Coaching Tips

What Happens to Your Team Under Pressure?

By Sylvia Lafair | September 8, 2026 |

Summary: Your team may look terrific when everything is going well. People collaborate. Meetings are cordial. Deadlines are met. Everyone talks about trust, transparency, and “being one team.” Then the pressure hits. A major client threatens to leave. Revenue falls short. AI changes someone’s role. Instead of doom and gloom, here is a better way…

Satya Nadella and the Leadership Skill AI Can’t Replace

By Sylvia Lafair | September 3, 2026 |

Summary: What happens to leadership when artificial intelligence can analyze faster, process more information, and produce answers in seconds? Perhaps the answer is surprisingly simple: We have to become more human, not less. Microsoft’s CEO has something to teach us about empathy, self-awareness, and human leadership in the age of AI. Satya Nadella, Chairman and…

How to Deal With a Toxic Boss: Stop Labeling the Person and Start Looking at the Pattern

By Sylvia Lafair | August 18, 2026 |

Summary: You know the feeling. Your boss walks into the meeting, and your stomach tightens. Or perhaps you have an idea, but you hesitate before speaking. Tension comes in many flavors, from yelling and passive-aggressive comments to the silent treatment. Eventually, someone says the words everyone has been thinking: “We have a toxic boss.” Maybe…

What Lin-Manuel Miranda Knows About Leadership (That Most Executives Miss)

By Sylvia Lafair | August 13, 2026 |

Summary: Imagine walking into a room and saying, “I have an idea for a Broadway musical about Alexander Hamilton.” That alone might get you some raised eyebrows. Then add, “It will use hip-hop and rap, the Founding Fathers will be played by a diverse cast, and audiences will pay hundreds of dollars to watch it.”…

Stop Calling People Toxic. Start Looking for the Patterns.

By Sylvia Lafair | August 4, 2026 |

Summary: We hear these phrases everywhere. “She’s toxic.” “He’s impossible.” “Stay away from people like that.” Social media is overflowing with advice about identifying toxic people, avoiding toxic relationships, and eliminating toxic employees. Sometimes that advice is necessary. Abuse, manipulation, and repeated harmful behavior should never be ignored or tolerated. But what if the label…

When Great Leaders Cry: What Lionel Messi Taught the World About Leadership

By Sylvia Lafair | July 23, 2026 |

Summary: Millions of people around the world watched Lionel Messi walk off the field after Argentina’s heartbreaking 1-0 extra-time loss to Spain in the World Cup Final. For just a moment, the cameras caught something that statistics never can. A tear rolled down his cheek, and that single tear may become one of the most…

Pattern Intelligence: The Leadership Skill Abraham Lincoln Used Before There Was a Name For It

By Sylvia Lafair | July 16, 2026 |

Summary: Why do some leaders keep solving the same problems over and over while others seem able to transform an entire culture? The difference is often not intelligence, but pattern intelligence, or the ability to notice the invisible dynamics beneath visible behavior. It means recognizing recurring emotional, relational, and organizational patterns before they become crises.…

Freedom Is the Leadership Skill We Rarely Talk About

By Sylvia Lafair | July 14, 2026 |

Summary: We often think freedom comes from changing jobs, relationships, or circumstances, but real freedom begins within. By recognizing the old patterns and stories that shape our reactions, we create space to choose a different response. That moment of self-awareness is where lasting change begins—and where we gain the freedom to lead, connect, and create…

When a Glimmer Becomes a New Beginning

By Sylvia Lafair | July 9, 2026 |

Summary: Most breakthroughs don’t begin with a grand plan. They begin with one small moment of awareness, a GLIMMER. Discover how curiosity transformed one executive coach into a jewelry designer and how your next chapter may already be waiting for you. “Sometimes the smallest spark changes the direction of an entire life.” —Sylvia Lafair Most…

The Greatest Freedom Is the One No One Can Give You

By Sylvia Lafair | July 7, 2026 |

Summary: Every year around this time, we celebrate freedom. Flags wave. Families gather. Fireworks light up the night sky. And while we are meant to remember past freedom fighters, we often get caught up in our day-to-day activities. Let’s take a look at freedom from another vantage point. Dear Dr. Sylvia, I see Independence Day…