Better To Be Human

2025 Reads 📚
 
It was a year of growth for me, and of continuing to raise the bar—personally and professionally.
 
I added a star to the book covers I loved most. ✨ I genuinely enjoyed all of them, but those were the books that really stayed with me.
 
I used to go years without reading a book. I can confidently say now that I am a reader! I like the way that feels ☺️
 
I talk with my kids often about the importance of reading, learning, growing…I’m still getting some eye rolls but I know they’re watching.
 
Two questions:
1️⃣ Have you read any of these? If so, which ones stood out to you?
2️⃣ What’s on your reading list this year? Based on these, I’d love any recommendations.
 
What I’m reading now:
• Strong Ground — Brené Brown
• Supercommunicators — Charles Duhigg
• Listening Well: The Art of Empathic Understanding — William R. Miller

I’m conducting a research project and I need your input. 🤓
 
My work focuses on human leadership. Some people seem to get it right away and others ask questions about what that exactly means.
 
I have my way of describing it (obviously) but I want to hear from you on what it means to “be human”.
 
I tell this story often...in my past corporate job, so often people would thank me for ‘being human’ with them. This is truly how I came up with my company name. Hey…isn’t it better to be human??? PS - the answer is a very hard YES! 😉
 
So, please share in the comments what comes to mind when you see this question… ⬇️
 
What does it mean to be human? 🤔

If the top two stats on this graphic don’t concern you...Houston, we have a problem! 😲

Do you feel confident that productive conversations will take place between your managers and their team members during the upcoming year-end reviews? 🤔

Or is it just a check-the-box exercise? Be honest...

Let’s do better this year! 💚

I can help your team with this (which will help you AND your company)!

Two options to get started:

1️⃣ Comment REVIEW (or DM me) and I’ll send you the details of my ONE-DAY WORKSHOP - Review Season Survival Kit.
or
2️⃣ Let’s schedule a quick call to talk through your needs. DM me your info and we can chat!

I guarantee your team will leave with useful takeaways to make the reviews more meaningful for all!

What’s the risk of a poorly managed year-end review? 🧨

🔻 23% higher turnover in Q1 following bad review experiences
🔻 Thousands of dollars lost due to good employees leaving
🔻 Unaddressed performance issues that fester for another year
🔻 Legal risks from undocumented problems
🔻 Disengaged employees who feel unheard and undervalued

You cannot afford this risk!

Leaders deserve to feel confident walking into performance reviews—showing up fully HUMAN.

📢 Reviews are not a check-the-box exercise. Let me say that again: reviews are not a check-the-box exercise.

💎 That’s why I’m offering a one-day program, available now through the end of the year, designed to transform how leaders approach and deliver year-end reviews.

✨ Comment REVIEW if you’d like more details—I’d love to help your leaders turn reviews into meaningful conversations that make an impact for the entire organization!

☀️ Have you come up for air after the summer yet? I finally have!

If you missed my Four-Part Summer Series: The Four Powerful Conversations on Human Leadership — I’ve got you covered! 🙌

🎥 I’m offering access to all four Zoom recordings for just $85:

✨ Each session is under an hour
✨ A different expert joins me each time
✨ Watch at your own pace

And here’s the kicker: 💯% of attendees said they left with practical tools they could apply immediately AND would recommend Better To Be Human to their professional network. That’s what I call time well spent! ⏳➡️🚀

Here’s what participants had to say:

💬 “Real practical examples… things I could actually apply that day or week.”

💬 “Learning more about difficult conversations was especially helpful… one of the toughest parts of leadership.”

💬 “Reflecting on and writing down my values was powerful. I left each session with a concept or tool to take back to my team—huge value add!”

💬 “Loved having a guest expert each session to complement Bonney’s consistency.”

👉 Ready to grow your leadership toolkit?

Click the link in my bio to grab your recordings today!

We all crave human leaders 💛

💬 What do you look for most in a leader when it comes to trust?

That’s the question we posed in the final session of our 4-part Human Leadership series—and the most common answer was loud and clear:

🧭 Accountability — own mistakes, apologize, and make amends

In our session, we explored Brené Brown’s BRAVING Inventory, a powerful framework for building trust.

🔑 BRAVING stands for:
🔹 Boundaries
🔹 Reliability
🔹 Accountability
🔹 Vault (confidentiality)
🔹 Integrity
🔹 Nonjudgment
🔹 Generosity

While every element matters, it was accountability that truly resonated with this group of leaders.
💡 Why?

Because it reflects the humanness. It shows that a person is real, genuine, and prone to real-life things…they’re human.

This is what real trust is built on—not flawless performance, but a willingness to take responsibility and grow.

✨ What BRAVING trait matters most to you in a leader?

We are on Session 4 (of 4) of Human Leadership 🙌

…And we’re ending strong with one of the most essential ingredients of a healthy culture…Trust 💥

☀️ Building Trust – Explore the foundations of psychological safety and trust at work ☀️

🗓️ Tuesday, July 22 at 4pm CT
📍 Live on Zoom (recording available for those who registered if you can’t join live)

In our final session, we’re bringing it all together—because without trust, even the best leadership tools fall flat. We’ll unpack what it really means to create a foundation of trust, why it starts with you, and how to handle hard moments while keeping trust intact.

This is the perfect closing session to reflect, grow, and walk away with tools you’ll actually use.

💡 What you will walk away with:
🔹 What happens when there’s no trust in your working relationships
🔹 Why trust starts with you
🔹 How to prepare for challenges and disagreements—while building higher trust
🔹 Why rebuilding trust matters, and how to do it

🤩 This time, I am teaming up with Bee Choo Ng, CFA, a leader with 20 years of corporate experience and a passion for leadership development. Bee is a certified coach who helps leaders unlock clarity and alignment through deep listening and thoughtful coaching. Her purpose? To bring more kindness into the workplace through clearer context and expectations.

🟢 Can’t join us live? You can still purchase access to the session for just $24
🟢 LINK TO REGISTER IN BIO🟢

We can’t wait to see you there. Let’s end this series by building something that lasts!

🚫 Avoiding feedback doesn’t just delay growth—it breaks culture.

This was a hot topic during our latest session of the Human Leadership series. This week we did a deep dive into providing feedback (and even shared some tips on how to be ready to receive feedback as well).

When feedback is avoided:
🔕 Expectations stay unspoken
😶‍🌫️ Tension builds under the surface
💥 And when things finally boil over, it often sounds like blame or shame

It’s a cycle that erodes:
🔻 Trust
🔻 Morale
🔻 Performance

But here’s the good news: it’s fixable. 🙌

💬 Human leaders choose to engage in honest, respectful conversations—even when it’s uncomfortable—because the cost of silence is simply too high.

Curious what feedback culture looks like in your org. Share in the comments!

We are on session 3 (of 4) on Human Leadership 🙌

…And we’re digging in deep on everyone’s favorite topic…Feedback 🫣

☀️ No Longer Fearing the Feedback Conversation – Build a feedback culture that supports growth, not fear ☀️

🗓️ Tuesday, July 8th at 11am CT
📍 Live on Zoom (recording available for those who registered if you can’t join live)

We are building on the last session about difficult conversations. Giving feedback requires a thoughtful approach and can’t be rushed. In today’s busy world, unfortunately, many leaders either rush through it so they can check it off their list ✅ or even worse, they don’t provide any feedback 🚫

This is a session you don’t want to miss!
💡 What you will walk away with:
🔹 What even is feedback?? Let’s reframe it
🔹 How to make the mental shift from fear and dread to growth and insights
🔹 We’ll offer a human-centered feedback formula, keeping you on track
🔹 What do you do with the feedback you receive?

🤩 This time, I am teaming up with Jillian Melton (check her out on LinkedIn), a higher education consultant specializing in business school growth and program development. She is also an Adjunct Instructor of Business Communications, teaching MBA and Masters students at SMU Cox School of Business.

Previously, as Assistant Dean of Working Professional MBA Programs at SMU Cox, she led recruiting, admissions, and program development strategy for four MBA programs and 10 Graduate Certificate programs.

Jill held Product Marketing roles at major corporations such as Honeywell, 3M, and Sabre Holdings working on iconic brands like Post-it, Scotch, Scotch-Brite, Filtrete and Travelocity.

🟢 Can’t join us live? You can still purchase access to the session for just $24

🟢 LINK TO REGISTER IN BIO 🟢

We can’t wait to see you there! Let’s make giving feedback feel more like a growth conversation.

See you there! 👋

That’s a wrap for session two! ✌️

We jumped right into it with the question: What’s a difficult conversation you’ve had to have at work? 🫣

Over 70% of employees admit they avoid difficult conversations at work.
And many say it’s because…they’ve seen their leaders avoid them too.

🚨 Leaders - we have to do better! Our team members are watching.

When we as leaders sidestep the hard stuff, 1 in 3 employees say it negatively impacts the team dynamic. That kind of avoidance chips away at trust and teamwork and eventually, it costs the company. 💸

It’s a ripple effect.

Here’s what we explored in our session:
✅ Reframe the conversation for yourself. Simply reframing the goal of the conversation ahead of time can make a big difference in how we FEEL going into it. Maybe it’s a connection conversation or productive possibilities instead.

✅ Focus on building trust, not just being “nice.” This takes time with small gestures happening often…be patient with the process and keep going.

✅ Stay curious. It’s likely that neither side has the complete context the other is operating from. Ask open-ended questions and be ready to actively listen.

✅ Be a creator in your team culture. If you haven’t read the book, The Power of TED by David Emerald, I highly suggest it.

Leadership isn’t about getting it perfect…that’s impossible. It’s about showing up with courage, clarity, and care—even when the conversation is hard.

How are you going to reframe that next ‘difficult conversation’? I’d love to hear your ideas…share them in the chat! ⬇️