Becoming Works

05/29/2026

My latest article on identity-first coaching and a practical tool are hot off the press!

A practical tool you can easily incorporate into your coaching for weaving identity into a goal-based approach.

05/16/2026

I’m on my transcontinental adventure to LA! Excited to join the 2026 speakers team 🎤 and our 10,000+ 🤩fellow attendees for the week’s engaging, inspiring, equipping and networking ahead! Here’s a sneak preview of my workshop — See you soon, LA!

05/16/2026

I’m on my transcontinental adventure to LA! Excited to join the 2026 speakers team 🎤 and our 10,000+ 🤩fellow attendees for the week’s engaging, inspiring, equipping and networking ahead! Here’s a sneak preview of my workshop — See you soon, LA! ✈️

05/10/2026

05/08/2026

I'm so thankful for WJHL DayTime Tricities commitment to sharing ideas for living, leading, and working well in our community. Take a quick listen to my conversation with the amazing Amy Lynn in honor of Women's Health Month. Link to video in the comments.

05/05/2026

We spend thousands of dollars preparing graduates for their first job.

Degrees. Internships. Technical skills.

These are important hands-on opportunities. AND... we spend almost nothing on the one factor research shows actually shapes whether they become leaders over time.

Longitudinal research following individuals across decades found this:

It’s not early leadership roles that predict future leadership.

It’s whether someone develops a leader identity - a sense that leadership is part of who they are, not just something they do.

Because identity changes behavior in a way skills alone don’t.

When people see leadership as “for them,” and especially if encouraged to dial in their unique approach congruent to their values, story and experiences, they seek it out authentically, persist through inevitable discomfort, and recover faster when it gets hard.

So if you’re supporting a graduate or new-career professional right now -

the real question isn’t: Are they skill-ready to perform this job?

but rather: Do they see themselves as someone who leads from their unique story-as-strategy? and Who will they become in this opportunity?

I wrote the field guide to support grads, new leaders (and you too, Mom, Dad, seasoned professional... those questions still apply to us too!)

04/29/2026

Remember YOUR first leadership role? Where reality sets in!

There's no syllabus.
Stakes are higher.
Your work AND your judgment are on full display.
Less guidance. More expectations.

And research on early leadership transitions shows this is where many new leaders struggle - and not because of capability, but because of identity strain.

They know what good leadership looks like, performs like, translates to...

But they haven’t fully integrated it into how they see themselves.

So under pressure, new (and seasoned leaders too) default to:

Over-functioning
Avoiding hard conversations
Waiting for validation
Second-guessing decisions

Not because they lack skill --
but because their identity hasn’t caught up to their role.

Studies consistently show that leader identity is one of the strongest predictors of effectiveness in these early transitions.

Because when identity is clear, behavior stabilizes under pressure.

So the real challenge in the “real world” isn’t just learning how to lead via KPI's. It’s BECOMING someone who can hold leadership when it gets uncomfortable.

And that’s a very different kind of preparation.
If you're wondering, yes there's a book for that! Check out Leading Becomes You: A Real-World Framework for Leading from the Inside Out.

It's the 'how to' write your very own leadership field guide. I'd be honored if you shared it with a new leader, grad, early career professional in your life.

((It's a great read for seasoned leaders too btw!))

04/21/2026

As a mom of a high-school senior, I understand that everyone is focused on what graduates will do next.

For high school grads, where are you attending? (Mine is taking a gap year!) For college grads, the focus shifts to:

Where they’ll work. What role they’ll take. How quickly they’ll advance.

But research tells a different story.

A 20-year longitudinal study found that early leadership roles don’t predict long-term leadership.

What does?

Whether someone develops a leader identity in young adulthood—
whether they actually come to see leadership as part of who they are.

That’s the shift.

Because when the pressure hits- and we know it will- people don’t rise to expectations.

They fall back on identity- it's what I share when I speak: our story IS our strategy!

We also know from intervention research that leadership development in adolescence doesn’t just build skills-- it also strengthens self-efficacy, especially for young women.

Self-efficaicy is the internal voice: I can do this.

That’s what carries forward into the real world.

So if you’re supporting a graduate right now-as a parent, teacher, mentor, coach, cool aunt or uncle, or someone who simply cares—

this moment is a huge opportunity to encourage shaping of how they see themselves stepping into their next adventure.

And that part?

We don't have to leave to chance!