When Leadership Gets Real: What I Learned From a Very Rough Chapter of My Life
Leadership is not always a title. Sometimes it is a decision: to stay, to try, to hold the line when things get hard. I was hired unanimously to lead a regional Innovation Hub with collaboration and equity at the center. I did not walk in to keep the lights on.
I walked in to build something new. Here is what happened when intention met execution.
I stayed in the work long after it got hard. I continue to seek guidance from mentors, board members and even HR.
I always try to create space for hard conversations. I like to think I tried everything to make this JOB work. Eventually, the staffer left. So did I. Here is what I learned -- and why I keep building Business 4 Good!
Golden Ticket: Empathy as the Leadership Advantage
Empathy is not just a feel-good bonus skill for a nice holiday card. It is the leadership move. It is about getting real, connecting on a human level, and creating workplaces that people actually want to show up to. Spoiler alert: it cannot be just because they have to. Enter the era of the Soft Boss.
Rose Kaz writes from a couch in her Soft Boss era, escaping the late-stage capitalism grind, why empathy is not just warm and fuzzy -- it is the most profitable leadership move you have not fully made yet. After-all, what does AI eat for breakfast? Human Intelligence, of course.