Leadership growth often begins with a better question. What is this feeling trying to tell me? What might I be missing? What challenge are we really trying to solve? And once we have greater clarity, what action will we take? In this month’s newsletter, I’m exploring how thoughtful questions can help us better understand ourselves, strengthen our teams, make clearer strategic decisions, and turn insight into meaningful change.

Feeling Unhappy at Work? Treat It as Data.

One of the questions Forbes Coaches Council recently asked was, “If a client feels unhappy at work but cannot pinpoint why, how would you help them uncover what needs to change?”

It reminded me of something I’ve seen throughout my years of coaching leaders. When someone says, “I’m just not happy at work anymore,” the instinct is often to assume it’s time for a new job. Sometimes that’s true, but more often, unhappiness is simply a signal that something beneath the surface deserves attention.

When a client can’t pinpoint why they’re unhappy at work, I encourage them to treat the feeling as data. Often, unhappiness is a symptom. Once we identify the source, we can determine what truly needs to change. The first step is getting curious. Ask yourself a few questions.

Here are three places I encourage clients to start:

1. Notice when your energy changes.
Pay attention to the moments when you feel energized versus drained. Is it certain projects? Certain people? Particular types of work? Those patterns often reveal far more than a general feeling of dissatisfaction.

2. Look for misalignment.
Unhappiness may point to a disconnect between your work and what matters most to you. Do your values still align with the organization’s direction? Are your strengths underutilized? You may have outgrown the opportunities available to learn and grow. The goal isn’t to judge the situation. It’s to understand it.

3. Treat the feeling as a symptom, not the diagnosis.
Instead of immediately updating your résumé, get curious. Once you understand what’s actually driving your unhappiness, you can determine whether the answer is changing your role, changing how you work, having an important conversation, or pursuing a new opportunity.

I’ve found that slowing down to understand the source of dissatisfaction often leads to better decisions than reacting to the feeling alone. Sometimes the answer is a new opportunity. Other times, it's rediscovering purpose in the role you already have. Either way, clarity comes before action.

Reflection: What is this feeling trying to tell me?

Currently Reading: 4 Hidden Traps That Quietly Undermine
High-Performing Teams

I recently read an insightful Harvard Business Review article titled “4 Hidden Traps of Team Dynamics” and it reinforced something I see regularly in my coaching work. The authors make an important point: diverse teams don’t automatically produce better decisions. Differences only becomes an advantage when we know how to navigate the friction that naturally comes with different perspectives. 

Here are three ideas from the article that stood out to me:
Certainty can be the enemy of curiosity.
When we become convinced our interpretation is the correct one, conversations may shift from exploring ideas to proving we’re right. The strongest leaders aren’t the ones with all the answers, they’re the ones who ask, “What might I be missing?” That single question often changes the quality of the conversation.

People pay far more attention to what leaders do than what they say. Another trap is inconsistency: the gap between our stated values and our daily behavior. Leaders may genuinely value collaboration, listening, or innovation, but under pressure their actions send a different message. And, as a result, trust may begin to erode. Whether I’m coaching an executive or working with a leadership team, one question often reveals valuable insight: “If your team described what you value based only on your actions this month, what would they say?” The answer is sometimes surprising.

Progress starts with self-awareness.
The antidote isn’t eliminating differences. It’s becoming more self-aware, staying curious, returning to respect, and creating an environment where diverse perspectives can be heard. That’s one reason I believe assessments like DiSC, Five Behaviors, EQ-i 2.0 (emotional intelligence), and leadership coaching are so valuable. These give leaders the awareness needed to recognize patterns, adjust their approach, and build stronger relationships.

The best leadership teams I’ve worked with aren’t the ones that avoid disagreement. They’re the ones that stay curious enough to work through it together.

Reflection: What might I be missing?

Leadership Question of the Month

If your team described what you value based only on your actions this month, what would they say?
I often ask leaders this question because it shifts the focus from intention to impact. Most of us know what we want our leadership to communicate. The harder question is whether our daily choices, behaviors, and conversations tell the same story.

Three Questions That Lead to
Better Strategic Plans

For many organizations, late summer and early fall mark the beginning of budget season. As leadership teams discuss priorities and allocate resources for the coming year, it’s tempting to start with the numbers. I encourage organizations to start somewhere else. Start with the strategic plan.

When you’re clear about where your organization is headed, it becomes much easier to align your budget, people, and resources with the priorities that matter most. That’s why, if I were facilitating your next strategic planning retreat, I probably wouldn’t begin by talking about goals. I’d begin by asking questions.

Why? Organizations rarely struggle because they lack ideas. More often, they struggle because they have too many competing priorities and not enough clarity about where to focus their limited time, talent, and resources.

That’'s why I believe strategic planning begins with curiosity. Before discussing objectives, timelines, or initiatives, I encourage leadership teams to explore three questions.

1. What challenge are we really trying to solve?
Every strategic planning process should begin with a clear understanding of why now. Are you looking to better align your budget with your strategic priorities? Determine which programs or services should be refreshed, expanded, or sunset? Respond to changes in your industry or the evolving needs of your members?

Understanding the underlying challenge changes the conversation. It helps ensure you’re solving the right problem, not simply reacting to the most visible one.

2. Which priorities best advance our mission?
As ideas begin competing for attention—and they always do—return to your mission. Ask which initiatives create the greatest value for your members, clients, or stakeholders. Sometimes the most strategic decision isn’t deciding what to add. It’s recognizing where scope or mission creep has quietly stretched the organization beyond its greatest strengths.

In some cases, another organization may be better positioned to provide a particular service. That creates an opportunity to refocus your time, talent, and resources on the work where your organization can have the greatest impact.

3. What story is the data telling and what might it be missing?
Data and stakeholder feedback are essential, but numbers rarely tell the whole story. I’ve seen organizations consider eliminating a program because participation had declined, only to discover that it advanced the mission in ways the data alone couldn’t capture.

The strongest strategic decisions combine evidence with the experience, perspective, and organizational context of the people around the table. Data informs. Leadership provides judgment. The most successful strategic planning sessions don’t produce the longest list—or even the shortest list—of strategic priorities. They produce something far more valuable: clarity, alignment, and a shared understanding of what matters most to the organization and the people it serves.

As your organization heads into budget season, remember that the most effective budgets don’t simply balance the books, they reflect strategic choices. When your priorities are clear, your resources can be aligned to support the work that will have the greatest impact.

If your leadership team is preparing for strategic planning this fall, I’d be happy to discuss how I can help you create a focused, engaging process that leads to clear priorities, aligned resources, and meaningful action.

Reflection: Are our priorities driving our budget, or is our budget driving our priorities?

Self-Awareness Is the Starting Line,
Not the Finish Line

I recently joined a panel of Forbes Coaches Council members to share one of the most meaningful lessons we’ve taken away from our coaching engagements. The resulting article, “Success Stories: What Coaches Took Away From The Best Engagements,” brings together perspectives from executive coaches on what creates lasting leadership growth.

Here’s something I’ve observed throughout my career. The leaders who grow the most aren’t necessarily the ones with the greatest insight. They’re the ones who do something with it. Whether they’ve uncovered habits that are holding them back or gained a better understanding of their team’s strengths, communication styles, and blind spots, those moments only become meaningful when they change what happens next: a different conversation, a different decision, or a different way of leading.

In my coaching and workshops, that’s why every assessment or reflection exercise ends with an action plan. Awareness may spark change, but action creates it. Lasting leadership growth doesn’t come from accumulating more knowledge. It comes from intentionally applying what you’ve learned.

When leaders choose to lead differently, conversations improve, trust grows, and teams become better equipped to navigate change. That’s why I end every coaching engagement with one simple question: “What’s one action you’ll take because of what you’ve learned today?” Leadership development isn’t complete when awareness is created. It’s complete when behavior changes.

Reflection: What’s one action I will take because of what I’ve learned?

Heading to the ASAE Annual Meeting?

The American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) offers career coaching —both in person and virtually— as an add-on to your conference registration. If you’ve already registered, you can still return to the registration portal and add a coaching session.

Whether you’re:
✔️ Navigating a career transition
✔️ Considering your next leadership opportunity
✔️ Exploring long-term career growth
✔️ Looking for a confidential sounding board
…a coaching conversation can provide the space to step back, gain clarity, and move forward with intention.

I’m honored to be serving as one of the virtual career coaches for this year’s ASAE Annual Meeting and look forward to connecting with members who choose to participate.  If you’re investing in your professional development by attending the conference, consider investing an hour in yourself as well.

Learn more and register here.

I’ll end this month with a lesson from one of my favorite sources of leadership inspiration: the Boston Red Sox. After spending part of the season near the bottom of the AL East, the team put together an extraordinary 15-game winning streak in July and completely changed the direction of its season. This turnaround reminded me that where you are today does not have to determine where you go next or where you have to finish.

My beloved Sox reassessed. They adjusted. They took action. And they never gave up hope.

I also should confess that I played my own small role . . . or at least my superstitious side believes I did. I had hung an American flag for the Fourth of July and refused to replace it with my Sox banner while the streak continued. I was convinced that changing it might jinx the team. As my photo shows, the Sox banner was finally hung when their streak ended.

Superstition aside, there’s a lesson that applies well beyond baseball. When a team, leader, or organization feels stuck, the answer isn’t always to abandon the goal (or blame your team). Sometimes we need to pause, ask better questions, reassess our strategy, make adjustments, and take the next right step.

See you in September,
Kathy

hi@think-statice.com | 410-707-8716
Arizona | Florida | Maryland