pressure, executive teams reliably create the same system-level failures:
→ Conflicting signals about priorities and risk
→ Inconsistent decision rules that cascade downward
→ Constant re-prioritization that turns urgency into noise

👉🏾 The organization doesn’t fail because the strategy is wrong.
It fails because the signals governing action stop making sense under stress.

In this case, the fracture wasn’t about strategy.
It was about authority patterns, the recurring ways decisions were made and rewarded.
→ Sales optimized for revenue.
→ Operations optimized for stability.
→ Product optimized for differentiation.

Together, they created a system where the only safe move was no move.
Once they saw the pattern, they aligned on a single constraint:
“We will hit the quarter AND ship the new product AND maintain stability, but we will not add new projects until Q2.”

Not perfect.
But coherent.
The middle managers started moving again.

Here’s the diagnostic:
→ Map your last 3–5 high-stakes decisions.
→ Who set direction?
→ Where did messages change as they moved down?
→ Ask two levels below you: “What behavior looks safest and most rewarded here?”

That answer reveals your real authority pattern.
Alignment at the top doesn’t guarantee coherence in the system.

👉🏾 The work isn’t getting everyone to agree.
It’s ensuring the signals you send through decisions, incentives, and consequences—tell the same story when things get hard.

Because if your signals fracture under stress, so does your organization.

Check out the REWIRED. newsletter (link in comments).

The meeting is going too long. 
Tension is rising. 
Two people are circling the same disagreement, and you can feel the discomfort in the room.

So you cut it off.

"Let's take this offline. We need to move on."

The room exhales. 
The meeting ends.
And the issue? 
Still there. Just quieter now.

👉🏾 What are you trying to resolve too quickly because it makes you uncomfortable? That impulse quietly reshapes organizations, often more than strategy ever will.

→ You didn't resolve the tension. 
→ You displaced it. 
→ You taught people that when things get uncomfortable, the move is to stop talking, not to push through.

And if you do that enough times, it becomes the culture.

Research shows that internal governance isn't just structures and policies, it's the unwritten norms about how disagreement, risk, and uncertainty are handled. 

👉🏾 When leaders consistently speed past discomfort, that becomes the real governance system, regardless of what the org chart says.

→ The pattern compounds. 
→ Conflict gets displaced. 
→ People stay quiet. 
→ Decisions move to hallways. 

💥 Teams optimize for keeping you comfortable, not for surfacing reality early enough to act.

👉🏾 Here's the reflective practice:
Recall one recent situation where you felt pressure to "just decide" or "move on."

❓Ask yourself:
→ What feeling was I trying to get away from? (Awkwardness, fear of conflict, fear of being wrong)
→ What did I do to reduce that feeling quickly? (Overruling, deflecting, postponing, sugarcoating)
→ If others copy that move, what kind of culture does it create in 6-12 months?

Your strategy says you value candor and truth-telling. 
But your discomfort management teaches people to be careful, to avoid tension, to wait for you to decide.

Culture follows the pattern you model, not the values you articulate.

👉🏾 If everyone handled discomfort the way you do in that moment, what would your culture look like a year from now?

The invitation isn't to confession.  It's to honest noticing.

What are you trying to resolve too quickly because it makes you uncomfortable?

That’s the question worth sitting with.

Check out the REWIRED. newsletter (link in comments).

You’re working late again. 
Not because the work requires it.

You’re answering emails that could wait. 
Refining a deck that’s already good enough. 
Reviewing work that your team can handle. 
Reorganizing priorities that won’t actually change anything.

And when you finally stop, you feel slightly better.
Not because something critical moved forward, but because 
you discharged some of the weight.

Most overwork at senior levels isn’t about workload. 
It’s about emotional regulation.

Research shows that overwork is often driven by anxiety reduction, not external demand. 

👉🏾 Workaholism functions as motion-as-relief, activity that creates a temporary sense of control while accelerating burnout. 
👉🏾 “Optimal busyness” feels energizing, even when it doesn’t meaningfully change outcomes.

You’re not working to create value. 
You’re working to discharge responsibility.

There’s a difference:

👉🏾 Productive work: Clear linkage between effort and outcome. Decisions made. Something shifts when you finish.
👉🏾 Motion-as-relief: High multitasking. Constant interruptions. Refining what’s already done. Activity that feels useful but erodes strategic capacity.

🚩 Multitasking alone can consume up to 40% of productive capacity. 
🚩 Visible responsiveness feels responsible, but it quietly degrades judgment and focus.

Productive work has a finish line. 
Motion-as-relief doesn’t.

When you stop, the weight is still there. 
You just feel slightly less anxious for having moved.
So you do it again the next night.

You’re not overworked because there’s too much to do. 
You’re overworked because holding responsibility without constant motion feels intolerable.

The weight of outcomes you can’t fully control. 
Decisions that won’t resolve cleanly. 
Accountability that sits heavy.
So you work, not to finish, but to discharge.

And every time you do, you reinforce the pattern: 
The only way to handle this weight is to stay busy.

👉🏾 Next time you catch yourself working late, ask: “Is this moving something forward or am I trying to feel better about what I’m carrying?”

👉🏾 If it’s the latter, stop. Sit with the weight.

That discomfort, holding responsibility without immediate action, that is the work.

Check out the REWIRED. newsletter (link in comments).

The pressure isn't resolving. 
The board wants results you can't deliver yet. 
The market is shifting faster than your strategy can adapt.

And you start compensating.

Not because it's needed. 
Because holding steady feels intolerable.

When pressure doesn't resolve, leaders start compensating. 
→ Over-communicating. 
→ Over-deciding. 
→ Over-functioning.

From the outside, it looks like leadership. 
From the inside, you know you're just creating motion.

👉🏾 Research shows compensation behaviors are stress responses, ways leaders create motion when steadiness feels intolerable. 

Short-term, they feel relieving, you're doing something. 
Long-term, they drain your reserves faster than the work itself ever could.

👉🏾 Studies on high-functioning burnout call this the "crash-out effect": sustained hyperactivation eventually leads to profound fatigue and cognitive fog. 

You look productive. 
You're running on fumes.
And the compensation? 

It's not fixing the pressure. 
It's creating the illusion of control.

Over-functioning is often rooted in survival strategies, where taking on extra responsibility became the way to stay safe in chaotic environments. 

That doesn't go away when you become a senior leader. It just gets more sophisticated.

→ You over-communicate because ambiguity feels dangerous. 
→ You over-decide because open loops feel like failure. 
→ You over-function because doing less feels like weakness.

If you’re working harder but not making progress,
If you’re exhausted but the pressure isn’t decreasing, 
you’re not leading. 

You’re compensating.
And the organization sees it. 

They don't see a leader holding complexity. 
They see someone who can't tolerate unresolved pressure.
So they start compensating too.

When you catch yourself sending the third follow-up in an hour, ask: 
"Is this needed, or am I just relieving discomfort?"

When you're about to decide just to close the loop, ask: 
"Is this decision ripe, or am I managing my own anxiety?"

The work isn't doing more. 
The work is learning to tolerate unresolved pressure without burning yourself out trying to fix it prematurely.

What pressure are you compensating around right now instead of actually holding?

After 10 years working in the corporate grind, I worked hard on my personal brand, my community and my limiting beliefs and finally set up shop as a solopreneur. 

It took being fired by Elon Musk, a failed start-up, and an ADHD diagnosis to understand myself and find the thing that really lit me up - and I realised it was helping people tell their stories. 

In October 2024, BOLD was born. 

BOLD helps individuals build their personal brands on LinkedIn (and beyond) through realness and purpose. As a founder, building a personal brand helps potential clients get to know you, like you and trust you - and makes future talent want to work with you. People want your story in your words - not through AI-generated company jargon.

BOLD offers: 
- Content 'done-for-you' service for busy founders who want to grow their brand on LinkedIn
- Consulting service for those who need support with their story, content pillars and LinkedIn strategy
- Community for Women Solopreneurs & Creators (and aspiring): apply to join below under 'The BOLD Community'
- Events to connect big BOLD thinkers in a meaningful way (London, Bristol, Berlin)
- Motivational team workshops for those wanting to build their personal brands on LinkedIn

For client inquiries, contact info@amyweidner.com (or book a call through 'visit my website')

Amy Weidner

LinkedIn stripped me of my Top Voice badge two days before Christmas.

There was zero explanation as to why, which was very annoying considering I'm not only building my business on the platform, I'm helping others do the same 😀 

I won't lie, at first I took it personally, and in true ADHD fashion, launched into the depths of rumination. 

Is it because I stopped posting about careers?
Was it because my content is about LinkedIn personal branding, and it's an ironic conflict of interest?
Was it because I sometimes have spelling mistakes?
Am I a terrible person who's done something wrong? 

I'll never know. 

Thankfully, the day I realised, I was already home in Ireland for Christmas, so I took myself for a long walk by the sea with my wonderful (and wise) Auntie Margo (below), had a cry, and shook it off. 

Over the last few days, I've learned that they've stripped some of the best creators on LinkedIn of their blue badge (including my favourite, Justin Welsh 🤯 ). Something's going on behind the scenes, but it would be really nice if they told us.

However, if I learned anything from being involved in the Twitter disaster of 2022, it's that social media platforms are extremely volatile, and years of hard work can disappear overnight. 

As creators, building our entire brand on one single platform is actually a huge mistake. We should try and diversify our communities and our reach, but have accurate content systems in place to be smart about it (re-purpose content in a way that makes sense for each platform). 

I've given a lot to LinkedIn, not only through growing my personal page, but I've also been the reason that a LOT of people have signed up and started posting regularly. 

But like anything, if I don't feel appreciated, I usually take my energy elsewhere. 

I'm not saying I'm leaving LinkedIn, but I am certainly going to take this as a sign to branch out to other channels, not just for me but for my clients, and members of The BOLD Community. 

Substack or YouTube anyone? 👀

Making BOLD Creators | Building Personal Brands and Communities | Workshop Facilitator | Irish ☘️ | (Proud) ADHDer⚡️

BOLD is hiring 🩷 

We've recently onboarded some exciting new clients whose backgrounds vary widely. This means I'm looking for a few freelance creatives to help me make their content stand out 🤌 

We're looking for a freelance copywriter ✍ & designer 🎨 to help us create scroll-stopping content for LinkedIn.

This would suit someone on the junior side with a creative mind who genuinely loves to learn 🧠

You'll work closely with me to capture our clients' stories and turn them into beautiful, BOLD, high-quality LinkedIn posts 🤩 

If you're interested, please apply via the relevant link in the comments👇 

I cannot stress this enough: I don't want anyone to apply who thinks using AI/ChatGPT to write content is acceptable 🥸

In 2023 I got laid off from my dream job at Twitter. 

I hit the job market with 10+ years recruiting experience, and 6 months as a PM.

At the time, there were zero jobs in either field. 

It was a time where there were thousands of people like me on the market (I'm talking 500/1 ratio of candidates to any half decent TA role). 

Having endured the new Twitter owner for 6+ months, I already hadn't slept in a longggg time, and was clinging on by a thread 😅

I allowed myself wallow for a little bit, and of course, I doom scrolled on LinkedIn a LOT.

And then one day, as I was sat in my parents home back in Ireland, while the rain pelted at the window- I felt myself slipping into a very dark place. 

I had experienced this before, and as someone who works VERY hard to protect my mental health, I knew I needed to nip this in the bud. 

I had a firm chat with myself, where I broke down my thoughts. 

(This is a true story btw).

I really looked at what narrative I'd been telling myself, and I began the process of reframing.  

When I told myself: 

'There are no jobs out there'

I asked myself: 

'Is that really true? Is there really not ONE single job available that would suit me?'

When I told myself: 

'No-one will hire someone like me, my skill-set isn't needed in this market' 

I asked myself:

'What proof do I have of that? Am I only destined to have one skillset, or can I not adapt and learn something new?' 

And when I told myself:

'I'll never get the same salary I earned at Twitter, or experience that type of culture again' 

I asked myself:

'What's stopping me from building my own thing, where my earnings are unlimited and I can dictate the culture?' 

I'm now just over one year into BOLD, and I've worked with some amazing clients helping them share their stories, spoken at the coolest events, ran 8+ of MY OWN events, soft-launched The BOLD Community with 18 founding members. This would never have happened if 

a) I didn't get laid off 
b) Didn't reframe my thinking 

That mindset shift was EVERYTHING.  

We are more than the story we tell ourselves, and we are DEFINITELY more than the story the corporate world puts on us. 

We have one chance, if not you who? And if not now, when? 

🩷

Indie: plz STFU with the mindset stuff and get me a snack

I'll be back at this beautiful space in London next week for our first BOLD event of the year 😗 

This time, it's for 'people people', and I'm partnering with The Secret HR Society to celebrate their London launch, what an honour to be chosen as their UK chapter lead 💋 

We're inviting senior HR/TA/People executives to join us for an evening of BOLD self-discovery and even BOLDer self-expansion 💥 

If you've been to one of my events before, you'll know what I mean 🤓 

We'll also dissect how HR/TA can lead BOLDly during times of change, with some of the most innovative minds in the London people scene 🦾 

What's also an exciting moment for us - is that we have some shiny new sponsors: Chapter 2,  Ravio & Leader Labs 🤝 (thank you for seeing our vision and believing in us 🥹) 

Your team for the night is as follows.. 

Facilitators & BTS:
🩷 Hilary Klassen, Co-Founder, Secret HR Society
🩷 Sonita Uijt de Haag, SHRS SteerCo
🎤  Meeeeeee, Amy Weidner as your BOLD MC 
🎥  Will Colthup and Natalia Suvorova behind the camera 

Speakers:
🤩 Trecilla Lobo, SVP People, Flip
🤩 Charlotte Meara, CFO, Eye Security
🤩 Damian Welch, Leadership and Engagement Expert, ex-Mars
🤩 Andy Ayim MBE, Founder, Host & Director of Leadership Development

🗓 Date: January 21st
📍 The Little Violet Door(Soho)

Let's make 2026 our BOLDEST year yet. 

Space is limited, and spots are filling fast, so grab yours in the comments 👋 

Leo Harrison, Sophie Rigby, Nick Homer, Junead Jalil 😗

On Wednesday we celebrated the launch of The Secret HR Society in London, by bringing lots of lovely humans together for a night of BOLDness. 

We spoke very openly about how hard it is right now, especially for people leaders trying to navigate the massive shift we're in. 

The consensus was, that we need to be more generous with people work with when it comes to giving the the benefit of the doubt, because everyone's struggling in one way or another. 

We also spoke about how important is it is for HR/TA to speak 'the language' of the board, and Andy shared a great tip that becoming a NED would very quickly help gain that exposure. 

Thank you to our wonderful speakers, Trecilla Lobo, Charlotte Meara, Damian Welch, and Andy Ayim MBE- you guys were very inspiring and so real. 

To our sponsors Chapter 2, Ravio & LeaderLab- thank you for seeing our vision and helping us bring it to life 🩷

Our team Hilary, Sonita, Inka, Emilie, Emily and Arber - the backbone of the operation 🫶

Our video crew doing some BTS work, Will Colthup and Arthur Ambler 🎥 

And the unbelievably talented Natalia Suvorova for capturing the night SO beautifully 📸 

If you want to run a very different style of event 👀 get in touch 💌

On Monday this week, we officially launched BOLD in Bristol 🔥

We absolutely PACKED the most wonderful group of humans into Stokes Croft's coolest new cocktail bar - The Last Chance Saloon 🍸

We spoke about the challenges of trying to overcome limiting beliefs, and how the story we tell ourselves can really hold us back. 

We also spoke about how things are really really hard right now, and isolation is such a huge threat to our wellbeing. We must find ways to spend time together IRL, face to face, nervous system to nervous system. 

We heard the most beautiful origin stories from the BOLD women in Bristol who are really pursuing their purpose, thank you for sharing with us Dr. Lara Mosunmola Lalemi Therese Eyres Tanya Lacey Sarah Cook Sadia Ghazanfar chanelle greenwood and the bar owner Issy- you absolutely nailed it.  

I've always known that my BOLD events were different - and someone told me the other night it's because of how comfortable I make the speakers and the audience almost immediately. That was such amazing feedback. 

I believe every event should be about your audience, and how you want them to feel as they walk out the door. I aim to make people feel an internal shift, by visualising a higher version of themselves. 

To my ride-or-die, Lex O'Hara, thank you for helping me not lose my mind when I realised we quite possible overestimated the venue size, and when the pizza didn't arrive ontime 👀 

I love working with people like Lex, she comes to me with a calm smile and a solution every time something goes wrong (which it almost always does). 

To the man who captured the night 📸 👤  Darius Jean 🤌🏼 and to Saliha Clarke from eins agency for all your help with promo and helping me find the best speakers 😍 

I'm currently finalising the dates for our upcoming events in London and Bristol, so I'll be reaching out to sponsors who want to speak to a very engaged group of women creators in these cities. 

If you want to discuss a partnership, my DMs are open 💌 and to anyone wanting to attend the next event, sign up to our newsletter in the comments, or follow us on IG @ theboldagency11 ⚡️

Any other ADHDers dealing with Christmas burnout? 

I used to wonder why I felt impossible to switch my brain back on after Christmas. 

I remember I'd physically struggle to even look at my laptop screen. 

Christmas for me, used to be a time where I'd push myself to go to social events I actually really didn't want to go to. 

There's such an enormous pressure to urgently see everyone, attend this Christmas party and that drinks event, and EVERYTHING seems to revolve around getting p*ssed. 

On learning about my ADHD brain, I realised that big groups of people, lots of noise, multiple people talking to me at the same time, small talk = getting totally overstimulated and therefore drinking too much. 

When I got overstimulated, because I didn't know what was going on (I just know I felt bad and needed something) I would use alcohol to level myself. 

I didn't even realise I was doing it. 

By the time Christmas Day came along, I'd have burnt myself out. 

So what changed? 

I stopped committing to plans in the lead up to Christmas, the phrase 'I'm winding down now so let's catch up in the new year' got used a lot. 

I met people for coffees + walks instead of drinks + nights out. 

Everything I did socially was 1:1, I avoided big groups. 

I was mindful of my energy, and equated it to a battery. If my battery was low, I'd take myself off to try and recharge before committing to anything else (calming music, quiet room, walk in nature, solitude).

As a result, I drank far less alcohol. 

I'm not saying I'm having a perfect first week back to work, but its far better than other years. Running my own business, I just can't afford not to be ready for action in January. 

I used to do dry January every year, but now my relationship with alcohol is so much better - I don't need to. 

I love a spicy margarita every now and again, and now I just really enjoy them (instead of ruining my life)🌶️

The greatest gift you can give yourself is to learn how your brain works, and put some 
small changes in place to support it. 

It's ok to express your needs, and it's definitely ok to say no 🫶

Our highlight reel from the BOLD x The Secret HR Society event is here 😍  

It was such a fun evening, and so many wonderful humans came to help us celebrate the launch of The Secret HR Society in London 👏 

Thanks to the team Hilary Klassen, Charlotte Meara, Andy Ayim MBE, Damian Welch and Trecilla Lobo - and our friends from Chapter 2 and Ravio for making it happen ⚡ 

Thank you to my friends at BCENE for doing such a great job of capturing the vibes - and honestly just being so good to work with. 

Will Colthup and Arthur Ambler from BCENE are officially our BOLD content partners, helping us make high-quality LinkedIn video content for our London-based clients. If that's something you're on the market for - drop us a 💌

An evening of powerful storytelling and courageous connection is coming to Bristol this day next week, to celebrate the soft-launch of The BOLD Community 💜 

Born in London at the beginning of last year - BOLD events are about human connection, shared experience and creating a safe, brave space for women (and allies) to connect over what makes us human, and inspire one another to make bold moves. 

With some incredible humans such as Dr. Lara Mosunmola Lalemi, Tanya Lacey, Sarah Cook, Therese Eyres, Sadia Ghazanfar and chanelle greenwood, we'll share real stories from BOLD Bristol Women building purpose-led businesses - and living life on their own terms. 

Seeing what’s possible often starts with hearing someone else's story; it reminds us that we're not alone 🥹 

If you’re feeling the nudge to make a BOLD move but need that final push, this one’s for you.

Limited spaces & RSVP required, sign up here: https://luma.com/s5ogxok3

I've spent 18 months helping founders build personal brands on LinkedIn, and here's what I've learned:

🥐 Most people, even the 'most successful' ones are terrified of being called cringe. 

🥐 Most people, no matter how 'attractive' they are, feel insecure about how they look. 

🥐 Most people, even the most interesting/experienced ones, feel like they have 'nothing valuable' to say.

So, I promise it's not just you. 

My advice to move past this is: 

🥖 Dig deep into your subconscious through questioning, who are you REALLY worried about calling you cringe, and if they do, do they really matter? Is their potential opinion worth the cost of opportunity? 

🥖 Feeling insecure about how you look is unfortunately very normal. It's often an idea embedded in our psyche by society/marketing to make us buy more anti-wrinkle cream. You are much more attractive than you think, and again it doesn't really even matter. Practice really helps with this. 

🥖 You don't have to come up with brand new concepts when it comes to sharing content. Be a vessel for your audience, and share nuggets/learnings that you found useful. I promise they will too. 

Please don't let the opinions of others cost you the opportunities that building your brand will bring you. 

Need help with it? Click 'visit my website' to discuss. 

Thank you to my step dog Indie for being my model for this piece, she was feeling very cute in her French PJs (she's literally smiling) Lex O'Hara 🫶.

One week back and it already feels like the topic of likes, engagement, algorithm updates, etc etc etc is dominating our conversations and our newsfeeds. 

I know for many of us it's important, but on the scale of actual life- it's not everything. 

Let's read more books, listen to more music and create more than we consume (in the words of my lovely friend Alyssa Jaffer).  

Our value is worth more than a few likes on LinkedIn. 

Make sure to take breaks and protect your menty h 🫂

Yesterday, I went to Birmingham for the first time in my life to host a workshop on all things storytelling and LinkedIn personal brand for a company offsite. 

It was my first collaboration with Camilla Boyer 😙 

Camilla was one of the first people I asked to join the BOLD Women WhatsApp group when I set it up two years ago. I had seen she'd done a post to announce going solo, and as soon as I saw she was an ex-Tweep, so I immediately slid into her DM's asking her to join us.

This is what it's all about for me.

Build our own ecosystem of opportunities. 

I love these full-circle moments.

Build that personal brand peeps 🩷 

The BOLD Community founding members' offer ends at midnight. 

DM me to apply (1-spot left).

The BOLD event season has officially kicked off ⚡️

Here's a recap from our BOLD x The Secret HR Society event last week in London 😍

Was so wonderful to share the stage with legends Andy Ayim MBE, Charlotte Meara, Trecilla Lobo, Damian Welch and co-host with Hilary Klassen.  

It's amazing to see such an appetite for IRL gatherings, people really want connection 🫶

Want to create a very different event experience? 

Get in touch 💌

A friend of mine sent me this screenshot from her group chat the other day, and I found it both hilarious and absolutely shocking.

Imagine landing into a new role, and the first thing you do is force your team to post on LinkedIn ☠️

TWICE a week.

AND one has to be personal.

I would die.

I understand why their new manager wants them to do this - of COURSE I do.

As someone who has built my entire business on LinkedIn, I understand the opportunity that being visible on this platform brings.

BUT..

There is still a huge amount of fear associated with posting on LinkedIn.

We cannot expect people to post without giving them support, guidance, and a framework to ensure they share valuable content.

Most importantly, help them understand why they need to post content in the first place (or book one of my BOLD team activations to help you 😙). 

Don't be this manager 😵

We're currently deep in the echo chamber of not-enoughness. 

Everywhere we turn online, there's a bro shouting at us about what we 'have to do' to make 2026 the best year ever. 

I see so many 'entrepreneurs' capitalising on the fear around AI to sell their products and services. 

It's almost as if they find a way to get enough data on you to know exactly how to push your unique pain points and use scare-selling to get you to buy their programme. 

It's actually gross. 

It's also a very tacky way to sell, but it works. 

This is, unfortunately the world we live in today- but we control what we engage with and how we respond. 

Remember, comparison is the thief of joy. 
The more we can put those blinkers on and focus on our own lane, the more at peace we will be while we build. 

You get to write your rule book. Don't be afraid to unfollow, block and disengage where you need to. 

Protect your attention at all costs. 

Make sure you pull yourself out of the noise to create some white space for connection and creation 🐾

Follow me for tips on the creator journey ⚡️

Recycled from Awakendaily on IG 😙

What's your favorite way to tell a post has been written by ChatGPT?

“Feel the fear and do it anyway” 🧗🏽‍♀️

I thought I couldn’t, until I told myself I CAN. 🫆

Walking in courage, taking those little steps each day, helps you make BOLD moves, because “confidence breeds confidence”👣

What a fantastic evening I had yesterday at the “Stories of BOLD Women of Bristol” event!! ⚡️

🎙️As we sat and listened to the stories of 7 AMAZING women who decided they were:

🚫Done being limited by their own voices & inner thoughts.
🚫Done seeking permission to be brave
🚫Done staying in their comfort zone 
🚫Done waiting for “perfection” before starting 
🚫Done failing before even trying 

I absorbed so much wisdom, positivity & inspiration. 💭

In my last LinkedIn post, I asked :

🚩What things have fear and doubt been holding YOU back from? 

I stated that 2026 is the year to start, face, build, be seen! Don’t be your own limitation! ⚡️

🔔This rang even truer last night when hearing the stories of these BOLD women. 

🧱Building a freelance & consulting career is not something I always thought of doing, I never saw it as a possibility, certainly not this “soon”. But I stumbled into my beginning last year when the universe gave me the “nudge” & now I’m building Radically Rooted  & Rooted Spaces  

🧠I was doing a lot of facilitation, event hosting, public speaking, panel discussions, poetry performance etc after deciding enough is enough with those “voices”

This year, I choose to be BOLD, continually, shouting about myself, my work, my passion, because if I don’t , who will? 💡

Last night, I learned:

✨Your words are powerful, speak positivity until it becomes reality 
✨Ask for help if you don’t know, not knowing is not a reason to not do, you learn along the way
✨Be adaptable and learn when to pivot 
✨Surround yourself with people that see you higher than yourself 
✨Give yourself permission to “be”
✨Comparison is the thief of joy, your journey is YOURS ALONE

Remember: 
📖Your story began before you even knew it

🎙️Incredibly grateful to the amazingly women who so generously & vulnerably shared theirs stories. Dr. Lara Mosunmola Lalemi, Sadia Ghazanfar, Tanya Lacey, Therese Eyres, chanelle greenwood, Sarah Cook  

👏🏿Thank you Amy Weidner of BOLD & The BOLD Community for curating such an intentional, brave, warm & intimate space. You are an INSPIRATION and your energy is pure light! 

I had such a great time I forgot to take a single picture with people🤣 but look forward to the professional images! 📷

Also lovely as always to make some new connections in Bristol! Charlotte May, Jo Millett  

#Solopreneur #BoldMoves #Confidence

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The Battle

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