Emotional Awareness

Emotional awareness is the only skill that predicts leadership success.

female professional wondering how do I move up from here

How Do I Move Up From Here? What Changes at the Next Level of Leadership

Why You Feel Stuck—Even When You’re Doing Everything Right If you’re wondering how to move up in your career, the answer may not be what you expect. At a certain point in your career, something shifts. You’re good at your job.You deliver results.You meet expectations—often exceed them. And yet— You’re not being pulled into bigger conversations.You’re not being trusted with more responsibility.You may have even been passed over for promotion. So the question becomes: What am I missing? This is…

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A female leader listening as part of difficult conversations at work

Emotional Intelligence in Difficult Conversations: Why They Go Wrong—Even When You Mean Well

Real leadership and trust are built when difficult conversations at work end in resolutions that everyone feels good about. You know the conversation needs to happen. You’ve been thinking about it for days—maybe longer. But you delay it.Or you finally have it—and it doesn’t go the way you hoped. The other person gets defensive.You soften your message—or come in too strong.And afterward, nothing really changes. So the question becomes: Why are difficult conversations so hard to get right? It’s not…

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Business woman ascending an escalator as an image of leadership presence

Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Presence: Why You’re Not Moving Up—Even When You’re Good at Your Job

Emotional Intelligence and Leadership Presence: Why You May Feel Stuck Leadership presence isn’t about charisma, personality, or style. It’s about how others experience you in moments that matter—especially when stakes are high, decisions are being made, and trust is being assessed. And that experience is shaped, in large part, by emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence and leadership presence often determine who gets pulled into bigger opportunities—and who stays where they are. Key Takeaways Leadership Presence Drives Trust, Promotion, and Influence Emotional…

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a female leader using emotional intelligence at work

Self-Awareness in Leadership: Why Your Team Isn’t Responding—Even When You’re Clear

What Is Emotional Self-Awareness at Work (and Why It Drives Results) Emotional self-awareness problems often show up as communication problems. Most leaders don’t think they have a communication problem. They feel clear. Direct. Reasonable. And yet—They have to repeat themselves.Deadlines slip.People nod in meetings but don’t follow through. So the question becomes: Why isn’t my team responding? This is where many leadership challenges begin—not with strategy or effort, but with something harder to see: A gap between how you think…

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woman contemplating feedback signals leaders miss

The Feedback Signals You’re Missing as a Leader (And Why They Matter More at Senior Levels)

If you’re missing feedback signals as a leader, it’s a sign of your own growth. Learn to listen differently to grow more. At some point, nearly every leader misses a feedback sgnal. There was a moment when I, too, found myself missing feedback signals as a leader. Here’s a story of how I missed a signal and made a decision that nearly cost me my company—and what I learned that helped me grow further. I remember announcing the decision and…

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leader wondeing why leadership stops working at scale

Why Leadership Stops Working Even When You’re Doing Everything Right

If you’re wondering why leadership stops working, consider the impact of the scale of your job. Has encouraging others replaced doing it yourself? In my clients, I see why leadership stops working pretty often. For example, a senior leader I worked with had doubled his firm’s size and revenue and could clearly see a path to doubling again. Yet he was increasingly frustrated. Mistakes were creeping in, and his team didn’t seem as committed as he was. As the organization…

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Lisa D. Foster, Ph.D. ACC  is an independent coach. As an Associate Certified Coach by the International Coaching Federation, Lisa honors and abides by the ICF Code of Ethics.  All coaching sessions and consultations are confidential.

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