You Can’t Do It All & Other Resources to Unlock Leadership Mastery in 2025

Happy New Year! I hope you thoroughly enjoyed your year-end holidays and 2025 New Year celebrations. Welcome back to our bi-monthly leadership resource newsletter.

I sat down to write this first email of the new year and the initial thought that came to mind was to contribute something to your leadership by providing a new perspective, practice, or approach for 2025 that continues to help you be the best leader you can be. And then I chuckled, not too surprised that was my first inclination.

Why the chuckle? I was recently certified on the ‘WHY Operating System’ (Why O.S.) from the Why Institute. When I first took the 10-minute Discover Your Why self-survey, the ‘results’ resonated so much with my assessment-loving side that I decided to become certified and then include it in my Essential Self-Awareness Builder. The WHY O.S. was marketed as a way to discover one’s Purpose (my raison d’être) and created by WHY Institute founder, Dr. Gary Sanchez who, after years of extensive research, identified 9 types of WHYs that motivate and define individuals. He found that when looking back at what has driven and pivoted careers, each person had a WHY O.S. (WHY, HOW, WHAT made up of a combination of 3 of the 9 types) all relating to their passions, behaviors, and successes. For example, my WHY O.S. is Contribute (Why I do it), Find A Better Way (How I do it), and Trust (What I deliver).

 

“Loretta believes that success happens when she contributes to a greater cause by finding better ways and sharing them. She ultimately brings a trusting relationship where others can count on her.”

 

That is remarkably spot-on! And when I reflect on my career choices over the past few decades, I recognize that ‘contributing to a greater cause and finding better ways and sharing them’ were the reasons:

•  I moved back to California after starting my career in television commercial production in Las Vegas because I wanted to be a part of (contribute to) the burgeoning tech industry. I first joined a high-tech PR firm, then several tech startups over the years to lead key roles in Marketing and Communications.
• After two decades in high-tech, I was introduced to another new industry, and transitioned my career to Executive and Team Coaching before it was even cool! Over the years I created a simple coaching methodology and delivered one-to-one, team, peer group, and most recently, blended-learning coaching programs. I’m always looking for a better way to share the benefits of coaching.
• I started the non-profit InvestInMentalHealth.org, to contribute to the cause of breaking the stigma around mental health issues and to share Mental Health First Aid to individuals as a better way to do that.

That’s a long-winded way of sharing why I chuckled, but now you understand why my first thoughts about how to kick this newsletter off were wanting to contribute to your personal leadership development by sharing better ways of being the best leader.  If you would like to have a consultation with me to help you discover your personal WHY O.S., just let me know.

 

In the meantime, I scoured my own resources to find ones that offer new leadership perspectives, practices, and approaches.

 

Coincidentally, when checking out the most popular articles of 2024 from Harvard Business Review, I found some key themes relating to good leadership. I coach around these themes frequently, and many are included in the essential leadership skills and practices we cover in my 3-month online A.A.A. Executive and Peer Group Coaching Program. There was too much to share in this email, so watch for additional ones in two weeks!

Read:  As you enter 2025 with new organizational goals and initiatives, possibly reduced workforces, and an unsure business climate, it is important to focus as a leader on managing your capacity. Workload overwhelm is a constant theme in my coaching conversations and many leaders are hesitant to delegate for fear of overwhelming their direct reports. Leaders Shouldn’t Try to Do It All. It may seem impractical at first, but try to ONLY focus on the things you do well, not only the most important tasks (which is the tendency); those can be delegated!

My clients use tools to help with their distribution of time, rhythm of operation and of conversation – fancy names for ways to gain more awareness of how time is currently spent, how work gets done in meetings, and what conversations take place when and with whom. It sounds like a lot of effort to organize but not nearly as much as the focus we put on managing an over-capacitated workforce.

Learn: If you are looking forward to attending more in-person conferences or events in 2025, you might not be looking forward to something many of us struggle with – networking anxiety. You know that attending is a great way to meet new people and expand your network, and you may also know that networking isn’t really your thing. If your goal is to build your networking skills in 2025, here are 5 quick tips for better conference networking.

Watch/Listen: In November I was interviewed on the Beyond Your Why Podcast and we explored how leadership coaching has changed over the years and why I created the 3-month A.A.A. Executive and Peer Group Coaching program. You can watch the full podcast interview here.

In two weeks, I’ll send more resources to provide you new perspectives, practices and approaches to enhance your leadership in 2025. Stay tuned for tips on the art of asking questions, engaging with different leadership styles and how to keep anxiety from interfering with your work!

See you in a few weeks!

 

Warm Wishes,

Loretta Stagnitto