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.
When it comes to giving leadership feedback, how often do we ask ourselves: Am I making this better or just making it different? This gem of a question came from a recent client conversation, and I had to share. I love the distinction because sure, we all have our own ideas. We can all make…
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Last month marked my 25th wedding anniversary. The milestone made me pause and reflect on something unexpected: the overlap between a strong marriage and strong leadership. At the core of both? Showing up and caring deeply. In a marriage, success isn’t built on grand gestures alone. It’s built on consistency—being there day in and day…
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Decision fatigue is real—especially when everything on your list feels equally important. I was recently on a college tour with my daughter and was finding it hard to choose her priorities. I remembered a decision-making framework that I have often used in the past but had forgotten. Whether you’re choosing a college, a career move,…
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If you’re an executive, your personal brand isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s a career necessity. Whether you’re actively job searching or not, your reputation as a subject matter expert can open doors long before you need them. In my latest LinkedIn Live, I spoke with Michelle Mendoza, a certified career coach, and she emphasized that building…
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When setting your goals, it’s important to think strategically about how we can achieve them. One concept that is often overlooked in leadership is soft power—the ability to influence others without formal authority or control. Take 10 minutes today to map out your top three to five goals for the second half of 2025. Then,…
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Change is inevitable, but how your team responds to it makes all the difference. In a recent conversation with executives, one recurring challenge emerged—how to stay strategically aligned while adapting to unexpected external changes, like shifts in federal policy or industry regulations. It’s easy for teams to get stuck in a cycle of worrying about…
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“Jo, please do one of your book reviews again,” my friend, Rebecca always asks. I haven’t done one in awhile so let me share my review of a few new books I’ve read recently. Back in January I read this new release from Dan Heath called “Reset: How To Change What’s Not Working.” I’ve read several of Dan Heath’s other books and I enjoy…
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In a recent exercise on boundaries, I gained a new insight about the way we react to requests at work. Some people have an automatic inclination to say “yes” to others, trying to be helpful and make things happen. However, overcommitting can lead to stress, overwhelm, and eventually the realization that we’ve taken on more…
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Dear Dr. Jo, I’m a female entrepreneur who has achieved what some consider significant success, but for me it comes at too much personal cost. As a leader, I over-function. I work too much. I feel too much. The cost is that I’m nearly always either teetering on the edge of burnout or I’m burned…
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Recently, I was in a meeting with a group of really smart coaches. One of them shared these 5 Steps of Great Leadership. No-one in the group could find the citation or an attribution for these steps. So if you know where they came from, please share in the comments below. But in the meantime,…
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