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Leadership is demanding. Not just intellectually, but emotionally and energetically. I would argue that most leaders understand the importance of caring for their teams. Unfortunately, I have seen fewer take the time to care for themselves with the same level of intention (myself included!). And yet, leaders who are depleted cannot show up fully, no matter how skilled or committed they are. This isn't to shame or judge, but rather to be honest and raw regarding one angle of l

Reflection is an incredibly important and powerful tools in our leadership toolbox. Part of leadership is to create pathways for moving forward, fixing things, improving systems, and refining processes. When something does not go or work as planned, the reaction can sometimes a kneejerk and to quickly keep things moving. Sometimes urgency to course correct is necessary... but many times it is not. Slowing down and giving yourself time to reflect and refine is important. Refle

Curiosity could be misconstrued as a soft and easy leadership trait, but in practice, it can be deeply challenging... Not because leaders are too busy, but because curiosity requires humility. Being curious asks leaders to admit they may not fully understand a situation, and that can feel deeply vulnerable! It also asks them to loosen their grip on being right and stay open to information that might challenge their current assumptions. For many leaders, especially those in se

Active listening is one of those leadership skills that sounds incredibly basic yet turns out to be incredibly hard. Active listening requires presence, and it requires intention. It requires resisting the urge to do anything else while someone is talking. Too often, leaders are rewarded for speed, responsiveness, and productivity. Unfortunately, those same pressures often contradict and work directly against deep, active, thoughtful listening. When Leaders are Not Present, P

Leadership rarely fails because people do not care enough or work hard enough. It fails because leaders do not have the time, space, or capacity to think about direction setting and long-range strategy. Many leaders spend their days reacting: Emails. Meetings. Questions. Problems that feel urgent and immediate. By the end of the day, it can feel like a win just to have survived it. But the work of leadership is not survival. It is direction. Creating space to think is not a l

A highly underestimated leadership skills is pattern recognition. Not isolated incidents. Not one tough week. Not one difficult employee. Patterns. Patterns reveal what is actually happening inside an organization, not what leadership believes is happening. They show up quietly, through repetition. Through habits. Through defaults we fall back on when things feel uncomfortable, stressful, or uncertain. And when leaders fail to notice their default patterns, the consequences c

Leadership is hard and it is not for the faint of heart. Leadership gets loud. Decisions stack up. Emotions run high. Competing priorities pull you in opposite directions. People want answers. Timelines get tight. Mistakes happen. Pressure creeps in. In moments like these, leaders who feel grounded are not guessing their way through decisions. They are not reacting based solely on urgency or emotion. They are leading from something deeper. They are leading from their values.

Leadership is full of moments that move fast. A comment lands wrong. An email triggers frustration. A decision surprises you. Before you realize it, your body reacts. Your thoughts fill in the gaps. Your tone shifts. Words come out sharper than you intended. Most leaders do not plan these moments. They happen in the space between stimulus and response. And what happens in that space matters more than we often realize. Pausing before reacting is not about slowing leadership do

Most leadership missteps do not come from bad intent. They come from speed. From packed calendars. From back to back meetings. From responding instead of reflecting. From doing what worked yesterday because it worked yesterday. From living in autopilot. Leadership today often rewards quick decisions, visible productivity, and responsiveness. None of those things are inherently bad, but when speed becomes the default, intention quietly slips out the back door. We begin leading

There is something magical about a new year. A clean slate. A fresh calendar. A brief moment where everything feels possible again. It is also the season of ambitious resolutions that quietly fade by mid February. Usually right around the time someone brings donuts to the office, an unexpected issue lands on your desk, or budget season reminds you that leadership is rarely calm or convenient. But what if this year we stopped making resolutions that simply sound good, and inst

Here is a fact that should give every leader pause. Roughly 70 percent of employees do not feel safe speaking up at work. That is not a rounding error. That is most of your team sitting in meetings with thoughts unspoken, concerns withheld, and ideas quietly abandoned before they ever see daylight. Seven out of ten people choosing silence. It's not because they do not care. And it's not because they are disengaged. It is because experience has taught them that speaking honest

The view from my patio - the ship's incredible wake! There is something powerful about being out in the middle of the ocean: No buildings. No calendar reminders. No noise from the world. Just endless water and the steady hum of a ship that keeps moving forward no matter what the weather brings. I had the incredible opportunity to join some family members on their birthday cruise last week. Each day, I spent time sitting on the deck of my room, which was on the aft end of the

Servant leadership gets talked about everywhere these days. Conference sessions, strategic plans, recruitment brochures. Most organizations say they value it, but many do not actually live it. In municipal and nonprofit work, where people and purpose are the heartbeat of everything we do, servant leadership cannot be a buzzword. It has to be a practice. This post digs into what servant leadership really looks like, why intentionality matters, and how it transforms teams. If y

Leap and the net will appear! Did you know that nearly 70 percent of leaders hesitate to make decisions because they are afraid of failing? In the public and nonprofit world, that fear often feels even heavier. Our organizations operate with limited resources, high community expectations, and very real consequences when something goes wrong. Yet some of the most transformational progress we make comes when we step forward with courage and take a well-planned leap. At Undercur

Oh hi... it's me! Over the last several days, I’ve been blown away by the encouragement, messages, referrals, and “you’ve got this” energy surrounding the launch of Undercurrent Strategies, LLC . Launching a business after a decade plus in municipal leadership was both exhilarating and a little terrifying (full transparency: the day of the launch, I felt so overwhelmed in both good and challenging ways, that I went to bed at 7:00 pm that night!). Genuinely, your support has m

Did you know that organizations with effective leadership can increase their productivity by up to 25%? In a world where resources can be limited, especially for municipalities and nonprofits, strong leadership becomes not just an asset, but a necessity. The ability to inspire, motivate, and drive a team toward a shared vision is what sets successful organizations apart. In this blog post, we will explore the significance of strong leadership, how it fosters high-performing t

Undercurrent Strategies began as a quiet pull. It was a feeling that the real work of leadership lives beneath the surface. After years of building a high performing team and navigating the messy middle of public service, I wanted to help others find clarity, alignment, and purpose. This work blends my strategic side with my intuitive side to help leaders and teams rise with confidence.