Laura Roland Coaching

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Laura Roland Coaching

Leadership development, coaching, and strategy for individuals, leaders, and teams. Helping you turn insight into action. You. 𝘉𝘺 𝘋𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯.™

Speaker, writer, and retreat leader serving Catholic schools and mission-driven organizations.

09/01/2026

Different speeds. Same mission.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve spent a lot of time in rooms with leadership teams, and one thing keeps showing up:
Different processing speeds aren’t resistance, indecision or recklessness.

One person needs time to sit with the information before they know what they think.

Another has already connected the dots, sees the answer and is ready to move.

And someone else is somewhere in the middle, trying to make sure everyone is heard before the team moves forward.

None of them necessarily cares more.

None of them is necessarily more committed to the mission.

And none of them is necessarily wrong.

They just get there differently.

The trouble starts when we assign meaning to those differences.

She’s resistant.

He’s rushing.

Why can’t she just make a decision?

Why are we still talking about this?

When teams understand how each person processes information best and at what speed, something shifts.

Expectations get clearer. People stop taking differences quite so personally. And the team can begin finding a rhythm that actually works for the people in the room.

Same mission.

Different people.

Different speeds.

And sometimes understanding that is exactly what helps a team move forward together.

I wrote more about what I’ve been noticing in this week’s Called to Lead.

08/31/2026

Some leadership things are complicated.

And some are just…sticky.

A conversation you keep avoiding.

A team dynamic you can’t quite figure out.

A decision you’ve been circling.

Something that’s working—but not nearly as well as it could.

That’s what Sticky Leadership Intensive is for.

On September 25, I’m gathering a small group of leaders for 2½ hours of focused conversation, practical coaching, and space to work through the things that feel harder than they should.

Not another webinar where you take pages of notes and then wonder what to do with them.

We’re going to notice what’s happening, name what’s actually underneath it, and figure out what needs to adjust.

September 25, 2026
11:00 AM–1:30 PM CT
Live on Zoom

Small group. Limited spots.

I’m opening the waitlist now.

If something in your leadership feels a little sticky lately, this might be exactly where we start.

DM me and I’ll send you the details.

08/25/2026

I’ve been home since Friday afternoon.

The suitcase is unpacked. Most of the workshop supplies have made their way back where they belong.

And after a solid week spent with Catholic educators and Catholic education leaders, I’ve had a little time to think about it all.

The feedback has been overwhelming...and validating...confirmation that educators are in need of these kinds of experiences.

Why? So that when those hard days hit, they have concrete strategies to help.

Y’all. This is why I do this work.

Not the microphone. Not the workshops. Not even the assessments and reports that I spend hours preparing.

It’s the moment when someone understands something about herself that she didn’t understand before.

When “Why is this so hard for me?” becomes “Ohhhh. Now I understand.”

When a colleague they’ve worked beside for years suddenly makes a little more sense to them.

When someone realizes that being good at something doesn’t mean it gives him energy. That something requiring more effort doesn’t mean he’s bad at it. And that he doesn’t have to do the work exactly like everyone else to do it well.

Over 75 educators took the time to tell me what they experienced in Teach. By Design last week.

The numbers are pretty incredible.

But their words?

Those are the part I keep coming back to.

“I felt seen.”

“I felt validated.”

“I don’t have to teach like someone else to be an effective teacher.”

Yep.

This is why.

Photo credit: Courtney Knichel St. Mary's Bryantown

07/20/2026

Three years ago yesterday, I took a deep breath, filled out the paperwork, and officially launched Laura Roland Coaching.

I had no idea exactly where it would lead. I just knew I wanted to help people do work that mattered and build lives that felt more like who God created them to be.

Over the last three years I’ve had the privilege of coaching incredible women and men, partnering with schools, working alongside leadership teams, speaking in rooms I never imagined I’d be invited into, and watching people discover things about themselves that changed the way they lead, work, and live.

Somewhere along the way, something became really clear.

The work had grown. Not away from coaching...but beyond it.

So today I’m celebrating three years by introducing the next chapter.

✨ The By Design Group

It’s the home for my work with schools, dioceses, nonprofits, and organizations that want to build healthier leadership, stronger teams, and clearer strategy.

Laura Roland Coaching isn’t going anywhere.

It’s still where I work one-on-one with women and men, navigating transitions, leadership, purpose, and what’s next.

The By Design Group simply gives the organizational side of my work a name that finally fits.

Different doors.

Same heart.

Helping people and organizations discover how they’re designed to flourish.

Thank you to every client, friend, colleague, school leader, and encourager who’s trusted me over these last three years.

You’ve shaped this business - and me- more than you know.

Here’s to what’s next. 🥂

I’m just getting started.

❤️

06/05/2026

Friday feels like a good day for a reintroduction.

Hi, I’m Laura.

I don’t do small talk. 🔥 I can go from “Nice to meet you” to “What’s keeping you up at night?” in record time. Life is too short to spend all our time talking about the weather.

I’m fascinated by the power of ordinary. 🔥 Not the highlight reel. Not the viral moment. Not the perfectly curated version of life.

The ordinary Tuesday. The conversation you almost didn’t have. The small decision that changed everything. That’s usually where life changes.

Full circles have become a regular occurrence in my life. 🔥 People. Opportunities. Dreams. Lessons. Things I thought were long gone have a funny way of showing back up wearing a different outfit. The older I get, the more I see how the threads connect.

I’m endlessly curious about people. 🔥 What shaped them. What they’re carrying. What they’re learning. What they’re hoping for.

A big part of my work—and my life—is helping people connect dots, see patterns, discover possibilities, and recognize strengths they can’t always see for themselves.

Most of my closest friendships don’t make much sense on paper. 🔥 We’re different in all the ways that should matter—and somehow those differences make our worlds bigger, better, and richer. I’ve never wanted friends who think exactly like I do. I’d rather have people who challenge me, stretch me, tell me the truth, and make me laugh. And let me do the same for them.

I believe God wastes exactly nothing. 🔥 Not the waiting. Not the detours. Not the disappointments. Not the seasons I would never have chosen. Nothing.

I’ve learned a thing or a hundred over the years 🔥 The things that connect us aren’t usually the impressive parts of our stories. They’re the disappointments. The second chances. The unexpected detours. The dreams we’re still carrying. The lessons we learned the hard way.

Because those are places where someone inevitably says: “Wait... me too.”

And that’s where strangers become friends. That’s the good stuff.

Your turn... go.

06/02/2026

Ever notice how when you’re exhausted, your brain starts negotiating escape plans?

Quit the job.

Sell the business.

Move to a cabin.

Become a Walmart greeter.

Most of the time, it’s not because you’re in the wrong place. It’s because you’ve been carrying the mental weight for too long without putting it down.
I took ten days away recently and was reminded of something simple - the work was fine. Not perfect. Not untouched. Just fine.

Sometimes you have to go away for a little while so you don’t go away forever.

Before you make a drastic decision, ask yourself: Do I need a new life? Or do I need a little room to breathe?

06/01/2026

If you’ve been following along lately, you’ve probably noticed I’ve been traveling.

Some of those trips have been for joy and adventure. Some have been to honor people I’ve loved and done life with who have recently died. A chance for closure. A chance to remember.

Truthfully, it’s been a year marked by the loss of friends and family. This was simply a season when several of those losses happened close together.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve found myself praying the same words again and again:

May they rest in peace.

Today, as I prayed those words once more, it occurred to me that perhaps I am praying for my own heart, too.

Not in the same way, of course.

But in the sense of finding peace in knowing they were loved. Knowing they left the best of who they were with the people who loved them in return. Knowing their stories continue in the lives they touched.

May they rest in peace.

And perhaps, little by little, may our hearts do the same.

05/18/2026

Hey leaders.

Can we stop romanticizing exhaustion?

Can we stop acting like burnout is proof of commitment?

Like constant accessibility is leadership?

Like carrying everything yourself is noble?

Like depletion is just “part of the job”?

Somewhere along the way, many of us stopped asking: Is this healthy?
And started thinking: I just need to bear this a little while longer.

That mindset is costing us more than we realize.

If this is you, I want you to know: you are not lazy or incapable. You are overloaded. Mentally. Emotionally. Decision by decision.

As high-capacity leaders, we’ve learned to treat ourselves like systems instead of human beings.

That works temporarily. It does not work forever.

The goal is not endless maximization.

The goal is leadership that is sustainable, honest, and aligned with reality.

Sometimes the work beneath the work is learning you do not have to keep proving your value through exhaustion.

05/11/2026

There are tasks sitting on your list right now that probably should not feel as heavy as they do.

And yet they do.

Not because the task itself is impossible, but because of what has slowly become attached to it internally over time.

This is one of the hidden dynamics underneath burnout, procrastination, disengagement, and leadership fatigue that most people never fully name.

Eventually the work stops being just work.

A delayed response becomes proof you are dropping the ball.

An unfinished project becomes evidence that you never follow through.

A difficult conversation starts feeling like exposure instead of leadership.

Over time, you stop reacting to the actual task and start reacting to what the task has come to represent emotionally.

That changes how you engage the work.

This is why another planner, another system, or another push for discipline does not always solve the problem.

Sometimes the issue is not productivity.

Sometimes the work beneath the work is about depletion.

05/04/2026

Clarity is one of those words everyone uses.

Clients ask for it. Leaders say they need more of it. It becomes the thing we chase when something feels off but we can’t quite name why.

But most of the time, clarity isn’t missing.

It’s buried.

Buried under too many open loops. Too many good ideas. Too many things that still feel “valid”.

So the instinct is to add something that will fix it.

Another framework. Another program. Another offer. Another conversation. Another layer of thinking.

But clarity rarely shows up that way.

It shows up when something leaves.

When you look at what you’re holding and ask, honestly, why it’s still there.

Not everything you’re doing is wrong. That’s what makes this hard.A lot of it is good. Necessary at one point. Aligned for a season.

But not everything still belongs.

And until something gets set down, everything continues to feel equally important—and equally heavy. That’s why clarity feels out of reach.

Not because it’s missing, but because it’s crowded out.

The shift isn’t about finding the next right thing.

It’s about removing what’s no longer yours so the next right thing can actually be seen.

That’s the work beneath the work. It’s the work I help people just like you do.

Address

Minneapolis, MN

Website

https://www.laurarolandcoaching.com/

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