Debbie Lawrence

Debbie Lawrence Drawing on 37+ years of experience teaching and working with small business leaders, I am passionate

She was at her desk at the end of a long Thursday, staring at a report that was three days late and clearly rushed.She k...
06/02/2026

She was at her desk at the end of a long Thursday, staring at a report that was three days late and clearly rushed.

She knew what she needed to do. She also knew she didn’t want to do it.

She’d said something twice already. Both times, the person nodded. Both times, she walked away telling herself she’d done the hard thing.

She hadn’t done the hard thing. She’d talked around it, instead.

This week I’m sharing what that pattern costs and what it actually takes to break it.

Tomorrow I am sharing this with a community of women who lead — reading and listening every Wednesday.

Want to join them? Subscribe to The Permission Slip: www.debbielawrence.ca/signup

For the next 10 minutes, find the standard you keep expressing as a preference. The thing you've said you want — in a me...
06/01/2026

For the next 10 minutes, find the standard you keep expressing as a preference. The thing you've said you want — in a meeting, in a conversation, maybe just to yourself — but that your actions keep contradicting.

Write it down as a boundary instead. Not "I'd prefer if..." but "I will not respond to work messages after 6 PM. If something is urgent, here's what to do."

This is an investment in yourself as a leader. Deciding the standard before the conversation instead of during it (when someone is warm and has a good reason) changes everything.

Better boundaries = Better team dynamics = Better outcomes for everyone

Once that's done, rinse and repeat.

Next up: say it once, clearly, without apologizing for it.

It will feel uncomfortable the first time. That discomfort isn't a sign you've done something wrong. It's a sign you've done something new.

What's the one standard you want to stop expressing as a wish?

When a leader says “I’m meeting people where they are,” she’s usually being honest about her intent.What her team often ...
05/29/2026

When a leader says “I’m meeting people where they are,” she’s usually being honest about her intent.

What her team often hears is something different.

🤔 Person A: “I’m being held to a higher bar than the others in my role. I have to be perfect.”

😀 Person B: “I guess my work is fine. She’d say something if it wasn’t.”

🤫 Person C: “I keep watching the two of them and trying to figure out what the rules really are.”

The intent is one thing.

What the team can see is another.

And what they can see is that the same role gets a different standard depending on who’s in it.

If you don’t tell your team what the standard is, they’ll write their own version of why.

Where have you been letting them guess?

If this resonated, Issue #08 of The Permission Slip covers the full picture: www.debbielawrence.ca/signup

A meeting without a result isn't a meeting. It's an interruption with a calendar invite.This happens all the time. In or...
05/28/2026

A meeting without a result isn't a meeting. It's an interruption with a calendar invite.

This happens all the time. In organizations, on project teams, in volunteer committees. Leaders who are doing everything else right, calling rooms they haven't thought through yet.

Yesterday, a community of women who lead learned how to run a meeting that ends because the work is done, not because the clock ran out.

Miss the written issue? Grab it here: https://debbielawrence.ca/2026/05/26/a-meeting-without-a-result-isnt-a-meeting-its-an-interruption-with-a-calendar-invite/

Prefer to listen? The podcast episode is live on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major platforms.
Search: The Compassionate Leader School

What's one meeting on your calendar right now that could end the moment the result is reached?

Issue #10 is live. It names a pattern I see in leaders who are otherwise doing everything right: ➡️ calling rooms they ...
05/27/2026

Issue #10 is live.

It names a pattern I see in leaders who are otherwise doing everything right:
➡️ calling rooms they haven't defined a result for yet, and
➡️ paying for it in trust, time, and decisions that never quite get made.

This week in The Permission Slip:
A clear result before you walk in changes everything about how a meeting ends, and what it costs your team when that result isn't named.

Read it: https://debbielawrence.ca/2026/05/26/a-meeting-without-a-result-isnt-a-meeting-its-an-interruption-with-a-calendar-invite/
Listen to it: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4Ev6psA0NVIpla29BXnYaO

Already a subscriber? It is in your inbox now.

Not yet? Both links are open to everyone. Subscribe below to get every issue delivered directly to you.
Subscribe: www.debbielawrence.ca/signup

A meeting without a result isn't a meeting. It's an interruption with a calendar invite.This week I'm sharing what I've ...
05/26/2026

A meeting without a result isn't a meeting. It's an interruption with a calendar invite.

This week I'm sharing what I've learned across thirty years of leading about what separates a meeting that moves things forward from one that just fills the time.

✅️ Why knowing what "done" looks like changes everything about how a meeting runs
✅️ The three reasons leaders keep filling the hour even when the work is done
✅️ What it costs your team every time they walk out wondering why they were there
✅️ What you're allowed to do the moment the work is done

Tomorrow I am sharing this with a community of women who lead — reading and listening every Wednesday.

Turns out you don't owe the room a full hour. You owe your team a clear result.

Want to join them? Subscribe to The Permission Slip and get the written issue delivered to your inbox.

The Compassionate Leader School podcast episode drops the same day on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and all major platforms if you prefer to listen.

Subscribe here: www.debbielawrence.ca/signup

Most leaders, when a team conversation doesn’t produce real change, give it more time. Have the same conversation again....
05/25/2026

Most leaders, when a team conversation doesn’t produce real change, give it more time. Have the same conversation again. Tell themselves they weren’t clear enough.

What most leaders don’t do is:
- Set a real checkpoint.
- Name the consequence in advance.
- Stop absorbing the gap while they wait.

The first list feels like patience but it’s the hope strategy. And the hope strategy guarantees an ongoing cost while you’re protecting yourself from a possible one.

What’s one change you’ve been hoping for instead of deciding to take direct action on?

A few years ago I sat on a committee that wasn’t working. I knew it by the second meeting.I stayed for four months anywa...
05/22/2026

A few years ago I sat on a committee that wasn’t working. I knew it by the second meeting.

I stayed for four months anyway. Every time I left frustrated, I built another story. Maybe next month. Maybe they just need more time.

By month four, a very patient friend said it plainly across the table: “I think you’re engaging in magical thinking. I don’t think it’s going to get better.”

She was right. I had known since month two.

The exit took a three-sentence phone call. And I haven’t thought about it since.

The hardest part was never the exit. It was admitting I already knew the answer.

What decision have you been circling that you already know the answer to?

If this resonated, Issue #07 of The Permission Slip covers the full picture: www.debbielawrence.ca/signup

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Truro, NS
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