Posts by Jo Ilfeld, PhD
Are You Operating on Outdated Settings?
Many leaders unknowingly operate with default settings they picked up long before entering the workplace. These internal scripts—about success, communication, or leadership—often stem from parents, early role models, or formative work experiences. But left unexamined, they can quietly steer our choices, even when we “know better.” I’ve seen it with clients, and I’ve seen it…
Read MoreRedefining Career Success: Why It’s Not Always About Climbing the Ladder
Many of us were taught to measure career success by how high we climb: bigger titles, larger paychecks, more responsibility. But real growth doesn’t always look like a straight ladder. Recently, a friend shared that she had moved from a management role to an individual contributor position. At first, she wondered if this was a…
Read MoreSmall Shifts, Big Impact
Have you ever wondered, is there any small change I could make to my schedule that would make a monumental difference? The truth is, it often can. Recently, two of my clients shared simple adjustments that completely shifted their day-to-day experience. One client realized Mondays always felt blah. Instead of pushing through, she added a…
Read MoreConversations That Bridge Generations
Most of us laugh at the Friends episode where no one can remember what Chandler Bing does for a living. (“Statistical analysis and data reconfiguration,” anyone?) But it made me wonder: do your kids — or even their friends — know what you do? This question hit me at a memorial for my best friend’s…
Read MoreWhy Career Regret Misses the Bigger Picture
Have you ever found yourself wondering, “What if I’d stayed at that job?” or “Maybe I’d be in the C-suite by now…”? That nagging feeling—career regret—is more common than you think. But it’s also often incomplete. I recently spoke with a client who was reflecting on a previous role and questioning if leaving was the…
Read MoreWhy Leaders Need More JOMO (Not FOMO)
So many of us fear missing out and are always ON — making sure we are in on key meetings, following the latest trends, reading the latest articles in our field of expertise…the list goes on. But lately, I’ve been leaning into the antithesis of FOMO, namely JOMO – the Joy of Missing Out –…
Read MoreIs Your Schedule Lying to You?
In leadership, it’s easy to treat missed meetings as isolated events—customer issues pop up, priorities shift, and something gets bumped. But when this happens more than occasionally, it’s no longer an exception—it’s a signal. In a conversation with my executive coaching client, a startup CEO, she shared that her Friday C-team meetings often got postponed…
Read MoreWhen You’re Left Cleaning up After Their Mistakes
Dear Dr. Jo, I’m in a situation at work that has never happened to me before and I was hoping you might have some advice. I work as Chief of Staff at a local company. I was hired relatively early on, but even so, I don’t feel that I know my boss that well or…
Read MoreWould You Buy Land You Can’t Use?
Are you familiar with the well known saying “Buy real estate like there’s no one watching”? No? Ok, the real famous comment is “Dance like there’s no one watching” but recently I’ve been thinking about the alternate real estate version. This thought came to me during a recent stay in Carmel, where I discovered an…
Read MoreExperiment or Stay Safe?
As leaders, we often wrestle with one key question: When do you experiment and when do you listen to tried and true wisdom? I recently remembered a time I served on a nonprofit board. Whenever new members suggested ideas, I’d catch myself shooting them down: “We tried that already” or “That won’t work because…” Eventually,…
Read More