Leadership Blog
From Incite to Leadership founder and CEO Jo Ilfeld, read the latest on strategic vision, leading change amid complexity, and honing the way you communicate and collaborate with others. Get resources, practical strategies, research, and more.
This article originally appeared in Forbes I’m writing this on the way back from my college reunion, feeling both energized and exhausted. I’m so glad I went, but also anticipating the tiredness waiting for me back home as it’s my daughter’s high school graduation week. You get the picture… This reunion was entirely my choice.…
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This article was originally written for and appeared on Forbes Coaches Council Through discovery interviews, HR conversations and manager meetings, I often hear how thoughtful and attentive executives and upper-level managers are to those they work with and also how much gets lost in translation, conveyed in ways that can feel condescending, dismissive, “micro-managey” or…
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A friend recently forwarded me an Instagram post making fun of those LinkedIn posts where someone relates a personal experience to business. You know the ones: “My toddler taught me about quarterly planning.” I felt so seen—and so called out. Because of course I do that. I’m constantly relating life to leadership. So I’m trying something different.…
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Leaders should not view AI as either fully reliable or completely unusable. Instead, they need to understand the jagged edge of AI. The jagged edge refers to the boundary between where AI performs well and where it still produces unreliable results. This boundary is not fixed. It is moving quickly as AI systems improve through…
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When I recently spent a day facilitating a session with a leadership team, one simple tool turned out to be their biggest takeaway: a “Parking Lot.” All I did was write “Parking Lot” at the top of a flip chart and post it on the wall. The idea was simple: whenever someone brought up a…
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This is the latest edition of my new work advice column — Dear Dr. Jo! If you have a work issue you’d love my insight on, please email me at [email protected] or DM me here on LinkedIn. What would you do if your top performer is ready for more but your hands are tied because…
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I was seated a mile above home and office when I wrote this article in an airplane on my way to my hometown of Chicago. This was the only moment I could find to step back and reflect in a more meaningful way. It’s hard to find time in the middle of an “ordinary” workday,…
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A client recently told me about a frustrating work situation: they had asked a team member for a deliverable by Friday at 3 p.m. The team member messaged later in the day, overwhelmed, and finally sent the deliverable at 6 p.m.—but it was completely off the mark. Frustration is a natural reaction in moments like…
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Ferris Bueller said it best: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.” For many leaders, life does move fast — from back-to-back meetings to constant deadlines. But without reflection, we miss opportunities to learn and grow. That’s where a simple tool called Plus…
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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…
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