admin - Lisa D. Foster, Leadership Coaching & Training

two people working together as an image of senior leadership effectiveness

Why Senior Leadership Is a Team Sport

February 11, 2026

Senior leadership effectiveness depends less on individual capability and more on how work is shared and sustained. For much of a leadership career, success is built on personal capability. You learn fast.You take responsibility.You solve problems. That identity—the person who gets things done—is often what earns leaders their first big opportunities. At senior levels, however, that same strength can quietly hold you back — because senior leadership effectiveness depends less on individual capability and more on how work is shared…

a natural exchange between two professional woman as an image of leadership mentoring

When You’re Too Valuable to Promote, Leadership Mentoring Is the Move

February 9, 2026

Alignment and Effective 1:1s

When the missing skill is leadership mentoring, leaders can stall even if when they and their teams are high performing. Leadership mentoring is an essential leadership skill, one that often gets short shrift in busy organizations when everyone seems to be stretched to their limit. Ironically, even in great organizations, leaders can plateau when they have built something that’s working exceptionally well. In fact, I’ve spoken to several team leaders who have passed up a chance at promotion because they…

A team building good leadership relationships

The Relationship Layer Most Capable Leaders Undervalue

February 6, 2026

Alignment and Effective 1:1s

Many leadership challenges that appear strategic or operational actually have their roots in leadership relationships. At senior levels, leadership stops being primarily about execution and starts being about relationships. Not relationships in the social sense.Not networking.Not politics. But the quality of working relationships that determine whether influence flows, trust holds under pressure, and decisions actually move groups forward. Many capable leaders underestimate this layer—not because they don’t value people, but because earlier success rarely depended on it. Key Takeaways: Why…

Serious femail leader as a symbol of senior leadership readiness

Why Doing a Lot Right Isn’t Enough to Signal Senior Leadership Readiness

February 4, 2026

Confidence and Managing Yourself

Senior leadership readiness is about understanding how your presence, decisions, and relationships shape your impact. As senior leadership readiness becomes the differentiator, many capable leaders hit a confusing plateau. What makes this moment so unsettling is that nothing is obviously wrong. Leadership still looks successful on the surface—but it starts to feel harder to generate momentum. They’re doing a lot right.They’re respected, deliver results, and have earned real trust and responsibility. And yet, progress slows.Opportunities don’t materialize.Influence feels harder to…

senior leader showing that he has made the shift from execution to ownership

From Execution to Ownership: The Shift Senior Leaders Must Make to Have Leadership Impact

February 2, 2026

Motivation and a Culture of Performance

As a leader you are measured by your leadership impact, not by your individual output. As your career grows, so does your leadership impact. At some point as you rise into the ranks of leadership, doing excellent work is no longer enough. Not because the work isn’t good—but because leadership is no longer measured by individual output. It’s measured by impact. At senior levels, leadership stops being about what you deliver and becomes about what others are able to do…

Senior leader aware of his leadership blind spots

How Early Wins Create Leadership Blind Spots: The Misleading Comfort of Past Success

January 30, 2026

Decision Making Under Pressure

The most dangerous phase of leadership is often not early struggle, but sustained success when assumptions become leadership blind spots. Leadership blind spots arise because success is reassuring. It tells leaders that their judgment is sound, their instincts are reliable, and their approach works. But at senior levels, past success can quietly become a liability. Many of the leaders I work with are accomplished, capable, and respected. They have succeeded beyond what they once imagined. Yet they find themselves surprised…