Strengths-based isn’t “focus on the positive.” It’s a discipline and a slightly uncomfortable one. Strengths-based leadership has picked up the same reputation as “wellness” everyone says it, not many people actually do it, and sometimes it’s used as a polite way to avoid saying anything hard. “Play to your strengths!” “Don’t worry about weaknesses!” If that’s where the conversation ends, you’ll get comfortable leaders and uneven teams. Not the goal. Let me offer a coaching d

By Paulette Ansara · 7 min read A great program that isn’t connected to the real work is, to put it politely, expensive entertainment. Let me put my cards on the table. I’ve designed leadership programs. I’ve bought leadership programs. I’ve sat through a few where I was mostly thinking about lunch. I’ve also watched genuinely brilliant programs disappear into the corporate ether, leaving behind only a set of laminated frameworks and a vague sense of optimism. The ones that

By Paulette Ansara · 6 min read The problem is almost never that people don’t care. It’s that nobody’s entirely sure what they’re on the hook for. “Accountability” is one of those words leaders love to wield like a broadsword. “We need more accountability around here.” Cue: everyone in the room quietly deciding to keep their head down. For some leaders, accountability means “tight grip” check in constantly, track everything, trust reluctantly. For others it means “hands off

By Paulette Ansara · 6 min read You don’t get points for what you meant. You get points for what your team felt. Here’s a plot twist that blindsides a lot of senior leaders: you can genuinely mean every piece of clear direction, every supportive nudge, every “my door’s always open” and still land as impatient, dismissive, or just a bit intimidating. I see it constantly. The leader walks out of a meeting thinking, “that went well, we got a lot done.” The team walks out of t