Dr. M’s SPA Newsletter Volume 16 Issue 9 – Leadership

Brene Brown - Leadership Tools to Teach Your Children and SELF “Stand firmly enough to lead, loosely enough to listen.”  Strong Ground by Brené Brown published in 2025 Breaking down this new book by the excellent Brene Brown, we find that strong leaders don’t eliminate tension or risk. They hold it. And this is key! What does the hold look like? How does it show up to the team? The theme in my mind is "toughness with tenderness" Clarity is kindness. Vagueness is avoidance dressed as politeness. You can be both confident and uncertain. That’s not weakness, it’s reality. Values are not what you believe. They’re what you do under pressure. Most leadership failures are emotional avoidance, not strategic failure. Accountability without empathy is cruelty. Empathy without accountability is chaos. People don’t disengage because work is hard, they disengage because trust erodes. The goal is not control. The goal is grounded presence in uncertainty. You can’t build brave cultures with armored leaders. Paradox is not a problem to solve, it’s a condition to manage. If you’re always comfortable, you’re not leading. You’re maintaining.  I especially, like the last one. Discomfort is the path to growth in all things. Think euthermia for temperature, not a recipe for human cellular health or plants for that matter. Temperature through environmental swings are keys to protein elaboration for handling the cold and the heat. The lack of swing equates to a lack of adaptability.... and a piece on the Stakeholder. Dr. M