There was a period in my career when I became a different leader without knowing it. I was still showing up, still delivering, but pressure was quietly narrowing the way I led. That narrowing is what this post is about.
People often ask me how I managed to keep going. Not after the hard things ended. During them. How I led a global team while navigating circumstances that would have justified stepping back entirely. That question, how do you lead effectively when your life is also hard, is the beginning of this series.
By Wendy C. Wilson The Calm After the Storm Isn’t Always Calm When a company finally stabilizes after months of chaos, everyone expects relief.But what often follows isn’t relief, it’s emptiness. I’ve seen it more than once. After the last round of layoffs, after the reorganization, after the long nights of uncertainty, there’s a strange…
By Wendy C. Wilson Last week, I shared how trust becomes the anchor in times of crisis; how teams follow leaders who stay steady when everything else feels uncertain. But what happens after the storm? When the crisis finally quiets, leaders face a different kind of test, not how to survive the chaos, but how…
By Wendy C. Wilson The Day I Sat in My Car and Sobbed Years ago, I was working for a global company in an industry that suddenly collapsed. Revenues plummeted. Cash flow dried up. Every week seemed to bring a new emergency meeting about payroll. Layoffs became the new normal. One round after another, week…
It was 4 a.m. when my phone rang. The voice on the other end was panicked: a major disruption had hit our supply chain, threatening millions of dollars in revenue, not to mention not meeting the committed delivery dates for our biggest customer. By the time I reached the office, the situation was spiraling. Executives…
By Wendy C. Wilson Leading with Energy: How Resilient Leaders Recharge to Stay Effective Why Energy Is the Currency of Leadership We often talk about leadership in terms of strategy, influence, and decision-making. Yet beneath all of that lies an often-overlooked truth: leadership is powered by energy. Without it, even the most talented leaders falter….
