The Leadershift Project

09/10/2026

This is why I do what I do.

This DM from a participant in a leadership development offsite I led in June arrived completely out of the blue, and it stopped me in my tracks. There are many ways to measure the value of our work. Helping someone rediscover a part of themselves may be the one that matters most.

Here is the full content of the message.

“Good morning, dear Shani! 🤗 I just wanted to say thank you. I learned so much from you, and I truly enjoyed the time we spent together. Through everything you shared, I not only learned a lot but also rediscovered a part of myself. It’s a feeling that’s hard to put into words, but it feels truly meaningful and enriching. I wish you a wonderful weekend from the bottom of my heart. Take good care of yourself, and keep smiling—it has a way of brightening the lives of those around you.“

It made my day, my week, and probably my month.

Please remember to think about where making an impact fits into your personal and professional vision.

Getting a promotion is a goal.
Winning new business is a goal.
Taking a great vacation is a goal.

Making an impact on people is a legacy.

What do you want yours to be?

09/08/2026

Welcome back from summer!

We now head into the annual sprint that is Labor Day to Thanksgiving.

It's in that spirit of drive and achievement that I share a book recommendation: Inner Propaganda: Leading Hearts and Mind Through Turbulent Times, by Owen Fitzpatrick. He is a social psychologist who has traveled to more than one hundred countries and studied propaganda firsthand in North Korea, Rwanda, and Afghanistan. He also studied the science of influence at Harvard and MIT.

Fitzpatrick posits the same tactics that sway nations also operate inside each of us. It's tough love to consider that the propaganda we feed ourselves can be as toxic as that served up by Kim Jong Un or the Taliban.

In a recent article he wrote for Chief Executive Magazine, Fitzpatrick explains, "Psychologists describe two modes of reasoning. Accuracy motivation is truth-seeking. Directional motivation is reasoning toward a conclusion you’ve already chosen. Directional motivation wins more often than we like to admit. We gather evidence to build a case, and uncertainty makes the tendency stronger. When the environment gets volatile, the brain reaches for certainty. Leaders feel most convinced at precisely the moment they should be questioning themselves most carefully."

In the book, he lays out a four-part system for making decisions when the stakes are high and the picture is incomplete.

1️⃣ Defuse. Name the emotional state you’re in because it will shape the evidence you notice and the internal propaganda you build from it.

2️⃣ Debias. Ask one blunt question: What bias is affecting my thinking right now? Bringing the bias into the lights takes its power away.

3️⃣ Model the decision. For every option on the table, including that of doing nothing, map short-term benefits, long-term benefits, short-term costs, and long-term costs.
Practice discernment. Ask, “What would have to be true for me to be wrong?”

4️⃣ Discernment. Using evidence to investigate the best choice instead of using it to defend the choice you already prefer.

Folks, this is good stuff. Far more insightful than the average leadership pundit. LMK what you think.

09/03/2026

09/01/2026

Taking a moment to cherish a summer vacation to London and Paris with my nephews Aidan (and his GF Sydney) and Kyle.

My sister was supposed to take them on this trip but tore her meniscus in two places just a few weeks before departure. She had surgery and was not allowed to bear weight on the leg for six weeks. So obvi, the trip had to be called off.

BUT wait...Aunt Shani to the rescue! I volunteered to take them instead.

I've been to these cities countless times, but it has been manyyy years since I've experienced them as a real tourist. I had so much fun planning the sightseeing and special excursions so they would have an unforgettable first-time trip. As you can see in the photos, among the dozens of sites we hit were Big Ben/Parliament, Sacre Coeur in Montmartre, the Eiffel Tower, and the Arc de Triomphe (is my Paris bias evident lol). We also did two musicals on the West End, a Harry Potter tour in central London, and an evening Seine cruise during which we got to see the lights sparkle on the Eiffel Tower.

We had such a great trip, and I really enjoyed spending time with these spectacular young adults.

What is a vacation highlight from your summer? Post pics in the comments!

08/27/2026

This spoof conversation with Alexa is for you if you regularly overcommit. This one is near and not-so-dear to my heart. When you say "yes" to someone else, by definition, you're saying "no" to something for yourself.

Are you prioritizing your own priorities and self-care? If not, start by identifying 2-3 things you can decline now or say no to in the near future.

08/25/2026

This is the Chinese word for Listening.

One of the most important leadership skills is being a good listener. I have said this more times than I can remember.

First point: Listening is NOT the same as hearing. Hearing is a sense, and just because it allows you to recognize auditory stimuli, it doesn't ensure you have actually listened to what you heard.

Let's break down listening into 3 types:

1️⃣ Level One - this is barely a notch better than hearing. You may be partially listening, catching a few words spoken by another person here and there, but your primary focus is what's in your own head. For example, think about times during which you were engaged in a supposed conversation and you made a few acknowledgments and offered a few well-placed head nods, but really what you were listening to was the debate in your head as to whether you should go to spin class or yoga after work.

2️⃣ Level Two - this is when you are truly focused on what the other person is saying. You are listening to understand, not to reply, so the conversation will be organic.

3️⃣ Level Three - as the Chinese character here suggests, we listen not only with our ears, but also with our heads, hearts, and eyes. For example, observing someone's body language and facial expressions gives a much richer picture of what the other person is actually communicating and you can respond in kind.

Now that you know the difference, start noticing at what level you're listening in various circumstances - with your colleagues, manager, partner, kiddos, friends, and others. From those observations, what do you want to start, stop, or continue doing in service of being a better listener?

Post in the comments!

08/20/2026

Please allow me to get on my mindset soapbox today 🙂.

Today’s Stuck Mindset: Blame

Today’s Unstuck Mindset: Self-awareness

Blame is a toxin used to deflect responsibility and accountability. Self-aware people own the role they had in the situation and focus on finding solutions instead of continuing to wade in a river of blame. Even if others have also made mistakes, blaming is unproductive. Instead, have an adult conversation giving each other constructive feedback and discussing what you’ll do differently going forward.

Here are some reflection questions to prompt self-awareness:

💊 What was my role in creating this situation?

💊 What responsibility was mine here about which I feel out of integrity?

💊 What might I be afraid to examine in myself that is leading me to blame others?

Be BOLD and post about a situation in which you blamed others instead of looking in the mirror. How did these questions help you self-reflect?

08/18/2026

Leadershifters, today I want to talk about a physical tool to help calm an anxious mindset - vagus nerve massage.

Small biology lesson: There are 12 cranial nerves in your body, the longest being the vagus nerve, which carries signals to your brain, heart, lungs, and digestive system. It’s also the mechanism by which you switch back and forth between your “flight-or-fight” response and “rest-and-digest” mode. It literally runs from your brain to your large intestine and is one of the key conduits for storing stress and disease (“dis-ease”) as it transmits information 24/7/365 from your brain to your body.

A vagus nerve massage helps you with a body reset by calming your nervous system and improving your mood/mindset. Here are a few highly effective techniques to relax the vagus nerve:

• Slowly massage your ears and gently pull them away from your head. This sends a signal to the start of the vagus nerve in your head that will radiate through the rest of its network.

• Lay on your stomach in cobra pose, with feet flat and palms down flat on either side of your shoulders. Keep your elbows close to your body, pointing behind you instead of out to the sides. Spread your fingers and press your palms into the floor. Pull your shoulders back and down and away from the ears. Then gently stretch your neck by turning your head to the right and slightly up, and with your eyes, look all the way up and to the right for 30 seconds. Switch sides.

• Any physical reverberation of your vocal cords can activate the vagus nerve, such as singing, laughing, gargling, and humming.

Try it and LMK how it works in the comments!

08/13/2026

Today is International Lefthanders Day. I know, I know...the range of "special days" has reached a ridiculous fever pitch. But this one struck me as having a leadershift lesson. It celebrates the uniqueness of left-handed individuals and raises awareness about the everyday quirks of living in a right-hand-dominant world (only 10% of people are lefties).

Because lefties are constantly forced to adapt to a world designed for right-handed people, they are divergent thinkers with the ability to generate creative solutions from multiple angles. This feature is a lens through which to appreciate our coworkers, family, and friends who aren't in the majority.

Diversity of thought is the ultimate expression of diversity. So let's give it up for the lefties in our life for the unique perspectives they offer!

08/11/2026

The pandemic has long been in the rearview mirror, but I am still hearing about quiet quitting - even from high achievers. If you are like this Claude user who has a job that has left her dead inside for years now, it's time to do something about it.

I love helping people see the light and prepare them to step boldly into new industries, roles, and functions. Let's spend the remainder of the summer gearing up for the rest of your career!