An interesting series of events happened recently - This past weekend, I got to see an artist and human I admire. I didn’t just get to see her perform her music and gifts. I was invited to join a group of women for a weekend of camping, connecting, and music for the soul in The Gorge Amphitheatre in eastern Washington.

We had the pleasure of witnessing Brandi Carlile, Indigo Girls, I’m with Her, Sara Bareilles, Bonnie Raitt, and The Highwomen across two stunning evenings in late May.

The love for their craft, the creativity of their collaboration, and the support and admiration for one another were visceral. The experience was a warm hug, a reminder of what happens when we do things that scare us and show up with our humanity.

There was magic and grace being with friends and strangers outside, gathering to support one another, experience masters of their craft, and advocate for a greater good.

It was touching and a little overwhelming at times. It brought tears to my eyes as I looked up at the starry sky and was reminded of the vastness and the smallness and how connected and similar we really are.

A few days later, I was interviewed by Sarah Kent with The Dreamworks Project. She is a curious soul wanting to build deeper connections with and amongst women to grow into their dreams. She began the short interview with a simple question, “What dream would you like to share in our time together today?”

In my work, I start with a similar question: “What do you want?” If I’m working individually with a client, I ask a more intimate version that begins with their vision for their life. If I’m working with a team or organization, I ask a similar question: “What are you working toward?”

Often, the answer can be quite difficult to articulate.

We condition ourselves to look outside ourselves for what we want. That answer is, at first, often about making others happy, not rocking the boat, fitting in with the crowd. It takes time to reconnect with their inner, deeper desires, and that’s ok. It’s completely normal.

I myself began exploring and articulating my big vision and goals a few years ago. It was an iterative process to begin and reflect, then adjust. I’ll admit, it had been a few months since I visited my Vision and Goals (I always have a personal and professional goal that feels big and scary, and I have no idea how I’m going to make it happen so it fuels me, my actions, my work…). So, as this interview neared, I began reflecting and iterating.

During the conversation, I became aware of something that has been quietly maturing within me for months.

What I feel now is a responsibility to bring my gifts, experience, and perspective more fully to those who are ready to receive them.

The leaders, teams, and organizations who can feel themselves at an edge.

The ones sensing that what is breaking down is not themselves, but the assumptions, structures, and leadership models they’ve outgrown.

The ones realizing they no longer want their resume or their to-do list driving their decisions.

The people willing to move beyond fear-based leadership, fear-based belonging, and fear-based decision-making.

The people willing to reclaim their authority, trust their own knowing, and participate in a more conscious and regenerative future.

The people ready to become who they are, not who they’ve been conditioned to be.

And as I gave voice to that truth, I realized my dream had evolved.

It was no longer about building a business or achieving a goal. It had become a clear vision.

A vision of people reclaiming the authority they unknowingly surrendered to expectations, institutions, titles, and old ways of leading.

A vision of helping people become free enough to be fully themselves.

And from that place, they can help create healthier leadership, healthier organizations, healthier communities, and a healthier relationship with the living world itself.

This is something I witness often in my work. Whether with an individual leader, a team, or an organization, there is a moment when what was once an idea becomes something more embodied.

They stop talking about the vision and begin feeling it…and living from it.

There is something that happens when our dreams are witnessed and shared.

It is incredible to witness, to observe the change in body language, the resonance in the tone of voice.

That happened for me in this interview. I didn’t want the conversation to end. Sarah asked questions that brought my dream out in a deeper way and I still didn’t feel like I shared everything I wanted to and it felt so good.

What a gift it was to be asked “What dream would you like to share…?” I encourage you to ask yourself this simple question, what is it you want? And see where it takes you.

A few days later, life offered its own reminder about why these questions matter.

This morning I woke up to a message from my mom. The kind of message you never want to receive. My brother lost a friend and colleague while at work.

If any of you reading have been on a mountain with glaciers, you may have crossed paths with my brother or one of his colleagues - a small community of climbing rangers and mountain guides. It’s alpine climbing season in the United States and due to a low snow winter and stormy spring, the season is only recently picking up. The mountains are crowded with a pressure to climb toward the summits of our glaciated peaks.

I did not meet this colleague of my brothers; however, the news shocked me to my core. I had just had a wonderful video call with him to catch up as he’s often in the wilderness without service for weeks this time of year. He was tired and grateful for a day of rest.

He has an incredible demeanor for work that brings him to some of the most remote and untouched places in the world. It inspires and humbles him. He has a gift for being a light in a very stressful situation, the calm like the eye of a storm.

Today, he and his colleagues had to recover a colleague and friend from the glacier. Other climbing rangers from parks are on their way to provide support and allow for rest and processing of this tragic loss.

The community is showing up for one another. They, and so many others, are offering a warm hug and a reminder of what happens when we do things that scare us and show up with our humanity. In the end, isn’t that what life is about?

I share all of this because it is a reminder that we never know how much time we have, even though we know we only have one life to live.

Over the last few weeks, I have been reminded of three things.

• We need spaces where people can fully express their gifts.

• We need conversations that invite us to speak our dreams aloud.

• And we need reminders that our time here is not unlimited.

They become real when they are spoken.

Witnessed.

Shared.

Not because they are guaranteed to happen, but because they begin to shape how we live.

So I’ll leave you with the same question Sarah asked me:

What dream would you like to share?

And perhaps even more importantly:

What are you waiting for?

I’d love to hear your answer.

Leave a comment

If you're standing at a threshold and sensing that the way you've been leading, deciding, or navigating change no longer fits, I'd love to support you.

Whether you're an individual leader, a team, or an organization, my work helps people move beyond fear-based leadership and decision-making toward greater clarity, trust, and alignment. You can schedule a conversation here:

https://calendly.com/meghan-meghanbcraig/decision-conversation

Sarah’s question— “What dream would you like to share?”—sparked much of this reflection.

If you’d like to explore your own dream with Sarah through The Dreamworks Project, you can learn more or schedule an interview here:

https://www.sarahlkent.com/thedreamworksproject

You can also read the growing collection of dream stories from others and subscribe for free.

A Field of Dreams

🌸 A growing collection of the stories of the dreams and aspirations of women from all over the world 🌸 Visit for inspiration, reflection, and to reconnect with your own dreams 🌸

By Sarah L Kent

Most leadership teams think decisions get stuck because they’re complex, high-stakes, or unclear. But in my experience working with leaders and teams under pressure, that’s rarely the actual problem.

I’ve seen leadership teams spend weeks revisiting the same decision. Not because they lacked strategy or intelligence, but because ownership was unclear, responsibility was over-carried, and trust in the decision-making process had broken down.

Decisions don’t get stuck because they’re hard. They get stuck because of how leadership and decision-making is functioning under pressure.

When was the last time you were responsible for a big decision? What was that experience like for you personally? Consider what it was like for you in your leadership role and for your team or peers.

For me, one particular decision that comes to mind was which role to prioritize hiring to fill one of the many gaps we had on our growing team. I was the final decision maker who would send the materials to finance and HR for approval to start the process; however, I couldn’t make that decision on my own, without input from those closer to the work.

At first, I held that decision close. I thought about it, quite a bit - which role would make the biggest difference, now? I knew pretty quickly that I needed to bring in my team members as their work and day-to-day would be most affected by a new hire.

What I didn’t realize at the time was that the pressure of being the final decision-maker was quietly pulling me toward over-responsibility. I could feel the temptation to carry the entire weight of the decision myself, to protect the team from the risk of making the “wrong” call, and to solve too many steps ahead.

If I wasn’t aware, I could have easily gotten stuck in over-responsibility, over-carrying or over-thinking what decision to make and how to do it. In my work, I’ve found those are very common realities for leaders who are making decisions under pressure, change, and greater responsibility - team growth or reduction, organizational expansion or change, new roles, etc. This can disguise itself but if you look closely, you’ve likely experienced it yourself or in a team setting.

I once experienced the same decision (with different language) being made repeatedly across different departments over several years. On the surface, it sounded productive, but underneath it were layers of over-responsibility, misidentified ownership, and fear of making the wrong call.

The wrong problem was being solved over and over.

I’ve seen these patterns show up in all kinds of ways:

• leaders privately carrying anxiety while publicly presenting calm

• teams revisiting the same conversation across multiple meetings

• endless “collaboration” without clarity on who actually decides

• people waiting for permission instead of contributing directly

• decisions slowing down because no one wants to make the wrong call

What looks productive on the surface is often hesitation, over-responsibility, or fear moving underneath the system.

Have you experienced a decision that kept getting revisited without actually moving forward?

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A mentor recently reflected something to me that completely shifted how I think about leadership decisions: we act as though there’s only one optimal decision. Especially under pressure, we imagine there is one perfect decision waiting to be discovered. The truth is, there’s no such thing.

Life and leadership rarely work that way.

Most decisions are not about finding the optimal path.

They’re about making the clearest decision possible with the information available - then learning, adjusting, and continuing forward.

In times of pressure, change, and high-stress, most teams default to adding more:

• more analysis

• more conversation

• more urgency

• more opinions

But more input without clear ownership rarely creates more clarity.

More often, it creates hesitation and confusion.

The way decisions are being made is revealing how leadership is actually functioning in a team or organization.

If you’re navigating leadership, pressure, or complex decisions inside your team or organization, subscribe to receive future reflections and insights from Edge of Change Leadership.

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Even with well-meaning leaders, a conventional leadership model and organizational structure often leads to confusion and a culture of invisible permission-based structures. Teams defer upward. Leaders over-function. Responsibility concentrates upward toward a few people expected to carry certainty for the whole system. And under pressure, those patterns intensify - often causing delay, frustration, and confusion throughout the system.

If you’re feeling any parts of this in your team- if you’re stuck, feeling bogged down by change and high-pressure - there are things you can do to begin to break down the bottlenecks and shift the decision-making process and culture.

The first shift I introduce with teams is deceptively simple: clarify ownership and clarify the actual decision. I’m often surprised by how many teams are trying to solve problems they haven’t fully defined or making decisions without clear ownership of who actually makes the decision.

Many teams spend enormous time and energy solving the wrong problem simply because they never clarified the actual decision.

Another shift is learning to interrupt the default reaction under pressure. Most teams already have predictable habits:

• rushing

• over-holding

• over-carrying

• over-thinking

Awareness can begin to change the default pattern.

Then we involve the right inputs - introduce a sense of shared responsibility to the process of decision-making. This is where clarity of ownership vs. input is key. I’ve watched teams and groups transform simply by distinguishing between:

• who owns the decision,

• who informs the decision

• who/what needs visibility

Shared responsibility is often the most uncomfortable shift for leaders. Many assume involving others means consensus or democratic decision-making. It doesn’t.

Clear distributed decision-making depends on clarifying:

• Who owns the decision

• What input is needed

• And where visibility matters

That distinction changes everything. It’s about building collective clarity, and that builds trust.

And finally, decide on the right move for this moment. Ultimately, there are three ways to respond in moments of decision-making:

• hold

• shift

• act

Our default is always to action, usually driven by urgency and the pressure to solve too many steps ahead.

This is a moment and part of the process that calls for discernment. As I’ve worked with leaders, opening up the options - to hold and to shift - can bring such relief. Permitting ourselves to open up a decision to be more than always taking action is empowering and important.

If any of this feels familiar, the next step isn’t more.

It’s looking honestly at how you relate to decision-making and how decisions are being made inside your team.

Then:

• clarify ownership

• interrupt default patterns

• involve intentionally

• reflect and adjust

This is how teams build collective clarity under pressure.

The goal isn’t perfect optimal decision-making. That doesn’t exist.

The goal is building the capacity to move through pressure, uncertainty, and change without collapsing into over-control, over-responsibility, or disconnection.

Because the way a team makes decisions under pressure doesn’t just shape outcomes.

It shapes trust.

Ownership.

Leadership.

And ultimately, the future culture of the organization itself.

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If you want to listen, check out Edge of Change Leadership Podcast.
If you prefer to read (or want the distilled version), keep scrolling.

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Every Earth Day, we talk about what needs to change out there…from policy, to systems, to behavior, to industry.

Because if we’re honest, many of us are trying to create a radically different future using the same leadership patterns that created the current one.

And nowhere is that more visible than in the sustainability and social change space.

We are doing incredibly important work.
And we are leading it in ways that are not actually sustainable.

Over-responsibility.
Urgency as the default.
Burnout as normalized.
Pressure to perform….the list goes on.

We say we want long-term, more sustainable outcomes, but we are making decisions from short-term, depleted states.

And that doesn’t just impact us.

It shapes the systems we are building.

The Leadership Problem We’re Not Naming

If we aren’t doing the inner work leadership requires, it shows up in our leadership and in the systems we create.

Because how you lead under pressure isn’t strategy, it’s pattern.

And most of us have been conditioned into patterns that prioritize:

• speed over discernment

• control over trust

• individual performance over collective capacity

• comfort over innovation and growth

So even as we try to build more collaborative, equitable, and innovative systems, we unintentionally recreate the very dynamics we’re trying to change.

What’s Being Asked of Us Now

What’s required right now isn’t just better strategy.

It’s a different way of leading.

Not just sustainability in what we build, but sustainability in how we think, decide, relate, and lead under pressure.

This is where regenerative leadership begins.

It asks a different question:

Can the way we lead actually sustain the future we’re trying to create?

We Are at a Leadership Threshold

Right now, we are in a moment of disruption.

Industries are shifting.
Structures are being challenged.
Certainty is dissolving.

Most leaders respond to this by trying to move faster, to fix, control, or stabilize what’s happening.

But what if this moment isn’t something to manage?

What if it’s something to listen to?

Because these moments are not breakdowns.

They are thresholds.

And most leaders don’t fail at thresholds, they exit them too early.

The Shift: From Reaction to Recalibration

When we stay in a threshold long enough, something different becomes possible.

We begin to see more clearly what is actually needed.

This is where leadership evolves.

Not through urgency but through discernment.

Not through doing more, but through recalibrating how we lead.

Because if we don’t pause long enough to recalibrate, we end up recreating the same patterns in new situations.

So the real question is no longer:

How do I respond faster?

It becomes:

What is actually being asked of me as a leader right now?

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Why This Is Bigger Than the Individual

This isn’t just about individual leadership.

It’s a systems issue.

Because we cannot build regenerative systems with extractive leadership patterns.

Right now, many organizations are in a transition:

Moving from centralized, top-down leadership into something that looks more collaborative.

But here’s the tension:

Even as we invite more voices, more collaboration, and more shared thinking…we are often still operating inside the same underlying structures.

Decision-making remains permission-based.
Power remains concentrated.
Responsibility remains unevenly held.

So what we get is a model that feels better, but doesn’t actually function differently.

The Real Work of Leadership Evolution

Real change isn’t just about adding more voices.

It’s about changing how we relate to:

• power

• responsibility

• decision-making

It’s relational.
It’s structural.
It’s internal.

And it requires us to lead in ways most of us were never taught.

Because there is a kind of wisdom we’ve moved away from:
in how we understand systems,
in how we work with rhythm instead of urgency,
and in how we build in relationship, not just in structure.

These aren’t new ideas.

But they are new to how most of us have been taught to lead.

An Invitation

This moment we’re in is not just disruption.

It’s an opportunity.

Not to react to what’s changing, but to lead differently because of it.

To build differently.
To decide differently.
To stop recreating the same systems in new language.

This is the work I’m exploring in real time—
the future of leadership, regenerative leadership, and what it actually looks like in practice.

If you’re in this work, I’d love to have you in the conversation.

What got us here won’t sustain what’s next.
And that includes how we lead.

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There’s a moment in leadership where everything works, but something feels off.
Most leaders try to fix it. This episode explores why that doesn’t work, and what to do instead.

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For some of us, maybe nothing is clearly wrong, and some of us may already know we’re in a life and leadership transition.

You’re still capable. Still showing up.
And yet… something isn’t landing the way it used to.

In this first live conversation, I explore what I call leadership thresholds, those subtle, often disorienting moments where what used to work no longer fits, and what’s next isn’t clear yet.

These are not breakdowns.
They’re transitions.

If you’ve been trying to figure something out, fix something, or force clarity, and it’s not working, this may help you see the moment you’re in differently.

“Most leaders don’t fail at thresholds, they exit them too early.”

If something came into focus for you while listening, don’t rush to solve it.
Stay with it.

If this resonates, I’m opening a small Leadership Threshold Intensive starting May 11

Leadership Threshold Intensive

These are intentionally smaller, live spaces designed to help you not just think about what’s shifting, but actually stay with it, understand it, and begin to lead differently because of it.

Each Intensive is an immersive experience where you bring what you’re navigating, and we work with it together.

Explore upcoming Leadership Labs

In this short, real-time reflection, I want to share what I shifted this morning when I found myself in that exact place. I needed to recalibrate!

It wasn’t about pushing through or forcing productivity; it was about changing my rhythm.

Here’s what I did:

Breaking My Routine

I decided to break out of my usual patterns. This morning, I didn’t set an alarm and allowed myself to sleep in a bit longer. That simple act of a little more rest made a world of difference.

Nourishment

I took a moment to think about how I could nourish my body. Feeling dehydrated, I focused on hydrating and boosting my energy. I whipped up a warming lemon, ginger, and turmeric tonic, paired with hot oatmeal sprinkled with spices and nuts.

Movement

I dedicated time to gentle movement, exploring lymphatic drainage, and Qigong to help release tension and move lymph and fascia. This felt incredibly rejuvenating. I could literally feel the lymph moving.

Spring Cleaning

I also tackled a few items on my spring cleaning list. The act of decluttering not only cleared physical space but also provided mental clarity. As I worked, I found it easier to contemplate and process my feelings.

Because sometimes, what feels like being “stuck” isn’t something to fix; it’s an invitation for a different kind of attention.

If you’ve been feeling blocked, tired, or out of sync, I hope this resonates with you.

I’d love to hear: what helps you shift when you find yourself in a moment like this?

This image made me chuckle…sometimes my head feels quite puffy and blocked…

And that’s exactly why it’s so hard to question.

Nothing is wrong.
Nothing is broken.

And yet… something doesn’t feel like yours anymore.

This is a moment most leaders don’t talk about.

Maybe because we don’t have the language for it.
Maybe because it feels easier to assume we’re the only ones experiencing it.

But it’s more common than we think.

I remember preparing for a big meeting I was leading.

The kind of moment I should have felt proud of, accomplished. Confident in what I had built.

But instead, I felt… hollow.

A little disconnected.

And then something became very clear:

I was fighting to belong in a room I didn’t even want to be in.

That realization stayed with me.

Because once you see something like that, it’s hard to go back to how things were before.

From the outside, everything made sense.

I had built a successful career.
I was hitting milestones.
Earning respect. Leading teams. Creating impact.

It worked.

And for a long time, I told myself: Just keep going.

But underneath that…I didn’t recognize myself anymore.

I couldn’t answer a simple question: What do I actually want?

And that created a kind of resistance I couldn’t ignore.

Not because I didn’t know what to do, but because I no longer wanted to do it.

At the time, I didn’t think I was in a transition.

I thought I needed to fix something.

Take a break. Optimize. Figure it out.

But nothing was broken; there was nothing to fix.

I was simply no longer aligned with what I had built.

And that’s a very different kind of moment.

Because when everything is working, it’s easy to assume the path is still right.

We keep going. We stay the course.

But sometimes…success becomes the very thing that keeps us from seeing what’s changing.

It becomes a kind of mask.

An older definition of success, one we’ve grown into, been rewarded for, or inherited, that no longer reflects who we are becoming.

And when that happens, it doesn’t create a clear problem.

It creates a threshold.

A moment that isn’t asking to be solved, but recognized.

If you’re reading this, just notice:

Where in your leadership does everything look right…but feel slightly off?

Where are you continuing because it works…not because it’s yours anymore?

You don’t need to have an answer.

Just notice what comes up.

Because if this resonates, you’re likely in a leadership threshold.

Join Me Live

This week, I’m hosting a live session:

Leadership Thresholds 101
Why what used to work no longer does

This is a space to:

• recognize what you’re in

• understand why it feels the way it does

• and begin to respond differently

👉 Join the Live

If you’re reading this later, you can find the next session or upcoming Leadership Labs.

And if you already know you’re in a moment like this where something deeper is shifting beneath the surface, the Leadership Labs are where we work with that in real time.

Learn more about Leadership Labs

You don’t need a new strategy.

You need to recognize the threshold you’re in.

If something here resonated, don’t rush to figure it out.

Just notice it.

Because that’s where this work begins.

There’s a moment in leadership that often goes unspoken: when what once worked… doesn’t. You’re still capable, trusted, and showing up, yet something feels off.

It’s not wrong, just off.

In these moments, many leaders make it personal.

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Often mistakenly assume we need a new strategy or a quick answer to figure things out. Most of us have been trained to take on more, we push ourselves a little harder, think more, ask others for advice, trying to solve this problem in front of us.

Yes, something is changing, but what if this isn’t a problem to solve?

What if you just don’t know how to see it yet?

This is a Leadership Threshold.

I call these moments leadership thresholds, not breakdowns, not confusion, but transitions. Real opportunities to expand how you see yourself - your leadership, your capacity, and what’s possible.

These leadership thresholds are a point where something in your leadership is shifting:

• Your identity

• Your capacity

• Your relationship to responsibility, direction, or impact.

And what got you to this point isn’t what will move you forward.

Join Leadership Thresholds 101 Live

The Earliest Signs You’re in a Threshold

These moments are subtle at first. They can be easy to miss, easy to override if you’re not aware of the moment you’re in.

You may notice

• What used to work feels harder, yet not necessarily wrong.

• You’re questioning things you once felt certain about.

• You feel a pull to change but don’t yet have clear direction.

• You’re trying to “figure it out,” but nothing clicks.

• You feel both capable and unsettled simultaneously.

There’s often no clear problem (though sometimes there is a big life transition). Which is often what can make it so disorienting and feel so personal.

Here’s the truth: you’re not stuck. You’re not unclear. You’re misidentifying the moment you’re in.

And that misidentification matters.

Because when you misidentify this moment, you don’t just feel stuck, you make decisions that pull you further away from what’s actually trying to emerge.

Often, it looks like:

• commiting to paths that no longer fit

• saying yes to things that drain you

• overriding what you know, before you’ve fully heard it

And over time, this compounds. Not into failure, but into quiet misalignment.

Most leaders move too quickly through these moments. They take action, they adjust, they try something new.

But the underlying moment hasn’t been fully understood. So they find themselves here again. Different situation, same feeling.

What looks like progress on the outside can start to feel like misalignment on the inside.

Not because they aren’t doing anything, but because they’re doing the wrong things for the moment they’re in. They’re taking action but not activating growth. The reality is we’ve never been taught how to recognize this kind of moment.

Often, the shift isn’t MORE effort. But asking a different question to shift our perspective.

Rather than asking, “What should I do?” try asking, “What do I actually want?“

It’s simple, but not always easy. Consider the last time you asked yourself, " What do I actually want?” and really considered what came up.

Most leaders have been on a trajectory for a long time. Our minds will tell us…

• It’s too risky to step off

• You’ll miss out

• You should stay the course

• What if I fail

I’ve been there. There was a point where I found myself asking, How on earth did I get here?

Not because anything was wrong on paper, but because something didn’t feel like mine anymore.

And when I looked closer, I saw it clearly: I had said yes…to opportunities, expectations, and paths without fully discerning whether they were actually mine.

Not because they were wrong but because I hadn’t paused long enough to ask, Is this what I truly want?

Before you try to fix it

If you’re in one of these moments, before you push, pivot, or try to force clarity, there’s something more important to do first.

Understand what you’re actually in.

Because this moment isn’t asking you to solve it.

It’s asking you to see it.

Join me Live

If you’re reading this and recognizing yourself, this is the conversation to be in.

I’m hosting a live session:

Leadership Thresholds 101

Why what used to work no longer does

This isn’t training on what to do next.

It’s a space to:

• recognize the moment you’re in

• understand why it feels the way it does

• and begin to respond differently

Join Leadership Thresholds 101 LIVE

If something in your leadership feels like it’s shifting, you don’t need to figure it out alone.

Subscribe now

The way we’re working (and living) has become increasingly demanding. The lines between professional and personal life are blurred. And many leaders are carrying more than ever, often without the space or support to process it.

We explored what’s happening inside the leader before anything changes outside.

For me, there was a point when I realized:

I had achieved success in the conventional sense, but didn’t feel whole or confident in what I was doing. “ Be the change you wish to see in the world” has always been an anchor for me. And still, I reached a point where I could feel the gap.

I was talking about doing great work, but I wasn’t living my great work.

From there, we explored a few threads that kept resurfacing:

The difference between ease and easy.

Creating more ease in how we lead and live doesn’t mean things become simple.

It means that we begin to relate to them differently.

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We also talked about something many people are experiencing, but not always naming:

The moment where you’re still showing up, still delivering…but feel like you’ve somehow left yourself behind.

Where leadership starts to feel more like performance than presence.

And what often follows is the instinct to push harder, to find better strategies,
to keep up with expectations, instead of pausing long enough to ask what’s actually happening.

A big part of our conversation centered on rhythm.

Not routine. Not structure for the sake of control. But a more natural, personal way of moving through work and life. This isn’t about doing; it’s bigger than that. Rhythm is a way of being. It’s something that accounts for:

• energy and rest

• movement and pause

• outward action and inward reflection

Because when we don’t understand or honor our own rhythm, there’s a cost.

Burnout.
Resentment.
Disconnection.
Repeating patterns that don’t actually change anything.

We also explored how much of what leaders struggle with isn’t just individual but shaped by systems that prioritize output over sustainability. Which means many people are internalizing pressure that was never theirs to carry alone.

And underneath all of this was a quieter, but important thread:

This kind of work isn’t about performing better.

It’s about understanding yourself more deeply and learning to lead from that place.

There was a point when I realized that I was talking about it, but I wasn’t living it.

If something in this conversation resonated, we’d love to hear from you…

A question to sit with:

Where in your work or leadership have you started to feel like you’re going through the motions, and what might it look like to reconnect with your own rhythm there?

Leave a comment

To learn more about Meghan and Fiona:

Subscribe to Fiona Grant Leydier, Founder of The Inflection Method, and book an Inflection Session with her here.

Join Meghan’s The First Edge - to understand what’s happening in your leadership when something feels off, before you try to fix it or move past it. Or book a Threshold Session to name what you’re navigating and understand what it’s asking of you.

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What once worked may no longer fit.
Something may feel unclear, unfinished, or ready to change even if you don’t have language for it yet.

In this short introduction, I share what this space is, who it’s for, and why these moments matter more than we often realize.

This isn’t about fixing or rushing to clarity.
It’s about beginning to understand what’s actually happening and seeing your leadership differently.

As you listen, consider: What feels like it’s shifting for you right now?

If this resonates, subscribe for Free to continue exploring Edge of Change Leadership.

Subscribe to Edge of Change Leadership

And if you’re recognizing that you’re in a deeper moment of transition, a leadership threshold, you’re invited to step inside The Threshold Room, where we go deeper to explore and navigate these moments in real time, together.

Explore The Threshold Room Membership

If you’ve found your way here, there’s a good chance something in your leadership or career is shifting.

What used to work… no longer does.
What once felt clear now feels uncertain (hello self-doubt and the voice of the inner critic).

And the way you’ve been leading doesn’t quite fit anymore.

You might even feel a little restless.

You’re not alone in that.

And you’re not doing anything wrong.

This is a space for that moment.

Most leaders misread this moment.

They try to fix it, solve it, or move past it too quickly.

And in doing so, they brush the important bits under a rug. (And those bits tend to find their way back out.)

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I know this because I’ve lived it.

I’m Meghan.

I’m a recovering conventional leader turned Leadership Advisor, and I work with leaders who have outgrown the way leadership has been done.

I’ve spent over 20 years working alongside leaders in climate, social change, and complex systems. I’ve held leadership roles most of my life. I’ve followed the rules, challenged them, worked within systems, and pushed against them.

And over time, I started to notice something: The models of leadership we’ve been taught and conditioned to operate within… don’t hold up in these moments of real change or growing complexity…personally or systemically.

Not because we’re failing or doing it wrong (which is what most of us women leaders think, am I right?).

But because something deeper is being asked of us.

Why this matters

We are living in a time where:

• professional development means skill building & certificates, not capacity building

• leading is becoming more complex

• systems are straining

• transitions are happening whether we want them or not

• burnout is rising

• our silos are getting taller

This space exists for the leader who’s looking for a different way. For the leader who’s willing to navigate their leadership differently.

Not to rush past the threshold, the inner work, or recalibration.
But to sit with the messiness of transition long enough to gain awareness, perspective, and maybe even transform through it.

What this space is about

This is not a space for conventional leadership advice.

And it’s not about rushing transformation either.

It’s a space for us to explore what’s happening when leadership stops working the way it used to.

Here’s what we explore in this space:

Leadership Thresholds

The sacred moments where identity, responsibility, and possibility are shifting.

Inner Shifts Leadership Requires

What leadership requires internally before anything changes externally.

Leadership Recalibration

What needs to change when what once worked no longer does.

The Future of Leadership

Where leadership is going and what’s emerging next.

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Where to begin

If you’re finding resonance here, you may be at the edge of a shift in your leadership.

Inside The First Edge, we begin there.

This is a space to understand what’s happening when something feels off, before you try to fix it, solve it, or move past it.

You’ll find:

• live reflections

• private audio

• focused teachings to help you make sense of what’s shifting

It’s a place to slow down, recognize the moment you’re in, and begin to see it more clearly.

Join The First Edge

What I believe

Most leaders don’t fail at thresholds; we exit them too early.

We tend to look for:

• a new strategy (a new job)

• a clearer plan (the next step in what we already have)

• a quick decision (advice from someone we trust)

Instead of recognizing: This moment isn’t something to solve, it’s something to stay in long enough to grow through.

If you’re here…

You might be:

• navigating a big transition, pivot, or expansion

• feeling the weight of responsibility shifting

• questioning what’s next (even if things “look fine” on the outside)

• sensing that the way you’ve been leading isn’t sustainable

If that’s you, this space is for you.

The Progression

There are different stages to this work. You don’t need to figure out where you are, you’ll recognize it.

Edge of Change Leadership (Free)
You begin to notice something is shifting.

The First Edge
You understand what’s happening with a little more guidance.

The Threshold Room
You move through it in real time, and begin to lead differently.

How to go deeper: The Threshold Room

For those who recognize they’re in a deeper leadership threshold and don’t want to navigate it alone, there is a space to go further.

What's in The Threshold Room

The Threshold Room is my private membership for leaders who are ready to stay with these moments long enough to lead differently on the other side.

This is a founding member space, hosted privately outside of Substack.

Inside, you’ll find:

• private audio reflections - Notes from the Threshold

• live Threshold Salons (guided conversations and reflection)

• deeper teachings and resources

• a space and community to be in this work with others

This is where understanding becomes lived experience.

If you feel ready for that level of depth, you’re invited inside.

For those who want deeper guidance

For a smaller number of leaders, I offer private advisory services and small-group work.

This work is for leaders who are not only navigating a threshold but are ready to transform how they lead.

To apply what’s emerging in real time.
To make aligned decisions.
To build and lead in a way that reflects who they are now.

This is where leadership changes, not just in insight, but in practice. This is where you become the leader who leads what’s next.

If you feel called to explore this level of work, you can reach out or schedule a Leadership Threshold Session

Schedule a Leadership Threshold Session

Who I work with

In my private work, I primarily work with women leaders.

Here on Substack, this space is for all leaders navigating the edges of change.

People who:

• are ready to lead what’s next

• want to build something more sustainable

• and know they can no longer lead the way they used to

Help me shape this work…

I’d love to hear from you!

If you want a prompt…

What feels like it’s shifting in your leadership right now?
And what do you need support with the most?

I’m so glad you’re here.

-Meghan

Regenerative leadership is not just a philosophy. It is a physiological shift.

This episode explores topics, offers reflection prompts for us to gain awareness of some of our patterns, and a few recalibration practices to implement our new awareness of how our nervous system shapes our leadership, why many systems reinforce chronic stress, and how recalibrating internally changes the way we lead, decide, and build.

I’d love to hear what you uncover and learn from tuning in!

This morning, as I was tending to my little plant propagation station, I found myself drawing parallels to the work I do supporting women leaders at the edge of change.

For over a decade now, I’ve been collecting cuttings from friends’ houseplants and yard plants, patiently rooting them, and growing new thriving plants to gift. It’s a labor of love that has taught me so much - lessons that I now weave into my approach as a leadership advisor.

#1: First and foremost, I’ve learned that I can’t treat every plant species or even every cutting the same. Just like the unique individuals I work with, each plant has its own needs, quirks, and optimal conditions for growth. Just this morning I learned that I was overwatering my jade starts while my heart-leaf philodendron loves starting in water (with caveats).

#2: Patience and regular check-ins are also key. I can’t just shove a cutting in some soil, water it, and expect it to thrive. I have to tenderly observe, make adjustments based on feedback, and be willing to wait for the roots to establish in their own time. The same goes for the leadership journeys of my clients - it’s a process that unfolds at its own pace, not on my timeline, or even theirs, frankly.

#3: And of course, the right “soil” conditions are paramount. Nutrient-rich soil and non-chlorinated water make all the difference between a vibrant, thriving plant and a sickly one. In my work, this means creating optimal environments for my clients to reconnect with themselves, realign with their true essence, and rise to their fullest potential.

#4: Perhaps most importantly, I’ve learned that if I only water what I can see, I’m often missing the roots - the unseen foundation that’s essential for true nourishment and growth. It’s the same with leadership development. We have to be willing to tend to the inner landscape, not just the outer manifestations.

#5: Finally, there’s the art of pruning and composting what no longer serves. Just like I have to remove dead leaves and spent blooms to make space for new growth, I support my clients in shedding the limiting beliefs, behaviors, and ways of being that are holding them back. It’s in that process of letting go that the real magic happens.

So as I look at my little propagation station this morning, I’m reminded of the deep wisdom that can be found in the natural world. The principles of regenerative leadership - tailoring our approach, practicing patience, creating the right conditions, honoring the unseen, and composting the old to make way for the new - are all there, just waiting to be learned.

What have you learned from propagating plants that relates to your own growth and leadership journey? I’d love to hear your insights!

As complexity increases across climate, social impact, and governance spaces, many leaders are asking: What’s next? How do I lead through this?
But the instinct to look outward for answers often keeps us disconnected from what matters most.

This episode explores why leadership begins within.

Meghan shares how leaders are being invited to turn disruption inward, examining their patterns, conditioning, decision-making, and relationship to leadership itself. She introduces the idea of leadership as an inner and outer ecosystem, and why tending to the internal landscape is essential for sustainable impact.

You’ll also hear how her work supports leaders navigating thresholds of change and expansion, and why self-leadership is not a one-time insight, but an ongoing practice.

This episode is an invitation to pause, reflect, and begin leading from a different place.

There comes a point in leadership where what once worked no longer holds.

Not because we’ve lost our capability. But because the way we’ve been leading is no longer sufficient for the level of complexity, responsibility, and expansion we’re stepping into.

I see this often in women leaders working in climate, social impact, and systems change. We are skilled at challenging systems. We know how to question assumptions, disrupt outdated models, and push for change externally.

But we rarely turn that same level of disruption inward.

And that’s where leadership begins to stall.

Because leadership is not only about what we build, influence, or change externally. It is shaped by how we relate to ourselves internally - our decision-making, our energy, our patterns, conditioning, our capacity to hold complexity. This is where regenerative leadership comes in.

Regenerative leadership is not simply a new model. It is a shift in how we lead from the inside out. It asks us to examine and tend to our inner being:

• how we make decisions

• how we hold responsibility

• how we relate to power, pressure, and pace

• how we sustain ourselves while leading complex systems

It requires us to disrupt not just outer systems, but our own internal ecosystems.

In my work, I support women leaders navigating these thresholds of change and expansion. Through advising, workshops, and leadership development experiences, we focus on three core phases:

1. Reconnect: returning to intuition, inner authority, and the body

2. Realign: redesigning how you lead to reflect what is true

3. Rise: stepping into visible, whole-self leadership

This is not surface-level work.

It requires honesty, courage, and a willingness to question inherited ways of leading. It’s about holding up a mirror to learn and unlearn. But it is also what allows leadership to become more sustainable, more grounded, and more impactful over time. It moves us toward what we want, not what we’ve been conditioned to believe.

I use a range of reflective tools in this work, including the New Human Design, to help leaders see themselves more clearly and build deeper self-trust. But the tool is not the transformation.

The transformation comes from how leaders choose to see, relate, and lead differently.

Because at a certain point, leadership is no longer about learning more. It’s about leading differently, from our whole and authentic selves. And that shift begins within - not with a new role, title, or problem to solve.

Regenerative leadership is not something we apply once. It is a way of living and leading that develops over time as we learn to relate differently to ourselves, our work, the systems we are part of, and our vision for what’s possible.

If you’re navigating your own edge of change, I invite you to explore this work further through my writing, workshops, or private advisory spaces.

What are you sensing is shifting in your leadership?

Prefer to listen? Press play.

Over the past two years, I’ve been recalibrating something I didn’t initially associate with leadership at all, my own nervous system.

What I have learned is this: We cannot build regenerative systems from dysregulated nervous systems.

And yet, much of the last century of leadership development culture trains exactly that - leaders whose bodies are constantly braced for urgency, pressure, and control.

Over the past two decades working alongside leaders in climate and social change systems, I’ve noticed a recurring pattern: Conventional leadership often claims to value creativity and innovation, yet the structures we operate within frequently suppress both.

Hierarchies designed for control, rigid linear thinking, and performance-based identities ask us to contort ourselves into predefined roles. Over time, this leaves our minds overthinking, our bodies under stress, and our instincts increasingly quiet.

We pass this way of being on to one another in the name of getting the job done. Yet in doing so, we often reinforce the very systems we are trying to change; systems rooted in extraction, separation, and short-term thinking.

For the past two years, I’ve been exploring a different leadership paradigm: regenerative leadership.

The concept immediately resonated with something I had long sensed, that a more life-giving way of leading ourselves and our organizations must be possible.

Regenerative leadership offers a whole-systems approach to leadership. At its core, it asks a simple but profound question:

Are we contributing more to life than we take?

I am currently in the early stages of a year-long study of regenerative leadership with one of its co-founders, and I look forward to sharing what I learn along the way.

There are many aspects of regenerative leadership that draw me in, but one stands out in particular.

It offers a path away from leadership cultures built almost entirely on urgency, productivity, and performance. Instead, it makes space for rhythms that are relational, intuitive, restorative, and life-giving.

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Looking back, I can see how deeply conditioned I had become by the dominant leadership culture around me.

For much of my career, I believed I needed to prove myself constantly - managing perception, anticipating expectations, and reinforcing the very systems I was beginning to question. Even within organizations dedicated to climate and social change, the culture often trained our nervous systems to stay in a constant state of alert.

For me, this chronic bracing eventually led to burnout.

It looked something like this:

Both of my phones were always within arm’s reach.

I checked emails and messages first thing in the morning, right before bed, and in nearly every spare moment in between. I didn’t turn work’s urgency off.

I over-prepared agendas and talking points. I scanned constantly for gaps, anticipating what might go wrong or what others might need before they asked.

I was leading large teams and new programs, so it felt like this vigilance was simply part of the job.

But in hindsight, I can see that I had developed tunnel vision, always scanning for problems, managing perceptions, and attempting to control uncertainty. I was leading in the way I had been taught. In the way society rewards.

And by many external measures, I was successful.

But eventually a new awareness began to emerge.

I realized that I was perpetuating the very cycle I was hoping to change - reinforcing patterns of urgency, control, and certainty that ultimately produce brittle systems. Within myself, and within the organizations I helped lead.

As I began speaking with more women leaders in my work as a Leadership Advisor and Facilitator, I discovered my experience was far from unique.

Women leaders, in particular, are often trained into a heightened state of vigilance.

We learn to monitor how our words are received, how we present ourselves, and whether we appear credible enough but not too assertive. We learn to question our instincts, seek additional validation, and sometimes defer to external expertise even when we already sense the right path forward.

Over time, this kind of chronic bracing takes a toll. And our organizations often mirror the physiology of the leaders within them.

When leaders are bracing, operating from urgency, control, or constant vigilance, those same patterns ripple through teams and institutions. Cultures become reactive. Decision-making tightens. Trust erodes.

Often this happens subtly, and usually in the name of the mission.

Around this time, I noticed something curious in my own body. My heart rate variability (HRV), a measure of the variation between heartbeats and an indicator of nervous system health, was chronically low.

At first, I assumed it was simply the result of the intense stress I had experienced in my previous role. But a year after starting my own business, I was surprised to see that my HRV had barely changed.

My nervous system didn’t automatically recalibrate when the job ended.

This realization shifted something for me.

Where I had once assumed the problem was external, I began to see how deeply the patterns of leadership I had practiced had shaped my own physiology. As I braced mentally, managing expectations, suppressing instincts, pushing through pressure, my body had braced as well.

Where I had been so focused on leading externally, my internal leadership had quietly withered.

My nervous system was frayed.

And even though I had left the role that created so much pressure, my body was still operating as if the threat remained.

This realization led me to a deeper question:

If our nervous systems shape how we lead, what does it mean to cultivate leadership from a regulated, grounded state?

When we lead from a chronically activated nervous system, our decision-making shifts. We begin making choices not from our authentic selves, but from conditioned patterns of fear, performance, and perception.

Our ambition narrows.

Rather than asking what we truly want to build or contribute, we begin pursuing what feels safe, or what we believe others expect of us.

Under stress, our field of vision contracts. This is true biologically, and it is true in leadership.

Regeneration requires something different.

It requires a downshifting of the threat response so that creativity, intuition, and long-term thinking can re-emerge.

Through both personal experience and my work with other women leaders, I’ve come to see that regenerative leadership begins internally.

When our bodies have been living in a state of chronic stress or bracing, cognitive reframes and mindset shifts are rarely enough. We cannot simply think our way into a new way of leading.

Instead, we must recalibrate.

This begins with reconnecting to our purpose, our instincts, and the deeper motivations guiding our work. It involves examining the fears and conditioned patterns that shape our leadership.

And it asks us to cultivate new rhythms of decision-making, reflection, and action that allow our nervous systems and our leadership to expand.

Regenerative leadership, in this sense, is not simply a philosophy.

It is a physiological shift.

A way of bringing new energy, awareness, and relational presence into how we lead.

Only then can those qualities begin to shape the systems we build.

I am still very much on this journey myself.

My intention is to embody regenerative leadership in how I build my business, how I guide others, and how I continue evolving as a leader.

Our systems and organizations mirror the physiology of the leaders within them.

When bodies soften, leadership expands.

And when leadership expands, systems become more adaptive, relational, and whole.

When we begin to regulate and recalibrate our own leadership, we influence the systems around us - our teams, our organizations, and the broader ecosystems we are part of. The ripple effects extend far beyond any one individual.

And in an increasingly complex and uncertain world, it may be one of the most important leadership capacities we can cultivate.

There’s something I keep seeing in leaders right now.

Not in one organization, sector, or stage of leadership.

Across the board.

Leaders who are capable, committed, and deeply experienced…starting to feel like what once worked no longer does.

And our first instinct?

To make it personal. I sure did. I made it mean that I needed to work harder, demonstrate my belonging a little more.

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Maybe it sounds a little like:

• “I’ve lost my edge”

• “I need a new strategy”

• “Maybe I’m just tired and need to take a vacation”

• “I just need to be more confident, speak up more”

But what I’m seeing isn’t a personal failure.

It’s patterns.

I’m seeing high-capacity leaders carrying responsibility that was never meant to be held alone, by one person.

I’m seeing ambition that once felt aligned… start to overextend or distort as someone else’s goals.

I’m seeing leaders internalize what are actually structural problems…turning them into questions about their own capability.

I’m seeing power held with care… but without the space or support to recalibrate it, trying to do it all on their own.

And underneath all of it many feel alone in experiencing a quiet sense that something isn’t working anymore.

Even if, on the outside, everything still looks fine, successful.

Most people try to solve this quickly.

They look for:

• a new role (in line with what they already have)

• a clearer plan (advice from someone they trust)

• a better strategy (staying in their conditioned mind to ‘solve’ it)

Something to quickly restore the feeling of certainty or control.

But this isn’t a problem that strategy solves.

What I’m seeing in these moments is something else entirely. Something we don’t often have language for.

These are leadership thresholds.

Moments where something in you is changing and asking to evolve…

Your identity. Your capacity. Your relationship to power, responsibility, and possibility.

And what makes these moments difficult is that what got you here won’t carry you forward in the same way.

So there’s tension, restlessness, disorientation, confusion.

An urge to figure it out and solve it.

But when we rush these moments, when we try to fix, solve, or move past them too quickly, we tend to repeat them.

Like the idea that the lesson will continue to be presented to us until we finally see and learn it.

Most leaders don’t fail at thresholds; they exit them too early.

The exiting feels like control, which is offers false comfort.

And the cost of that? It shows up later (believe me!).

It may show up in misaligned decisions, in overextension, in rumination.

Or building something that no longer fits the version of yourself you’re trying to be.

So if something in your leadership feels off… unclear… or like it no longer fits the way it used to.

It may not be a problem, rather an opportunity.

You may be in a threshold moment.

This space exists for that moment.

Not to rush you through it.
But to help you recognize it and move through it differently.

If this resonates, and you haven’t already, start by listening…

The work we do is about turning a little disruption inward so we can shape what comes next.

- Meghan