What an absolute joy to talk with Tony Martignetti, @inspiredpurposecoach about big pivots, art lighting the way, and what happens when people fragment themselves in the workplace.
It's rare to find someone you feel like is on the same absolute wavelength as you – that's how I feel about Tony. He's a brilliant thinker, synthesizer, and storyteller, spreading Ampersand ideas wherever he goes!
#podcast #ampersand #artist #leadership
If your identity were a city, what would it be?
I recently asked Claude.AI that question while traveling through Europe, expecting a generic answer. Instead, it gave me Lisbon. A city that reveals itself slowly, built on layers of history, reinvention, reflection, and light. The more I sat with it, the less it felt like a description of a place and themore like a reflection on identity itself.
Most of us spend years trying to simplify who we are. Strategic, but not too emotional. Professional, but not too creative. We edit ourselves into something easier to explain. But the leaders I admire most are rarely one-dimensional. They hold contradiction, depth, perspective, and reinvention all at once.
What struck me most about Lisbon is that it doesn’t erase what came before. It integrates it. Instead of endlessly reinventing ourselves, we should learn how to bring more of who we already are into the light.
So now I’m curious: if your identity were a city, what would it be and why? Comment below.
#LeadershipDevelopment #SelfAwareness #PersonalGrowth #ThoughtLeadership #identity
What if your biggest leadership blindspot isn’t a lack of confidence… but an outdated view of yourself?
So many high performers are operating from identities that no longer match the level of impact they’re actually having. Internally, they still see themselves as the specialist, the contributor, or the person still trying to prove themselves. Meanwhile, everyone around them already experiences them as capable, influential, and trusted.
That disconnect can quietly shape how we lead. We hesitate. We overwork. We second-guess perspectives that are already valuable.
I think a lot of leaders assume something is wrong with them when this happens. But often, they’re simply in the middle of growing, their identity hasn’t fully caught up with them yet. Instead of becoming someone new for growth, try fully inhabiting who you’ve already become.
I explored this idea more deeply in my latest Fast Company article because I believe many people are carrying this experience without realizing it has a name. Read more with the link in my bio.
#LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveLeadership #LeadershipGrowth #SelfAwareness #ThoughtLeadership
Most people think inspiring leadership comes from what you do. But in my experience, it comes from something deeper. It comes from how you show up.
Over the years, I’ve spent a lot of time studying what actually makes a leader inspiring. Not just effective, but someone others genuinely want to follow. What stands out isn’t a single trait or style. It’s rarely one dimension. More often, it’s a mix of qualities that are already there, just not fully expressed.
As leaders connect more deeply with themselves, something begins to shift. Presence and trust start to emerge, not as techniques, but as a natural extension of who they are. That’s often where inspiration begins.
Inspiring leadership doesn’t come from trying to become someone else. It comes from becoming more fully who you already are.
#LeadershipDevelopment #LeadershipGrowth #AuthenticLeadership #PersonalGrowth #ExecutiveLeadership
At some point, every founder runs into this question: Am I sharing what’s true, or what works?
In the beginning, showing up publicly feels clear. You find your voice, learn what resonates, and start building something meaningful. But over time, it gets more complicated. The version of you that performs well online isn’t always the version of you that feels most accurate.
I’ve seen founders wrestle with what to share, what to keep private, and how to show up when they’ve changed but their brand hasn’t caught up. These aren’t just content questions. They’re identity questions.
That’s why I’m looking forward to being part of An Evening of Founder Stories on May 14. It’s a small, intentional gathering where we’ll explore what it really means to build something while being seen.
I’ll be guiding a storytelling exercise to help founders reflect on their experiences and reconnect with what feels true for them now. If this resonates, I’d love to see you there.
#FounderLife #LeadershipDevelopment #PersonalGrowth #AuthenticLeadership #entrepreneurship
There are certain pieces of feedback that stay with you, and this is one of them. Not just the words spoken, but for what they represent.
Most leaders I work with don’t lack ambition or capability. What they often lack is space. Space to think clearly, reconnect with what matters, and access parts of themselves that have been pushed aside over time. That’s where things start to feel heavy, and momentum begins to fade.
Instead of adding more, I aim to help leaders uncover what’s already there. The insight they’ve been overlooking, the instincts they’ve learned to second-guess, the clarity buried under pressure.
That’s what I mean by illuminating hidden brilliance. When that comes into focus, leaders don’t just move faster. They move with intention.
And that’s where real clarity and drive begin.
#LeadershipDevelopment #ExecutiveCoaching #LeadershipGrowth #ClarityAndDrive #HiddenBrilliance
The next chapter doesn’t require a new you. It requires more of you.
When something feels off, it’s easy to assume the answer is to start over. Learn something new. Become someone different. But often, the real shift isn’t about changing who you are, it’s about reconnecting with the parts of you that haven’t had a place yet.
Over time, we adapt to expectations. We narrow ourselves to fit the role. And while that version of us might work, it doesn’t always feel whole.
The next chapter begins when you bring more of yourself back into the room. The creativity, the curiosity, the perspective you’ve set aside. Not by adding something new, but by allowing more of what’s already there to be expressed.
That’s where alignment begins, and where something new takes shape.
#PersonalGrowth #LeadershipDevelopment #SelfAwareness #CareerGrowth #leadershipmindset
What kind of leader are you… really? Not the version shaped by your title or expectations, but the one that shows up naturally when you’re at your best.
Leadership isn’t one-dimensional. Some people lead through connection, others through creativity, systems thinking, or perspective. Most of us are a blend—we just don’t always have the clarity to see how it all fits together.
That’s why I created a Multidimensional Leadership Assessment. It’s a short, guided reflection designed to help you uncover your leadership archetype and give you personalized insights into how you naturally lead and where you can grow.
It only takes a few minutes, but it can shift how you see yourself, and how you lead.
If you’re curious, you can take it now using the link in my bio.
#LeadershipDevelopment #SelfAwareness #LeadershipGrowth #PersonalDevelopment #leadershiptools
Sometimes you get to the top of a mountain, and the view doesn’t feel the way you thought it would.
From the outside, everything says you’ve made it. You’ve put in the years of sacrifice and reached the milestones you once worked so hard toward. By most definitions, it looks like success. And yet, when you pause long enough to take it in, something feels off. Not because anything is wrong, but because something doesn’t feel aligned.
I’ve seen this more times than I can count: leaders who have done everything “right” and still feel a quiet sense of dissonance between where they are and what actually matters to them. We’ve been taught a simple formula: climb higher, and fulfillment will follow. But what if the real question isn’t how high you’ve climbed, but whether you’re climbing the right mountain?
Because achievement and alignment are not the same thing. At some point, many of us realize that success defined by others doesn’t always translate to meaning for ourselves. That realization isn’t a failure. It’s an invitation to pause, reflect, and reconnect with what success actually means to you now, and to decide what’s truly worth continuing to climb.
Sometimes the most important move in your career isn’t pushing forward. It’s recalibrating your direction.
#LeadershipDevelopment #CareerGrowth #PurposeDrivenLeadership #PersonalGrowth #LeadershipMindset
What if resilience isn’t something you build in comfort… but something you discover in the places that test you most?
In the latest episode of The Virtual Campfire Podcast, I sit down with Sara Schulting Kranz —an adventurer, guide, and deeply grounded voice in the world of resilience and leadership.
This conversation goes beyond frameworks and into lived experience:
• How navigating betrayal became a catalyst for purpose
• Why nature, especially the Grand Canyon, becomes a powerful mirror for leadership
• What it really takes to move through uncertainty instead of around it
• And how resilience is less about toughness… and more about truth
One idea that stayed with me:
We don’t become resilient by avoiding the hard paths. We become resilient by learning how to walk them with presence, meaning, and support.
Sara’s work is a reminder that leadership isn’t forged in theory. It’s shaped in the moments that ask more of us than we feel ready to give.
If you’re navigating change, challenge, or simply feeling called to lead in a more grounded and human way… this is a conversation worth sitting with.
Check it out here: /a-journey-to-resilience-and-leadership-through-nature-with-sara-schulting-kranz/
What if the pressure to reinvent yourself is actually holding you back?
At SXSW this year, artificial intelligence dominated every conversation. But the moment that stayed with me wasn’t about AI at all. It was watching Jack Johnson. Surfer. Filmmaker. Musician. He didn’t abandon one identity to become another. He carried them forward.
Surfing shaped how he saw rhythm. Filmmaking influenced how he told stories. His music became an integration of both.
He didn’t reinvent himself. He integrated himself. And that distinction feels especially relevant right now. In a moment where so many people feel pressure to pivot, reskill, or start over, it’s easy to assume the path forward requires becoming something different.
But often, the real opportunity is to connect what’s already there. The parts of you that don’t neatly fit into a single category… are often where your originality lives.
Instead of replacing who you’ve been, try combining it in a way that creates something new. That’s where the real edge is emerging. I explore this idea more deeply in my latest article, which you can read with the link in my bio.
#MultidimensionalLeadership #LeadershipGrowth #PersonalDevelopment #ThoughtLeadership #FutureOfWork
Leaders are readers. Not because it’s a productivity hack, but because it expands how you see. Some of the biggest shifts in my thinking didn’t come from a single moment. They came from ideas I encountered over time through books that challenged me, stretched me, and reshaped how I understand the world.
The books that stay with me change the questions I ask. They don’t tell me what to think, they help me see what I was missing. And often, they connect dots I didn’t even realize were related.
That’s the real value. Because leadership today isn’t about having the most information. It’s about making sense of it. Reading has been one of the most consistent ways I’ve expanded that capacity, pulling from different perspectives and ways of thinking.
Growth rarely happens in isolation. It happens when we’re willing to step into new ideas and let them change us. What’s a book that’s shifted how you see or lead?
#LeadershipDevelopment #LeadershipGrowth #LeadersAreReaders #PersonalGrowth #ThoughtLeadership
