Wireback Works, Lancaster, PA (2026)

09/08/2026

How do we become the leader we want to be?

I know for me I saw examples of what I didn’t want to be and those really stuck with me.

The manager who was rude.
The one who wasn’t really listening to me when I said what I needed.
The one who created fear.

Those experiences really stayed with me. They taught me how I didn’t want others to feel around me.

But upon reflection, I see how impactful other leaders were. The ones who taught me what was helpful, how I could choose to show up, how to be me.

She told me I didn’t need to put in the long hours – to do good work and go home at the end of the workday.
He modeled learning new technology and supported me to learn too.
She showed me you could be a strong female leader in a male dominated arena.
He gave me opportunities before I even knew I was ready.
She coached me to ask questions and be confident.
He encouraged me to share my ideas.

Not all of these individuals were my direct leaders, but all of them influenced the leader I became.

Your team members are learning from you all the time.

They learn from how you respond when something goes wrong. Whether you listen when they tell you what they need. Whether you make room for their ideas. Whether you see potential in them before they can see it in themselves.

We won’t get every moment right.
We will overreact.
We will get frustrated.
We will handle something in a way we wish we hadn’t.

But those moments give us another opportunity—to acknowledge what happened, take responsibility and show that we can choose differently next time.

And when we have something helpful to teach, model or share, we need to make space for that too.

Because we don’t always know which moments will stay with someone.

We may be shaping the kind of leader they will—or will not—choose to become.

09/03/2026

Your next leader may already be leading.

They just don’t have the title yet.

They’re the person others naturally turn to.

The one who asks “why?” instead of only “what’s next?”

The one who takes ownership when something goes wrong.

The one who can handle a setback without needing someone else to step in and fix it.

Potential doesn’t always show up in a performance review.

Often, it shows up in the everyday moments we’re too busy to notice.

And once you see it, development doesn’t have to begin with a formal program or a promotion.

It can begin with one small stretch:

🔹 Ask them to run the meeting instead of attend it.
🔹 Let them own a decision while you serve as the sounding board.
🔹 Invite them into a conversation they normally wouldn’t be part of.
🔹 Let them present their own work to leadership.
🔹 Give them the chance to mentor someone else.

Then talk about what happened.

What felt hard?
What went better than expected?
What would they do differently next time?

That cycle of➡️ trying, reflecting, and trying again - is where confidence begins to grow.

And it matters for more than succession planning.

It tells people: 🌟There is a future for you here.

Building bench strength isn’t something you do someday.

It’s one small opportunity you offer someone this week.

In my latest blog, I share more about how to spot emerging leaders—and what to do once you see the potential.

👉 How to Spot Your Next Leaders

09/01/2026

I walk Teddy daily on a path at a park that surrounds several different sports fields along the way.

Years ago, one of the really little kids kicked a soccer ball that came flying across the path and hit Teddy. He's only a 12-pound bichon, so that soccer ball was pretty big compared to him, and I'm sure it hurt.

That happened years ago.

Yet every time when we are close to that particular field and there are little kids playing, or he hears that noise of a ball being kicked, Teddy’s behavior changes.

He starts scanning the field. Looking all around. I believe he’s assessing if he's safe. Sometimes he keeps walking. Sometimes he looks up at me. Sometimes he pulls way out into the grass to avoid even the possibility of getting hit again.

His body remembers.

As I watched this happen with him, I realized how often the same thing happens with us.

🔸A leader gets criticized in front of others.
🔸An employee speaks up and gets shut down.
🔸Someone takes a risk that doesn't go well.

The event may be long over, but the body remembers.

Then we wonder why people hesitate to speak up, avoid difficult conversations, or seem resistant to change.

We see the behavior. We don't always see the story behind it.

Watching Teddy also reminded me what leadership looks like.

🔸I don't drag him past the soccer field.
🔸I don't tell him he's overreacting.
🔸I stay beside him.
🔸I reassure him.

If he walks right by the field, I celebrate it.
If he needs to walk wide through the grass that day, I support him there too.

Either way, we keep moving forward.

And somewhere along that walk, it hit me.

👣This is the way in.

So often we try to push people toward better performance, better communication, or greater confidence.

But maybe the way in is something different.

Sometimes the way in is curiosity instead of assumptions.

Sometimes it's a conversation instead of silence.

Sometimes it's creating connection so people know they aren't facing it alone.

Sometimes it's simply showing care until they believe it's safe enough to try again.

Because people rarely grow when they're forced.

They grow when they feel safe enough to take the next step.

08/06/2026

Recently, I spent an hour on a project that should have taken twenty minutes.

I stepped away for lunch, came back, and the solution was obvious.

Same project.
Same person.
Different mindset.

It was a good reminder that productivity is not always about pushing harder.

Sometimes, it is about creating enough space to think clearly.

Leaders set the tone here. When we model constant busyness, our teams notice.

Healthy productivity starts with protecting our own capacity.

In my latest blog post, I share a few practical ways to create more space for focus, planning, and better work.

https://www.wirebackworks.com/blog/create-space-for-focus-not-busyness

What could you protect one hour for this week?

08/03/2026

We use surveys and focus groups to get feedback.

One reason they are valuable is they capture what employees have not felt able to share directly with their leaders.

With an outside facilitator and a confidential process, people often feel safer telling the truth.

They share concerns, frustrations, ideas, and experiences that may have gone unspoken for months—or longer.

When employees tell an outside facilitator what they cannot tell their own leader, the issue is not a lack of opinions. It is a lack of confidence in what will happen when those opinions are shared.

A survey should not be the only place employees believe they can tell the truth.

Honest conversations require more than asking, “How is everything going?”
Leaders must:
🔸Ask specific questions
🔸Listen without immediately explaining
🔸Respond with curiosity rather than defensiveness
🔸Follow up so employees know their feedback was heard and acted on

➡️What might your team be willing to share on a survey that they are not yet willing to tell you?

07/27/2026

As the train passed by, I began noticing the beauty and uniqueness of it.

Each car was different.
Some were shiny. Some were covered in graffiti. Some were old, and some were new.

Different shapes and sizes, yet all traveling together with the common purpose of getting to the next destination.

Feedback can be like that too.

It comes in different shapes and sizes. Sometimes it is wrapped in a shiny exterior. Sometimes it arrives a little rough around the edges.

But the purpose of helpful feedback is the same - to help us learn, grow and move forward.

The challenge is that how we receive it, and how we respond is shaped by every experience we have had with feedback.

When our experiences have been bad, we may shield and protect ourselves from feedback. When our experiences have been harsh, we anticipate it will be harsh. When our experiences have been all glowing, we anticipate good, and constructive feedback may catch us off guard. And when we have received very little feedback, we may have no idea what to expect.

This is why context and relationship matter.

Before offering feedback, we need to create space to understand one another:
🔸What would make this feedback useful?
🔸How does this person best receive it?
🔸Have we built enough trust for an honest conversation?

Feedback may come in different forms. What matters is whether it helps the other person move forward.

07/22/2026

Have you ever asked your team for ideas... and been met with silence?

It's easy to assume they don't have any.

But more often, they're deciding whether it's safe to share them.

As leaders, we can unintentionally teach people that certainty is valued more than curiosity. Not through big moments, but through our everyday reactions to questions, mistakes, and ideas that aren't fully formed.

Over time, people stop taking risks.

Not because they lack creativity.
Because they're protecting themselves.

One small shift I've found to be incredibly powerful is changing the questions we ask.

Instead of:
"What happened?"

Try:
"What did we learn?"

Instead of:
"Do you have any ideas?"

Try:
"What's one idea you've been holding back because it didn't feel ready?"

The questions we ask shape the culture we create.

On our blog, I share more about how leaders unintentionally create cautious teams, and the simple shifts that help people feel safe enough to contribute, learn, and grow.

One question to consider today:
When people leave a conversation with you, do they feel more capable... or more cautious?

https://www.wirebackworks.com/blog/create-space-for-growth-not-perfection

07/07/2026

I’ve learned to recognize the signs.

To listen to my body.
To tune into how I’m feeling.
To notice what I’m craving, and what I’m not.

And, today while I was sitting at my hair salon, I was given this beautiful reminder:
“I’m exactly who I need to be in this moment.”

It really is amazing to enjoy life. ✨

To celebrate what I’ve achieved.
To get curious about what’s next – not from a place of need, or from something being wrong.

But, from a place of good.

This matters in leadership too.

So often, we focus on what needs to improve, what needs to change, what needs to be fixed, or what needs to happen next.

There is a place for that.

But there is also something powerful about pausing long enough to recognize who we are now. What we have already built. What we have already learned. What we are already bringing.

So yes, I am wondering what I want to create next.
And, I am also celebrating who I am now.

💭What would change if you believed you were already enough, and still allowed yourself to be curious about what’s next?

06/26/2026

We do not celebrate success just to feel good.
We celebrate because it helps us notice progress.

🔸It marks the moment.
🔸It creates motivation and momentum.
🔸It reminds us what we have learned and achieved.
🔸It reinforces the behaviors that helped us grow.

And, for organizations, this matters even more.

When we celebrate success, we strengthen trust and connection.

We balance accountability by acknowledging what is working, not just what needs to be improved.

It supports and shapes the culture we want by recognizing and celebrating these actions and behaviors.

This week, I’m celebrating:
🎉A coaching client who got promoted.
💬Another client who had a critical conversation and now recognizes how helpful and impactful it is for herself, the other person, and the organization.
🙌A new coaching practice I created and am using.
🌞Summer!

➡️What are you celebrating today?

06/19/2026

They were all smiles at the end of the day.

This was after they had spent the day together for an in-service retreat.

And what I loved most was the intentionality behind it.

They had planned time to connect.
Time to create together.
Time to choose their own break.
And time to come back together to learn, reflect, and share.

The goal was to encourage more direct conversations.

But we don’t get to direct conversations by simply telling people to “just talk to each other.”

We have to create the conditions for those conversations to happen.

So we spent time setting a foundation of psychological safety and trust.

When those are in place, we create the space for:

• Curiosity instead of assumptions
• Clarity instead of frustration
• Building trust instead of eroding it
• Solving problems faster instead of letting problems take over

The structure of the day matters.

People need space to connect before we ask them to share openly.

They need trust before we ask them to be direct.

And they need to know it is safe enough to say what needs to be said, and that the conversation will help, not hurt.

Wireback Works

09/08/2026

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09/01/2026

08/06/2026

08/03/2026

07/27/2026

07/22/2026

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