Strong Face

I'll be back soon! In the meantime, check out any existing episode that sounds like what you're dealing with at work right now. Each one stands on its own.

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Strong Face is for leaders caught between caring for their people and enforcing a system that wasn't built to do so, without losing themselves in the process.

Hosted by Tamara Steward, organizational consultant and founder of Spark the Firm, each episode takes one situation you're likely living through at work right now or have seen before, and shows you what's actually broken, and what's yours to fix.

I get it. As a leader, your hair is on fire and you do not have time to listen to 12 full episodes of Strong Face to find the takeaway you need right now. So I’ve compiled one clip from each episode that gives a piece of advice you can take with you today. 

Or, if you've been with me since the beginning, consider this a reminder episode of the things that bear repeating.

Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction

01:04 Episode 1 - Everything is a Priority

01:39 Episode 2 - Celebrated in Public, Denied in Private

03:31 Episode 3 - The Meeting Before the Meeting

05:13 Episode 4 - Competence Hoarding

07:19 Episode 5 - The Mission as a Muzzle

09:06 Episode 6 - Accountability Performance

11:17 Episode 7 - Endurance as a Performance Metric

14:09 Episode 8 - “That’s Just How They Are”

16:53 Episode 9 - The Feedback That Never Comes

19:28 Episode 10 - The Depleted Leader

21:29 Episode 11 - Leading When You Don’t Have the Answers

23:08 Episode 12 - Why Your Culture Initiatives Keep Backfiring

Want to explore what systemic change could look like in your organization? Visit https://bit.ly/strongface-ep13 to reach out about working together.

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Strong Face is for leaders caught between caring for their people and enforcing a system that wasn't built to do so, without losing themselves in the process.

Hosted by Tamara Steward, organizational consultant and founder of Spark the Firm, each episode takes one situation you're likely living through at work right now or have seen before, and shows you what's actually broken, and what's yours to fix.

The employee survey results are in, and the scores are worse than you expected. You might not want to hear this, but if your team has a culture problem… it’s because there’s a leadership gap.

In this episode, we're talking about where that leadership gap actually comes from, why so many culture initiatives quietly make things worse, and what it actually takes to move the needle instead of just checking a box.

Key takeaways:

If your culture initiatives keep going nowhere, let me help you fix that. Reach out at https://bit.ly/strongface-ep12 

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Strong Face is for leaders caught between caring for their people and enforcing a system that wasn't built to do so, without losing themselves in the process.

Hosted by Tamara Steward, organizational consultant and founder of Spark the Firm, each episode takes one situation you're likely living through at work right now or have seen before, and shows you what's actually broken, and what's yours to fix.

Something is changing at your company and the leaders above you haven’t shared what it means yet. Maybe a reorg was announced with half the details missing, or maybe you were handed a new mandate with no real parameters.

Either way, you’re the one who has to stand in front of your team and keep them moving, while the answers to their questions are sitting somewhere above your pay grade. 

In this episode, we’re talking about how to lead through that gap when you’re still working through it yourself.

Key takeaways:

This episode is for you if you’re leading your team through something you can’t see the full picture on yet.

This is the exact thing I help leaders work through every day. Reach out at https://bit.ly/strongface-ep11 to learn more.

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Strong Face is for leaders caught between caring for their people and enforcing a system that wasn't built to do so, without losing themselves in the process.

Hosted by Tamara Steward, organizational consultant and founder of Spark the Firm, each episode takes one situation you're likely living through at work right now or have seen before, and shows you what's actually broken, and what's yours to fix.

You can't remember the last time you made it to the gym. Therapy's still just a note in your calendar from January. A friend is trying to reschedule the dinner you keep pushing, and at this point you've stopped promising a new date. 

Individually, they're not a big deal. But together they show that you've become your own last priority.

In this episode, we're talking about the depleted leader. You have nothing left to give, and you think you're hiding it, but people know. They've started working around your bad days, and the resentment you don't even mean to feel is leaking out anyway.

This episode is for you if you're the one everyone leans on, and you can't remember the last time you had someone to lean on yourself.

Key takeaways:

If this is resonating with you, I can help. Reach out about working together: https://bit.ly/strongface-ep10 

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Strong Face is for leaders caught between caring for their people and enforcing a system that wasn't built to do so, without losing themselves in the process.

Hosted by Tamara Steward, organizational consultant and founder of Spark the Firm, each episode takes one situation you're likely living through at work right now or have seen before, and shows you what's actually broken, and what's yours to fix.

There's a conversation you keep meaning to have. You've rehearsed it over and over again in your head, but every time you almost start the conversation, you find a reason it can wait until next week.

In this episode, we're talking about the feedback that never comes. And it lands differently on everyone waiting for it. The tenured employee feels ambushed by a critique they never saw coming. The loyal one who slipped for the first time in years feels betrayed. And you, the leader who needs something you're not getting, quietly carries the frustration.

No one wakes up excited to give hard feedback. So you wait, but the problem doesn't wait with you. It festers until the worst possible moment.

Key takeaways:

This episode is for you if someone on your team is repeating a mistake because you've been afraid to address it.

Want to explore what systemic change could look like in your organization? Visit https://bit.ly/strongface-ep9 to reach out about working together.

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Strong Face is for leaders caught between caring for their people and enforcing a system that wasn't built to do so, without losing themselves in the process.

Hosted by Tamara Steward, organizational consultant and founder of Spark the Firm, each episode takes one situation you're likely living through at work right now or have seen before, and shows you what's actually broken, and what's yours to fix.

Someone spoke to you in a way that would never be acceptable from anyone else in the room.

Afterward, a colleague pulled you aside and said something meant to help: "That's just how they are." But you heard what nobody is saying out loud:

"We decided their value outweighs your experience."

In this episode, I'm breaking down what happens when one person is so 'valuable' to an organization that the friction they create gets waved away as the cost of doing business.

Key Takeaways:

This episode is for you if you've ever explained someone's behavior to the person on the receiving end of it, because the truth was the organization couldn't afford to lose them.

Want to explore what systemic change could look like in your organization? Visit https://bit.ly/strongface-ep8 to learn more about working together.

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Strong Face is for leaders caught between caring for their people and enforcing a system that wasn't built to do so, without losing themselves in the process.

Hosted by Tamara Steward, organizational consultant and founder of Spark the Firm, each episode takes one situation you're likely living through at work right now or have seen before, and shows you what's actually broken, and what's yours to fix.

Something goes sideways at work, and you already know who you're going to call. The same name that always comes to mind. The person who takes whatever lands on them and just gets it done. 

In this episode, I'm breaking down endurance as a performance metric. It's what happens when an organization quietly starts rewarding people for how much they can absorb without complaint, and mistakes that silence for strength.

Key Takeaways:

This episode is for you if you already know you lean on one person more than you should, but the work has to get done and you know you can count on them.

Want to explore what systemic change could look like in your organization? Visit sparkthefirm.com to learn more about working together.

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Strong Face is for leaders caught between caring for their people and enforcing a system that wasn't built to do so, without losing themselves in the process.

Hosted by Tamara Steward, organizational consultant and founder of Spark the Firm, each episode takes one situation you're likely living through at work right now or have seen before, and shows you what's actually broken, and what's yours to fix.

They trusted you enough to report what happened, and all you're allowed to say is that it's been addressed. 

The investigation has run its course. Meetings happened and statements got taken. And then... nothing.

The person waiting for answers starts filling in the blanks themselves. Meanwhile, the unspoken message is loud: we handled the liability, not the harm. 

In this episode, I'm breaking down accountability performance and what happens when organizations follow every step of the process but somehow the people who were harmed end up with less closure than when they started. 

If you've ever had to stand between carefully scripted language and your team's need for real answers, this episode is for you. Because if people stop trusting, they stop reporting, and your team breaks down.

Want to explore what systemic change could look like in your organization? Visit sparkthefirm.com to learn more about working together.

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Strong Face is for leaders caught between caring for their people and enforcing a system that wasn't built to do so, without losing themselves in the process.

Hosted by Tamara Steward, organizational consultant and founder of Spark the Firm, each episode takes one situation you're likely living through at work right now or have seen before, and shows you what's actually broken, and what's yours to fix.

Someone raises a legitimate question in a meeting, and before they even finish, they're cut off and redirected. In this episode, I'm breaking down what happens when "the mission" gets used to shut down questions instead of inviting them in.

You've seen it during performance reviews where concerns about a broken process get reframed as a mindset issue. At the all-hands where pointed questions disappear inside long answers about vision and impact. In team meetings where raising real tension gets answered with an origin story instead of a real answer.

Over time, people stop asking because they did the math and it costs more to ask than to stay quiet. They watch others get removed from email threads, labeled as difficult, uninvited from meetings. What you end up with is compliance, not alignment.

This episode is for you if important questions are getting redirected instead of answered in your organization and you want to know why it's happening, what it's actually costing you, and how to fix it.

Want to explore what systemic change could look like in your organization? Visit sparkthefirm.com to learn more about working together.

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Strong Face is for leaders caught between caring for their people and enforcing a system that wasn't built to do so, without losing themselves in the process.

Hosted by Tamara Steward, organizational consultant and founder of Spark the Firm, each episode takes one situation you're likely living through at work right now or have seen before, and shows you what's actually broken, and what's yours to fix.