Self-reflection for Leaders: A Practical Framework

Episode Summary Most leaders know they should reflect. But knowing and doing it well are two very different things. In this episode, Dr. JBT shares the story of a leader who gets reflection wrong in two opposite ways: getting stuck in self-criticism or rushing past the learning entirely. She then offers a practical three-zone framework for reflecting well because reflection isn't the pause that slows you down. It's the pause that makes everything after it better. What You'll Learn Why even high-achieving leaders tend to get reflection wrong in one of two ways The difference between rumination and real reflection A three-zone framework for moving through reflection with purpose Three simple practices to build healthy reflection into your leadership rhythm The Three Zones of Healthy Reflection Zone 1: The Observation Zone — See clearly. Be a witness to yourself, not a prosecutor. Gather the facts without judgment. Key question: "What actually happened, just the facts?" Zone 2: The Learning Zone — Get curious. Ask what the experience is trying to teach you about how you lead. Key question: "If a leader I admired had been in this situation, what might they have done differently?" Zone 3: The Forward Zone — Reflect forward. What will I do differently? When can I practice it? Who can I tell to make it real? This Week's Action Step Notice which zone you tend to get stuck in — are you a ruminator or a rusher? Then build one reflection practice into your week. Even five minutes a day closes the gap between experience and growth. Enjoyed this episode? Share it with a leader who needs to hear it and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

Are Annual Performance Reviews Outdated? Are annual performance reviews still the best way to manage employee performance and professional development? In this episode of Leadership & Learning with Dr. JBT, Dr. JBT examines how performance management, employee feedback, and leadership development need to evolve for today's workplace. Traditional annual performance reviews were designed for a time when workplace communication moved much more slowly. Today's employees, especially Gen Z employees entering the workforce, are accustomed to immediate, personalized feedback and increasingly expect the same from their managers and leaders. So, should organizations abandon the annual performance review? Not necessarily. But leaders may need to stop expecting one annual evaluation to accomplish what should be happening throughout the year. Dr. JBT shares a practical approach to fostering a culture of continuous feedback and employee development through regular one-on-one conversations, role-specific competencies, mentoring, personalized professional development, and clear career goals. In This Leadership Podcast Episode You'll learn: Why traditional annual performance reviews may no longer meet the needs of today's workforce How Gen Z is changing expectations around workplace feedback The difference between performance evaluation and employee development Why continuous feedback can improve employee growth and performance How managers can provide meaningful feedback during regular one-on-one meetings Why employee competencies should reflect specific roles, career levels, and professional goals The Leadership Question What if the goal isn't to create a better annual performance review? What if the goal is to lead and provide feedback so consistently throughout the year that the annual review simply confirms what you and your employee already know? Great performance management isn't a once-a-year conversation. Employee growth happens through consistent feedback, coaching, mentoring, and leadership throughout the year. 🎙️ Leadership & Learning with Dr. JBT explores practical leadership strategies, professional development, organizational culture, employee engagement, and lessons for becoming a more effective leader.

What does inclusive leadership look like when the challenges are complex, the stakeholders are diverse, and there isn't an obvious answer? In this episode of Leadership & Learning with Dr. JBT, I sit down with Emmanuel P. Hyppolite to explore what it means to lead inclusively during times of complexity and change. Drawing from more than 20 years of leadership experience across corporate, public, higher education, and nonprofit organizations, Emmanuel shares why effective leadership begins with listening, empathy, and a willingness to ask the right questions before jumping to solutions. Our conversation explores how leaders can create environments where different perspectives are genuinely heard, particularly when navigating organizational change, competing priorities, and difficult decisions. We discuss the importance of curiosity, stakeholder engagement, servant leadership, and balancing accountability with empathy. Emmanuel also challenges leaders to consider not only what decisions need to be made, but who needs to be part of the conversation and what questions we may not yet be asking. In this episode, we discuss: What inclusive leadership looks like during complex and uncertain times Leading with empathy without sacrificing accountability Why listening is an essential leadership competency The power of asking better questions before seeking answers Bringing diverse perspectives into decision-making This conversation is a reminder that inclusive leadership isn't simply about inviting people to the table. It's about creating the conditions for people to contribute, asking questions that broaden our perspective, and being willing to listen to what we learn. Brief Guest Bio Emmanuel P. Hyppolite is an executive leader with more than 20 years of experience leading enterprise portfolio management, capital programs, organizational transformation, governance, and cross-functional initiatives across Fortune 100 companies, public agencies, higher education, and nonprofit organizations. He currently serves as Director of Project Management at Cumming Group, supporting strategic clients and their global real estate and facilities portfolios. Throughout his career, Emmanuel has focused on connecting strategy with execution while strengthening governance, accountability, stakeholder engagement, and organizational performance. Beyond his corporate leadership, Emmanuel is deeply committed to education, entrepreneurship, workforce development, and community impact through extensive board service. His leadership philosophy is grounded in servant leadership, accountability, continuous improvement, and developing people and organizations to create sustainable results.

It started with a lemon tree. Dr. JBT was crawling around her backyard picking up fallen lemons when she noticed something alarming: a strange sap dripping down the base of her most productive citrus tree. The tree looked healthy. It was covered in fruit. But something at the root level was deeply wrong. In this episode, she unpacks how that lemon tree is a lot like the teams we lead, what it taught her about KPIs and leading indicators, and why leaders need to get low enough to see what's really going on. What You'll Learn Why a thriving team can still be heading toward a crisis The difference between lagging indicators and leading indicators — and why most leaders only track one Why purpose has to come before goals — and goals before KPIs How to identify the leading indicators that tell you where you're headed before you get there Why getting close to your data regularly is one of the most important leadership habits you can build The Lemon Tree Lesson Dr. JBT's lemon tree had over 100 lemons on it. By every visible measure, it was producing and thriving. But the sap dripping at the base of the trunk told a different story, one she almost missed entirely because she was only measuring the fruit. The leadership parallel: Lemons = lagging indicators. They tell you what already happened. Sap at the base = leading indicators. They tell you what's coming if nothing changes. Most leaders are counting lemons. Very few are checking the trunk.   The Five Practices for Leaders This Week Define your team's purpose before you define another goal. Make sure your goals look forward — not just backward. Identify your leading indicators — the ones that tell you where you're headed before you get there. Create a culture where people flag what they see. Make it safe to say something doesn't look right. Get low. Get close to the data. Regularly. Don't wait until the tree is sick to check the trunk.   This Week's Action Step Pick one major goal your team is working toward right now. Ask yourself: What leading indicator would tell me nine months from now whether we are on track or off track? If you can't answer that question — that's where to start.  Thank you for listening. This is Leadership and Learning with Dr. JBT, signing off. Found this episode useful? Share it with a leader in your world who needs to hear it. And subscribe so you never miss an episode of the Leadership and Learning Podcast.

Episode Summary Leadership isn't about keeping your light to yourself; it's about helping others shine. In this solo episode, Dr. Jamie Brownlee-Turgeon explores the simple yet powerful quote: "A candle loses nothing by lighting another." Using this metaphor as a foundation, she examines why recognition is one of the most overlooked and most impactful leadership practices. Drawing on the research of James Kouzes and Barry Posner in The Leadership Challenge, Dr. JBT discusses the practice of Encouraging the Heart and explains why leaders who intentionally recognize others create more engaged teams, stronger cultures, and higher-performing organizations. You'll discover the three common reasons leaders fail to recognize others, practical ways to build recognition into your leadership rhythm, and simple actions you can implement immediately to encourage and inspire your team. Whether you lead a university, a department, a business, or simply influence those around you, this episode is a reminder that recognition costs nothing but can change everything. In This Episode Why leaders often overlook recognition despite valuing their people. The "candle mindset" versus a scarcity mindset. The leadership practice of Encouraging the Heart from The Leadership Challenge. Why appreciation increases engagement, commitment, and performance. Three practical leadership habits: High Five Fridays Motivating Mondays Personal Notes that Matter How genuine recognition strengthens culture and fuels motivation. Challenge for the Week ✔ Start a High Five Friday tradition. ✔ Begin your next team meeting with a Motivating Monday message. ✔ Write one handwritten note or thoughtful email recognizing someone's specific contribution. Remember: A candle loses nothing by lighting another. Go light some candles. Resources Mentioned Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2023). The Leadership Challenge: How to Make Extraordinary Things Happen in Organizations (7th ed.). Jossey-Bass. Connect with Dr. JBT If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and share it with another leader who is committed to helping others grow. Follow along for more conversations on leadership, organizational culture, higher education, and developing leaders who make a lasting impact.

Episode Summary In this special Father's Day episode, Dr. JBT is joined by her husband, Dr. Paul Turgeon, for one of the most personal conversations ever recorded on the Leadership and Learning Podcast. Together, they pay tribute to their fathers — both of whom have passed away — and reflect on the leadership lessons passed down through presence, example, and the way two men lived their lives. This one is for the dads who shaped us. And for everyone still carrying their lessons forward. Key Leadership Takeaways 1. Leadership is caught, not just taught. Some of the most powerful leadership lessons were absorbed at the dinner table, on long drives, and in the quiet way someone you love handled something hard without complaining. 2. Presence is its own kind of leadership. Our fathers' generation didn't talk about leadership; they lived it. Through consistency, integrity, and showing up the same way every day, regardless of who was watching. That kind of leadership never goes out of style. 3. The complicated parts shape us too. Great leaders aren't built only by the highlights. The things we had to unlearn, the gaps we had to fill, the moments that were hard, those are part of the formation too. Owning that honestly is itself a leadership act. 4. What you carry forward is the tribute. The greatest honor we can give the people who shaped us is carrying their best into how we lead, how we treat people, and how we show up every single day.   A Moment to Reflect What did your father — or a father figure in your life — teach you about leadership without ever using that word? Is there something you do as a leader today that is unmistakably them? What would you want to say to them if you could? This Week's Action Step If your father or the person who stood in for that role is still here, call him. Tell him what he gave you. Don't wait for the right moment. This is the right moment. And if he's gone, carry it forward. Live it out. That's the tribute that never ends.   This episode is dedicated to our fathers. Thank you for everything you poured into us; we're still learning from you. Happy Father's Day from Leadership and Learning with Dr. JBT and Dr. Paul Turgeon. Touched by this episode? Share it with someone who needs to hear it. And subscribe so you never miss an episode of the Leadership and Learning Podcast.  

"When the wind is strong, some people seek shelter. Others build windmills." That one proverb is the foundation of this episode. Dr. JBT unpacks what it means to face adversity as a leader. And how the most resilient, innovative leaders don't just endure the hard seasons, they find a way to use them. This episode is for every leader navigating uncertainty, pressure, or disruption right now and wondering what to do next. Key Takeaways 1. The wind is real — honor it. Great leadership doesn't skip past the hard part. The question was never whether the wind would blow. It will. The question is what you do when it does. 2. Shelter-seeking becomes dangerous when it's permanent. There are moments to pull back and protect your people. But when caution becomes a default posture, when leaders wait for perfect conditions before they move, they don't just stand still. They fall behind. And their teams learn to do the same. 3. Windmill builders ask a different question. While others ask, "How do I get through this?" windmill builders ask, "What does this make possible?" Same wind. Completely different response. That shift in question changes everything. 4. Innovation comes from constraint, not comfort. Some of the most transformative leadership moments in history came directly out of the most difficult seasons. The wind didn't change. The response did. The Three Windmill Practices Reframe the question. Shift from "how do I get through this?" to "what does this wind make possible that wasn't possible before?" Lead the narrative. Name the challenge honestly and pair it with a forward-facing message. "Here's what's hard. And here's what we're going to build." Both sentences matter. Move before you're ready. Windmills don't get built by leaders who wait for the wind to stop. Make one move. Not the whole windmill, just one brick. This Week's Action Steps Name the wind in your world right now. Clearly and honestly. Let your team see that you see it. Ask the windmill question: what does this make possible? Write it down and see what comes up. Make one move. One decision. One step forward that says, 'We are not hiding. We are building.' Found this episode useful? Share it with a leader in your world who needs to hear it right now. And subscribe so you never miss an episode of the Leadership and Learning Podcast.

Episode Summary Every leader faces the moment when the current path isn't working. Do you stay the course or change direction? Pivot too soon and you abandon something that just needed more time. Pivot too late and you've wasted months or years on something that was never going to work. In this episode, Dr. JBT breaks down both failure modes, shares real-world examples of pivots gone wrong, and offers four practical questions to help you make the call with confidence. Key Takeaways 1. A pivot is a leadership decision like any other. It's neither heroic nor shameful. The quality of it depends almost entirely on the timing and the reasoning behind it. 2. Waiting too long is the most common failure mode. Escalation of commitment is real: once a leader has publicly backed a direction, the cost of admitting it isn't working feels enormous. By the time the data is unambiguous, your options are narrower and your competitors have moved. 3. Pivoting too soon is just as dangerous. Most good strategies look like failures in the early stages. Leaders who pivot too soon often mistake the difficulty of execution for a flaw in the direction, and their teams stop investing fully because they're not sure the new direction will last either. 4. Early struggle is not the same as strategic failure. Before you pivot, ask: Is this a strategy problem or an execution problem? These require completely different responses. The Four Questions to Ask Before You Pivot Is this a strategy problem or an execution problem? If the strategy is sound but implementation has been weak, a pivot abandons the right answer for the wrong reasons. What does the data say versus what does your gut say? Triangulate. Talk to customers, frontline employees, and people who will tell you what you don't want to hear. Are you pivoting toward something or away from something? The best pivots are pulled by a clearer opportunity. The worst are pushed by discomfort with the current situation. Have you communicated the reasoning clearly? A pivot your team doesn't understand lands as chaos. One that's explained well builds trust — even when the change is hard.   This Week's Action Step Think of one initiative in your organization right now that feels stuck. Run it through the four questions from today's episode. Is it a strategy problem or an execution problem? Are you pivoting toward something or away from something? The answer might surprise you. Thank you for listening. This is Leadership and Learning with Dr. JBT, signing off. Found this episode useful? Share it with a leader in your network who's facing a pivot decision right now.

  Episode Summary What happens when you bring an entire division together to learn, connect, and invest in each other? In this personal reflection episode, Dr. JBT shares five leadership lessons from Summit — an all-hands gathering that reminded her what great culture looks and feels like when you get it right. From rap songs to real vulnerability, these aren't theories from a book. They're moments that actually happened — and lessons every leader can take back to their team. The Five Reflections 1. Never Be Afraid to Be Cheesy When a leader is willing to be silly and not take themselves too seriously, it sends a message to the whole team: this is a safe place, and we can have fun while we do hard work. 2. Invest in Each Other's Growth The most powerful learning cultures aren't built in training rooms. They're built when people look at the person next to them and say, I think you have something to teach me. 3. Experiential Learning Matters Information alone doesn't change behavior. Experience does. Don't just tell your team something — build an experience around it and let them feel it. 4. Vulnerability Matters Vulnerability isn't weakness. It's the entry point to real trust. When leaders create space for honest conversation about struggle and difference, they build teams that can weather anything. 5. Cross-Functional Relationships Break Down Silos Silos aren't broken by systems. They're broken by relationships. It starts with learning someone's name, understanding their role, and asking: how does what I do affect what you do? This Week's Action Steps Do something a little cheesy with your team. Give them permission to laugh. Find someone on your team who has knowledge others haven't tapped into yet. Give them a moment to share it. Ask someone in a different department: How does what I do affect what you do? And actually listen to the answer. Enjoyed this episode? Share it with a leader in your life and subscribe so you never miss an episode of the Leadership and Learning Podcast.

Episode Summary As leaders, we're wired to solve problems. It's how we got here. But what if that instinct is quietly holding our teams back? In this episode, we explore one of the most powerful shifts a leader can make: moving from solving to asking. You'll walk away with practical coaching questions you can use immediately to develop your team, build their confidence, and free yourself from being the bottleneck. What You'll Learn Why leaders default to solving, and the hidden cost it has on their team Why people are more committed to solutions they discover themselves How to know when to coach and when to just answer Ten coaching questions every leader should have in their toolkit (full list in the episode) A Few Questions to Get You Started "What have you already tried?" "What would you do if you knew you couldn't fail?" "What's your next step?" Tune in for all ten, and how to use them. Quotable Moments "Asking questions isn't a soft skill. It's a leadership superpower." "The best leaders aren't the ones with all the answers. They're the ones who ask the questions that help others find theirs." This Week's Action Step The next time someone brings you a problem, pause before you answer. Try asking "What do you think you should do?" and see what happens. Enjoyed this episode? Share it with a leader in your life who needs to hear it. And subscribe so you never miss an episode of the Leadership and Learning Podcast.