Mylena Sutton & Voltage Vista Leadership Consulting

04/03/2026

Let's talk workplace culture and accountability. 🎯

As a hiring manager, do you owe candidates the full picture — or is some things better left unsaid until they're in the door?

This is one of those questions where there's no clean answer. Which is exactly why I want YOUR take.
Comment below 👇 and let's get into it.

03/13/2026

Two questions I ask every leader when their team is stuck:

1️⃣ Do you recognize the gaps between how you see the problem and how your team sees it?

2️⃣ If you see those gaps — are you actually willing to meet your team where they are?

That second question is where most people get quiet.

Because meeting people where they are isn't just a skill. It's a choice. And it's often an uncomfortable one — especially when you're convinced your way is right.

I learned this in a classroom years ago when my students were failing and I was indignant. I had to decide: adapt or quit.

The same choice faces every leader with an alignment problem. You either figure out how to serve the team in front of you — or you need to find a different team.

Which choice are you making?

Full video in the link in the comments.

02/12/2026

That moment when a mediation order lands in your inbox with thirteen defendants and you think, “Well… that’s one way to bring everyone to the table.”

People often ask what I do first when I receive a case like that.
The answer is: nothing. Not yet.

When the New Jersey Courts assign a matter to me, the parties have 18 days to decide whether they want to work with me or select a different mediator. Because of that, it doesn’t serve anyone — including me — for me to dive into the details before day 19.

And even then, I only look for the answer to one question:

Have you notified the court that you’ve chosen a different mediator?

If the answer is no, I read just enough to prepare for our initial meeting. That first meeting isn’t mediation — it’s a “let’s get aligned” conversation. I’m assessing readiness, getting a sense of the litigants and attorneys, and determining whether the conditions are right to move forward productively.

I only invest deeper time and energy once I know we’re all committed to the process.

That’s how I protect my time, my focus, and my clients’ experience.

Sidebar:
This photo is from Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. As I climbed, I was struck by how dramatically the view changed with elevation. Trees that felt enormous at the base were barely visible from the summit. Bodies of water that looked like formless expanses suddenly had shape and context.

Conflict — and most problems — work the same way.
Perspective changes everything.

02/03/2026

Leadership can feel isolating, especially when you’re caught between managing up and managing down. Many leaders tell me they feel like liverwurst in a bad sandwich — squeezed from both sides, constantly managing how they show up depending on who’s watching.

Speak too freely upline and you risk your upward mobility.
Speak too freely to your team and you risk your credibility.

That’s why my consulting practice is built on trust, warmth, and psychological safety. Leaders deserve a space where they can be honest, vulnerable, and human — without judgment and without fear. A space where they can say, “This is driving me nuts,” or “I don’t know how to fix this,” and know they’re still respected.

My role is to support you, not compete with you. I don’t need the spotlight. My “credit” is a referral and a paid invoice. The success belongs to you and your organization.

If you’re a leader carrying more than you can comfortably say out loud, you don’t have to carry it alone.

I put the video in the comments.

01/20/2026

Conflict is the center of my work — helping people navigate conflict in all its forms, from lawsuits to workplace tension to everyday disagreements. Over the years, I’ve learned that the skills that move people forward in litigation are the same ones that help teams communicate better and rebuild trust. Because because so much of this work intersects with the legal community, I added a notary commission as a simple way to stay connected with the attorneys I collaborate with.

Each week, I share an insight from either the notary or the mediation and conflict‑management world. Here’s this week’s post…

Discover the benefits of mediation for small business disputes in NJ & PA, including cost savings, confidentiality, and faster resolutions.

10/22/2025

FAVORITE. COMMENT. EVER.

During a Team Tune-Up, someone said this about gossip:
"It's an integrity issue and it makes me feel as if I need to take sides and/or distance myself from others in an effort to remain neutral."
THIS. 👏🏾

Gossip isn't harmless venting. It's a choice that:
Erodes trust
Forces people into positions they don't want
Creates sides instead of solutions
So the team created a communication prompt: "Have you talked to them?"

Translation: "I'm not a safe place for gossip, but I AM a safe place for you to work through what's bothering you."

Teams that stay aligned don't gossip—they have the hard conversations.
What would change on your team if everyone committed to this?

10/16/2025

It's so easy to forget how the between teams and leaders becomes negative when ppl feel abused and mistreated. Frankly, my favorite form of employee is : do you really want tean members to do exactly what directed then to do EVEN WHEN THEY KNOW the outcome will be bad?

09/09/2025

How does management consulting + employee issues connect to mediation?

Let me show you.

I’ve spent years training leaders on harassment prevention, discrimination, and workplace civility. One thing I know for sure: lawsuits don’t just appear out of nowhere. They’ve been brewing — often starting as everyday conflict or rudeness, then escalating into hostile work environment or discrimination complaints. You can stop that escalation.

That’s where early‑stage, non‑litigated mediation comes in. My role is to help both sides reach agreement before court becomes the next step. Either party can request it, but both must agree to participate.

Example – Employment Case A Philly nonprofit’s Director of Operations quit, openly citing the Executive Director as the reason. When the ED reached out, she refused a 1:1 conversation, calling him abusive and manipulative — but said she’d talk if a mediator was present. She hadn’t filed a lawsuit or gone to the Human Relations Commission yet. That’s when I stepped in.

Example – How Cases Reach Me

Attorney referral: They want to settle without trial. This can happen at any stage, as long as both sides agree.

NJ Courts referral: The case is already filed, but the court orders mediation first.

Why mediation? Time. Money. Litigation eats both. Mediation offers a faster, more cost‑effective path forward.

Example – Contract Case Two married partners in a restaurant ownership group were heated over disputes with their other two partners. The contract was vague in key areas, and conversations had devolved into shouting matches. When people start yelling, I flex my “oldest‑daughter + middle‑school‑substitute‑teacher‑in‑college” muscle to restore order and move toward resolution.

(Sidebar: They’d downloaded their contract from a random website. Not a plug for lawyers, but this was definitely a “hire one” moment.)

If you’ve got questions about how mediation could work for your situation — employment or contract — I’m always willing to chat.

Employment and contract mediation to resolve disputes, preserve relationships and reduce costs with neutral facilitation.

09/04/2025

What Leadership Development Really Means (To Me)
Every day, I’m challenging myself to share something about my businesses. Today’s focus: leadership development.

When I work with teams, it’s always about two things:
1️⃣ Alignment
If your organization says it values “X,” but your policies and culture reflect “Y,” I help you reconcile the gap—or pivot to “Z.”
Example: Your handbook says certain behaviors are rewarded or discouraged, but in practice, no one enforces it. People show up late repeatedly with no consequence. Others go above and beyond with no recognition.
That’s where I come in:

2️⃣ Impediments to Alignment
Even when the framework is clear, people problems can derail ex*****on. I help teams address those blockers.
Example: In a previous role, I had great ideas—but I couldn’t stand my officemate. We had the same title and were supposed to collaborate. Every time my boss asked me to work with her, I refused to implement the idea. He hid in his office instead of addressing the tension.
If I were his consultant, I’d coax him out of that office—because unresolved interpersonal dynamics affect the whole team.

3️⃣ Everything Else Still Comes Back to These Two
Whether I’m consulting, training, speaking, or even notarizing—my work always comes back to alignment and ex*****on.
Getting everyone on the same page. Keeping them there.
Simple in theory. Messy in practice. That’s where I come in.

Consults are free. Let’s talk.
🔗

We at Voltage Vista design workshops that achieve your precise goals and help you move your team toward greater alignment.

08/27/2025

Conflict doesn’t disappear just because we’re at work.
And leadership doesn’t become less personal just because it’s happening in a professional setting.

This story isn’t polished, but it’s honest. It’s about what happens when a team stops avoiding conflict and starts owning it. I’m sharing it because too often, we treat leadership gaps like personality clashes or gossip, when they’re actually signals that something deeper needs repair.

If you work with teams, lead them, or support them—this one’s for you.

Scenario: The director of the team contacts me, “Mylena, do you have a moment?” In our world of email and texting, when someone actually calls and starts with that question, I know I need to stop multitasking and turn the radio down.

The client explained that a few months prior to our conversation, she’d hired a new team leader who came from a different industry. Neither his approach to the work nor his leadership style meshed with that of her pre-existing team leaders. Even his direct reports were revolting and putting out feelers to other team leaders that they wanted to jump ship.

This meant we had three problems. First, the new guy was being rejected by his direct reports. Second, their requests for transfers turned into gossip—“Have you heard that his team hates him?” Third, the new guy doubled down on his leadership style and actually criticized his colleagues as less effective leaders who were trying to win a popularity contest. Translation? He was a walking example of fight or flight—and he was fighting everybody.

He was fighting everybody because he felt isolated, attacked, and probably a bit embarrassed. He even fought me. When I initially began to engage the team, he reached out to me via phone to let me know that he was not going to meaningfully participate in the process because he thought the entire thing was disingenuous. Again, when people actually pick up the phone to call you, whatever they’re saying—they mean it. I told him that I appreciated his transparency, that I wanted him to feel safe through the process, that I would never disclose information shared with me in confidence without permission… but that nothing could be fixed if the entire team didn’t commit to the repair. Essentially, I wanted him to see that to be silent was to be complicit in his own misery.

The rest of the story is in the comments.

08/25/2025

It's notes like these that make the week start off on a great note!

When organizations are competing with larger organizations that have deep pockets for talent, competing on salary alone puts you on the short end of the stick. Don't get me wrong, regardless of org size or type, your salary offers should be fair (if you're paying poverty wages, regardless of the reason, people will leave as soon as they're able). Once you're certain that you've reached "fair", then the "work work" of sustainable leadership begins: how do I keep these people?

Here's something that I recommend: when you create a new role or when you're evaluating existing ones, decide what you think is the amount of time someone is likely to stay in that role. Then, build the work and projects that you assign to that role to fit that projected tenure. Then, figure out what the person in the job wants to get them to stay the whole time or even just a little bit longer (talent acquisition is not fun).

For example, I asked my admin what kind of credential she wanted to be able to add to her resume after she left me. We agreed that I'd help her build her skills on Monday(.)com (they have a self-paced certification that is truly valuable). Guess what? She stayed until she got that done. I wasn't offended that she left because 1) I didn't own her and don't believe in making ppl feel guilty about growth, and 2) I knew that I was not going to be able to create meaningful long term career options for her.