Self-Doubt Is Not the Enemy. Inaction Is.
Every serious leader encounters self-doubt. The difference is what they do with it.
 
Self-doubt arrives from two directions. Internally it questions your validity even when evidence of competence is clear. Externally it arrives through comparison — the fast track to a damaged self-image. Impo...
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When the Next Adversity Doesn’t Wait

As I wrapped up our look at the seeds we can pull from the adversities involved with defending the vulnerable, I shared that Granny was nearly 97 years old when she passed away in August 2020. There’s always a degree of pain that comes with loss, but I was as grateful as anything; for the long life ...

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The Quiet Killers of Leadership Confidence

Low self-image is the number one confidence killer.

It does not announce itself with drama. It shows up in the quiet ways leaders shrink, overcompensate, or quietly sabotage their own influence.

Two dangerous expressions appear most often.

The first is overconfidence — an inflated self-image that...

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Mining Conflicts for Sympathy and Cooperation Seeds

I realize there will be folks who read what I’ve shared here detailing the conflicts we experienced while doing all we could to advocate for Granny during the most vulnerable time of her nearly 97 years as throwing stones at a particular organization. While some of this may have been soft lobs in th...

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Conflicts Turn Protection into Relational Power

Granny passed away on August 3, 2020; not from Covid or from a lack of care. Had it not been for the family who cared for her in their home, I’m not sure either of those could have been said. What I am sure of is that we would not have had the time with her through the final weeks of her life that w...

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Influence Born of Protection

Earlier, I shared what John Maxwell taught me (and a group of a few hundred others) in 2015 about how one door can lead to another - and then another. The relationships we build, especially when we’re willing to invest the necessary time and energy into nurturing them, do the same. And influence fol...

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Cooperation and Sympathy Honed Through Conflict

More than any other adversity I can point to, dealing with the facility being paid to care for Granny through the first six months of 2020 - and being barred from even visiting her through most of that - gave me perspective for sympathy. In complete transparency, I’m developing some of that perspect...

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The Cost of Standing

After the sit-down with the organization’s CEO and nursing director, firmly (but still appropriately) calling bullshit on the social media post, and having routine direct conversations about our expectations for how Granny was cared for - as often as we could get someone to actually answer the phone...

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Defending the Vulnerable Without a Title

Despite the tremendous concern and compassion I felt through so much of what we were attempting to work through with the team being paid (heavily) to care for Granny, I maintained all the self-control I could muster with hopes of displaying enough of a pleasing personality to earn at least adequate ...

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Sympathy and Understanding Grow in the Trenches

Albeit years later, I remember seeing Granny’s black eyes like it was yesterday. I’m a fixer, sympathy has never really been something I’ve done well with. That said, I’ll let you guess at the emotions I was flooded with. Unless I’ve missed one unintentionally, we’ve looked at all eleven of Napoleon...

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Family Strain, Institutional Pushback, and Professional Risk

Our conversation with the CEO and nursing director, neither of which had a direct hand in any of Granny’s day to day care but did hold final responsibility for the staff who did, was on February 14, 2020. We were cordial, but we were also very direct in detailing the twenty-plus falls in just three ...

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Neglect Meets Advocacy

I can’t say I ever enjoyed doing incident investigations through all the years I spent in safety. That said, the investigations were much easier for me to stomach that providing direct care. I’m fine with seeing my own blood, give me a piece of duct tape and we’re good to go, but I might just pass o...

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