Navigating Modern Leadership: Authenticity Amidst AI Disruption
Heather McGonigal and Barbara Schindler open this episode from opposite coasts, one in a Vermont rainstorm, one in a California heat wave, and use the weather as an entry point into something bigger. Disruption is the current condition of business and life, not a phase to wait out. AI is only one piece of it. The political climate, the economy, your family, your role, your company's response to market pressure, all of it is shifting at once and rarely in the same direction.
Heather and Barbara name three capabilities every leader needs to build right now: mindset, intention, and self-awareness. They walk through a real coaching example of someone newly promoted into management who caught herself spiraling over a small mistake and used self-awareness to reset her thinking mid-thought. Heather makes the case that in an economy where companies are investing less in training their people, no one is coming to save you from your own overflowing plate. You have to build that muscle yourself.
The conversation lands on authenticity as something you co-create with the disruption around you rather than something you protect by staying quiet. Barbara reframes it as leading your part: speaking up when something needs to be said, revising your approach when it doesn't, and staying grounded enough to choose on purpose.
Key Takeaways
- Disruption isn't a phase. It's the current operating condition, and your relationship to it matters more than the disruption itself.
- Mindset, intention, and self-awareness aren't soft skills. They're the leadership skills that determine how well you navigate everything else.
- No one is coming to rescue you from an overflowing plate. Self-advocacy is now a required skill, not an optional one.
- Authenticity isn't about avoiding disruption. It's about co-creating your response to it while staying true to your values.
Action Steps
- The next time you catch yourself spiraling over a mistake, pause and name your mindset out loud before you react to it.
- Write down your intention for one recurring meeting or interaction this week, and check in afterward on whether you led from it.
- Identify one place at work where you've stayed quiet assuming someone else would speak up. Decide this week whether that's still the right call.
Questions to Reflect On
- Where in your work life are you waiting to be rescued instead of advocating for yourself?
- What's your default reaction when you make a small mistake in a high-visibility moment, and does it serve you?
- What would change if you treated self-awareness as a skill to train instead of a personality trait you either have or don't?
Want to talk through how to build these three skills on your team? Book a complimentary coffee chat: https://www.empoweringleadershipteams.com/coffeechat
About the Hosts: Coach Heather and Coach Barbara are the lead Executive Coaches of Empowering Leadership Teams. They specialize in helping entrepreneurial businesses and their teams meet the moment and become the most empowered they can be to work together and achieve optimal results. With deep expertise in leadership development, team dynamics, and navigating organizational transition, they bring practical, actionable wisdom to leaders facing the challenges of today's rapidly changing business environment.
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