"I see you pulling a Beyoncé here,” I said to my client who was really tapping into her own inner Bey.  

I’m referring to how Beyoncé broke the mold and rewrote the rules for herself—without anyone’s invitation or permission—to win her recent Grammy for Album of the Year. I saw the same thing with this client: breaking the mold and rewriting the rules for herself, without waiting for anyone’s invitation or permission.

In fact, a number of the women leaders I work with are doing incredible work to figure out how to create new leadership opportunities for themselves because old-school systems and structures have kept them confined in their current roles for far too long. 

In the work I’m doing with these women leaders, there are a few key steps I designed for them to take as part of a larger leadership growth strategy. 

These are steps anyone can take when they are ready to forge a new path in leadership development - without waiting for an invitation or permission:

1. Define your top 5 leadership values.

2. Actively embrace your leadership values to amplify your leadership brand.

3. Advance your thought leadership to think more expansively about what is possible outside of your current role.

4. Identify opportunities to BE SEEN in places and spaces outside your current role.

5. Start making connections with leaders who openly embrace the same leadership values you do.

6. Position yourself for invitations to show up as a subject matter expert in your field.

This is how Beyonce was able to rewrite the rules and forge a new path to her Grammy success – and how you can do the same thing. In this episode, I share with you exactly how to integrate these strategic steps into your current work. 

When you are stuck inside a system that doesn't work for you, it can be really challenging to see outside of the system. There are often multiple concentric circles of power (if not systems of oppression) that put a massive buffer between you and new opportunities. To cut through the junk (old school systems), you must take strategic steps over time to circumvent the systems that are holding you back. Of course, you can do this with a coach (Hi, that's me!). Or, you can start on your own by following the steps above to channel YOUR inner Beyoncé!

Links Mentioned:

Women Leaders! Join me for Rooted & Rising: Grounded Leadership for Turbulent Times on February 19th. This free workshop is a virtual workshop to connect with other women leaders and gain new tools and insights to carry you through this challenging season of leadership. Register for free at saradean.com/rising. 

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Every single time I mention being diagnosed with ADHD in my forties, women reach out to me. This has become the thing middle-aged women want to connect with me about the most.

10 years ago, I could have never guessed I would be talking about the importance of brain health for women leaders. This wasn’t something that was on my radar until two things happened:

Brain health refers to the overall well-being and optimal functioning of the brain throughout a person's life. This includes various aspects of cognitive, emotional, and neurological functioning. In addition to our brain health is our mental health. Mental health refers to our emotional and psychological well-being, including how we think, feel, and act. Our brain health can definitely impact our mental health and vice versa.  

There is so much information coming out about women’s brains and ways in which our neurodiversity has been overlooked for generations. On top of this, many women are having stunning realizations about their brain health at a time in their lives when so many other aspects of our health and well-being are running wild (hello, perimenopause!)  

The more we talk about what is happening with women’s brains in this season of life, the more we can get the support we need to thrive in our personal and professional lives and the more likely we are to be able to maintain function optimally in all the roles that are most meaningful to us.  

In this episode, I talk about my own brain health, my path to multiple diagnoses, and how I’m currently taking care of my brain. I want you to see this example of how a neurodiverse leader is still SHINING in this extraordinary season of life. It took me years (decades) to put all these pieces together. My hope is that sharing my story will help other women connect essential dots in their lives much more quickly! 

Links Mentioned:

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The chaos and overwhelm you are feeling in this first month of 2025 is by design. The fear, if not panic, that strikes you every time you see a new news story is intended to break you down. Your worry about all the what-ifs has been strategically created so you stay distracted and disheartened.  

Being a sociology nerd at heart, I found myself at my desk last week making a list of all the ways systems of oppression are being intentionally woven into our US culture (on top of the systems of oppression that already existed). It didn’t take much time to draw some distinct conclusions about what is happening right now.  

One of the first things I noticed is that, for women, we have been here before. We are all probably aware of larger and more obvious historical systems of oppression that we have endured - not being allowed to vote, have a credit card, take out a mortgage, run in marathons, work in certain environments, have bodily autonomy, etc.  

Beyond all that, one of the most insidious long-term systems of oppression that women have (and continue to endure) is diet culture. When I started drawing connections between the decades of brainwashing and indoctrination we have endured around our bodies and the intentional chaos we are enduring now as women and as other people carrying marginalized identities, I felt like I unlocked the puzzle.  

Systems of oppression have some key characteristics:

All of these elements are present right now. This is why you feel so unnerved. This is why you feel like your power is slipping away by the day. All of these elements have also been present for decades as women have been conditioned to hold our bodies in disdain. So, none of this is new.  

Rest assured, taking away aspects of your power does not make you powerless. The system is designed to make you feign powerlessness. You are NOT powerless. In this episode, I help you unravel what is happening so you can make informed decisions to keep moving forward in your day-to-day life. 

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I’m not a doctor or any sort of expert on women’s health. But I am an expert on my body, as I’ve had 49 years to get to know her. We’re pretty tight. I like to think I know everything about her. However, a recent doctor appointment taught me so many things I didn’t know about her! At 49 years old, this body of mine is teaching me so many new things.  

I never planned to do a podcast episode about my body at age 49, but I recently overheard a guy say, “So many more women are getting menopause these days.” In that moment, I realized there are people out there who have no idea about the things that all women born with uteruses endure. Rest assured, men, the same amount of women are “getting menopause” as always. It’s not like a new epidemic or anything. Calm down. 

I’m talking about menopause on the podcast today not because I’m particularly excited about it or educated on it, but because I deeply understand the consequences of women staying quiet. Women have been conditioned to push through pain, ignore our bodies' signals and symptoms, not cause a scene, not be self-advocates, and definitely not make others uncomfortable. We pay dearly for our silent discomfort. We lose job opportunities, endure preventable chronic illnesses, ride uncontrollable waves of emotions, are dismissed by healthcare providers, aren’t given the resources we desperately need, and feel like we are all alone with bodies that seemingly betray us over and over as we age. 

Enough of that, thank you very much. 

We need to start talking about all this menopause we are “getting” and not stop talking about it until there is a universal understanding of what women go through and corresponding resources, respect, and grace given in the workplace, in our communities, and in our homes. 

In this episode, I talk about symptoms of perimenopause (you might be surprised by some of these), my recent physical where I learned my estrogen is 4 times higher than it used to be (maybe thaaaaaat’s why I can fly into a fit of rage in 3 seconds flat?!?), what you can do to better advocate for yourself and your health, and why all this impacts our work as leaders in significant ways.  

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: https://shamelessleadership.com/sponsor

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“Sara, should I stay or should I go?” 

This is a very common conversation I have had with coaching clients over the years. 

Because I have the great honor of helping women deeply (re)connect to their sense of self, my clients frequently find themselves in a position of having outgrown their professional roles. As they learn about themselves, embrace their strengths and talents, and challenge themselves to grow in new ways, there is an almost inevitable realization at a certain point, “I think I’m ready for something more…”  

With this growth often comes a clarity in values and connection to core beliefs that illuminates things that once seen and felt cannot be unseen or unfelt. Once my clients start to feel this, there is a yearning to find new options and opportunities. 

One of my clients told me early in our coaching journey that she envisioned herself staying at her current company for another 3-5 years. After working together for a few months and becoming more clear on her values and the value she has to contribute to the world, she felt she could no longer ignore the ways she has been consistently overlooked and dismissed at her current company. She had a newfound urgency to find a role somewhere where her values and her value were not being compromised at every turn. Her 3-5 year timeline shifted to 3-5 months!

When my clients find themselves in this position, there is a lot to consider and process. In many cases, I don’t recommend my clients jump ship. In fact, I think there can be great value in a “strategic stay” where one stays put for a while longer in order to make a thoughtful transition without risking their personal and professional security and stability.  

In this episode, I talk through how to know if you’ve outgrown your role and/or organization, considerations to make before making a move, and reasons you might consider staying put for a while longer in order to make a more strategic (and beneficial) transition.  

It is my hope that learning and practicing my GAP Strategy will allow you to hold space for others in a way that advances your relationships and your leadership.  

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Have you ever gone to someone you trusted to seek help and they became defensive instead of holding space for you?

Have you ever been in a conversation and felt yourself getting defensive as someone shared information with you?  

You’ve likely been in both of these situations at some point, perhaps in personal and professional settings.  

I found myself in the first situation a while back. I took a very serious concern to two leaders I trusted and I left feeling stunned that two leaders I trusted couldn’t hold space for me in a vulnerable moment. It was so disappointing and left me reeling for days. I kept rerunning the conversation in my head trying to figure out what went wrong and why I felt so defeated and hurt after the fact.  

With some time and reflection, I was able to identify that the reason I was so upset was because I didn’t feel seen, heard, held, or valued in a moment where it felt really important to me to feel seen, heard, held, and valued.  

As I processed this event, I spent a lot of time thinking about how I would have handled the situation if the tables were turned. I questioned myself, “How do I hold space for people when they show up and need me to sit with them and hear them out - even if what they want to share is difficult to hear?”

My work demands this of me. I have to sit in hard conversations with coaching clients all the time. I preach confident communication to leaders all day long. I started to think through what my specific process is when it comes to holding space for others and I was able to put it together in a really clear and simple way that can be easily replicated in many different sticky situations and tough moments.  

In this episode, I talk you through how to use my 3 step process, my GAP Strategy, to practice Gratitude, Acknowledgement, and Partnership in these challenging communication moments. I give you brief, clear statements you can use to immediately help the person sitting across from you feel seen, heard, held, and valued. These are the statements I wished I had heard in that conversation a while back. I wish the people who sat across from me were able to apply this strategy so we could have worked together toward a solution instead of leaving the situation feeling awkward, incomplete, and let down.

It is my hope that learning and practicing my GAP Strategy will allow you to hold space for others in a way that advances your relationships and your leadership.  

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: https://shamelessleadership.com/sponsor.

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Every year I host an Annual Planning Workshop for my business coaching clients. This is a time for folks to look back at their wins from the past year, do some visioning for the upcoming year, and get crystal clear on the specific strategies and action steps they want to take to be successful in the new year.  

As I was leading this workshop in early December, it occurred to me that you all, my lovely leader listeners, could benefit from the same exercises I take my business coaching clients through. In this episode, I walk you through 10 simple, but essential, questions to ask yourself as you plan your upcoming year.  

I don’t believe in resolutions. I don’t believe you need to flip your life upside down and make 734 changes on January 1st. I do believe you need to own wins from the past year so you can see the proof of what you’re capable of moving forward. And, I do believe that you should take some time to reflect on what you want to make happen over the course of the next year sometime in the month of January so you can begin to build the necessary momentum to actually accomplish all you want to accomplish in the next year. 

Here are the 10 questions I walk you through in this episode:

Like many recent years, 2025 will be a year of change, uncertainty, and quite possibly chaos. The more you can be clear on what you want to accomplish, why you want to accomplish it, and how you’re going to accomplish it, the more you can stay grounded when the going (inevitably) gets tough. 

Happy 2025! You got this and I’m thrilled to be on this journey with you!

Link Mentioned

• To get notified of my upcoming events, workshops, and retreats for leaders, email me at [email protected] with the subject line “Events!” and I’ll make sure to notify you as I roll out 2025 events! 

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: https://shamelessleadership.com/sponsor

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I have used stories in leadership for some time now and have found them to be such a powerful way to engage people as well as a means to appeal to people’s heads and hearts. Years ago, I started studying how other speakers I followed used stories and I took notes.  

As I’ve learned more about the power of storytelling from a theoretical perspective, so much has clicked for me in terms of how to use storytelling as a leadership tool and strategy. There is no doubt that stories drive authentic leadership, allowing you to humanize yourself and display vulnerability in front of those you lead. This can be pivotal in building trusting relationships. If you’re looking to build trust, cultivate vulnerability, and build team relationships on a foundation of psychological safety, start telling stories. 

Daniel Coyle, author of The Culture Code, reminds those leading others through change, “Stories are not just stories; they are the best invention ever created for delivering mental models that drive behavior.”

In the vulnerable space of a story is an opportunity to create a connection. Connections pave the way for relationships. Relationships become the platform for which we can show our full range of humanity and hold space for other's full range of humanity.

Stories can be used to inspire, motivate, build trust & rapport, model humanity, humility, vulnerability, imperfection, instruct, demonstrate, teach, mentor, celebrate, and advance organizational culture. 

I often have the opportunity to teach leaders how to use stories during leadership training I facilitate. It is one of my favorite activities to facilitate and to observe. Most leaders walk away feeling a sense of lightness in their leadership they couldn’t previously find. For many, this lightness is a gratitude for the permission to share parts of themselves that are imperfect, goofy, messy, soft, sensitive, joyful, and playful.  

In this episode, we will talk through how to use stories, as well as tips for telling impactful stories.  

Links mentioned:

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: https://shamelessleadership.com/sponsor

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In the last episode of Shameless Leadership, I spoke about 5 Challenges Facing Women Leaders in 2025. While that episode had plenty of reasons to get us motivated and fired up, I am excited to kick off a conversation that leads with a positive edge this week.

When we only focus on the challenges we face as women (or as a member of any marginalized group), it can feel harder to harness our power. So, how about we focus on our competitive edges, shall we?

In this episode, I’m so excited to talk through with you the following 5 Competitive Advantages of Women Leaders 2025:

There are many aspects of our socialization as women that we tend to under leverage in leadership. Enough of that. 2025 is a year to create opportunities for us to lead in areas where our male counterparts often fall short (often due to their socialization). We have a unique opportunity to lead with our differences, intentionally do things differently, and be culture shifters and culture shapers who challenge the status quo and change patterns of socialization altogether.  

By harnessing our emotional intelligence and relationship-building skills, we can create more collaborative work environments that drive better business outcomes. By embracing our natural ability to see systemic interconnections and balance multiple perspectives, we can excel at complex problem-solving and change management. By amplifying our adaptability and adaptivity (and knowing the difference between the two), we can demonstrate creative resource allocation and strategic prioritization while driving innovation. See, I told you there is a lot to get fired up about here.  

2025 is not a year for us to sit back. It’s a year for us to stand up, get loud, and own our place in the game.  

Link mentioned:

Shameless Leadership Episode 917: The 5 Biggest Challenges Facing Women Leaders in 2025

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To be honest, I was hesitant to spend thirty minutes pointing out the challenges facing women leaders, as I’m not sure we need to be reminded of what’s not working in our favor. However, as I started putting my notes together, I quickly decided that if I provide this list as a bit of a “Hey friends! Just a heads up…” and included some options for strategic responses we can all enter 2025 feeling better informed and well prepared to do our work to the best of our ability.  

So, here we go!!

For me (and I hope for you!), when the world gets messy, my values become more clear. When my values are more clear, my decision-making becomes easier. When decision-making is easier, I can mitigate a lot of mental gymnastics and get to work.

In 2025, I plan to get to work. I’m not wasting time dilly-dallying in decision fatigue. I am clear on my values, the work I want to do, the impact I want to have, and how I can best share my gifts with the world. I am ready to GO.

I am acutely aware of those who are relying on me to be clear-headed and focused. I am prepared to show up for them. In calling out our challenges and creating strategic responses, we can focus on our vision and stay in momentum even when things are falling apart around us. 

In this episode, I address these 5 challenges facing women leaders in 2025:

Professional Landscape Challenges

After I talk through these challenges, I provide strategic suggestions which I hope will offer you some HOPE. Will 2025 be hard? Absolutely. But, hard isn’t new to us. So, we got this.  

We love the sponsors that make this show possible! You can always find all the special deals and codes for all our current sponsors on our website: https://shamelessleadership.com/sponsor

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