Leadership Blog

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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.

The Difference Between Shame and Guilt 

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | September 6, 2022 |
For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on shame, the image shows a red-headed woman holding her head in her hands.

Have you ever read something that made you rethink what you knew before? When I read about shame and guilt in Brené Brown’s Atlas of the Heart, she made me do just that. Have you read her book?  I have heard Brené talk about the difference between shame and guilt before but what was so powerful…

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Are You Paying Attention to Awe and Wonder?

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | August 29, 2022 |
For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on paying attention, the image shows a sky over the sea with birds.

Are you paying attention to the things of awe and wonder around you? A few weeks ago, I was in beautiful Carmel and its beauty inspired me to make this quick video while I was walking on the beach. I encourage you to spend a few moments this week looking at the wonderful, awesome beauty…

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What’s Your Leadership Style: Push or Pull?

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | August 21, 2022 |
For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on leadership style, the image shows a push cart, with a boy sitting inside, and one girl pushing and another pulling the cart.

When you think of your leadership style, how much do you pull information from the people on your team and how much do you push information and decisions down to them? I read a recent article in Harvard Business Review recently on leadership style. Leaders who push decisions, data and action plans down to their teams, their…

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What’s more important: work or family? Tips for making choices.

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | August 12, 2022 |
For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on making choices, the image shows an image of two arrows facing opposite directions.

There’s a reason we’re all Marie Kondo’ing our homes, our email inboxes and our lives. There is a lot going on for all of us and with the number of things happening, it inevitably means we are making choices– lots of them. Every. Single. Day. Not only are the choices tiring but they often feel…

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Are You Missing The Obvious?

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | August 4, 2022 |
For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on decision-making, the image shows an image of two arrows facing opposite directions.

Recently I had the joy of spending some time on Cape Cod with my daughter, who was about to go to camp, and one of my oldest and best friends. While my daughter was plugged into her earbuds, my friend and I had a lot of time to talk as we drove around the Cape.…

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How to Improve Strategic Thinking

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | July 28, 2022 |
For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on strategic thinking, the image shows an open journal with someone writing in it.

I’m sure you have those times when you know you need to think more deeply about something, you know it needs more strategy and work. How can you improve strategic thinking? If you’re like me, you probably tell yourself, “I’ll think about it when I’m in the car picking up the kids from school.” Or…

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Self-compassion Is Hard

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | July 21, 2022 |
For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on self-compassion, the image shows a dictionary open to the word compassion

Is self-compassion more important than self-esteem? Well, research shows it can be. But practicing self-compassion is hard. On Valentine’s Day this past year, I broke my ankle (better than a broken heart perhaps?), and as I was reflecting back on that time, it made me think about self-compassion. Self-esteem makes us feel like “I can…

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Keeping Self-Care Alive

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | July 13, 2022 |
For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on self-care, the image shows a woman sitting by a window with a warm cup of tea or coffee in her hands.

How do you make time for self-care when your to-do list overflowing? I don’t have any wisdom to offer you on how to manage your to-do lists but I do have one thing to share that I believe is very important in times of increased stress and overwhelm. It’s okay to cut back on your…

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Work Relationships: Being Proactive

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | June 30, 2022 |
For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on work relationships, the image shows a woman sitting at a desk with her head in her hands.

Work relationships are something that as a leader or team member you always need to be working on. Recently, I was talking with a client who described a problem he had with one team member because he would never know how upset she was until she would lose it. We talked about how he can…

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Big-Picture Thinking vs Tunnel Vision

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | June 23, 2022 |
For this article by Jo Ilfeld, Executive Leadership Coach on big-picture thinking, the image shows a woman creating a square frame with her fingers to look through.

Sometimes you need to put your big-picture thinking aside and adopt tunnel vision in order to give your complete attention and focus to a project and be productive. But what is the price you pay for that? What happens when your vision becomes so focused that you stop paying attention to what’s happening just on…

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