Short Stories

Episode 397

In my conversation with Lindsay Van Gorp, she shared how her organization is making StrengthsFinder part of their everyday culture:

✨ Every team member takes the assessment.
✨ A visible team grid shows everyone’s top strengths.
✨ Plaques with each person’s Top 5 are on their desks.

Why? Because when you walk into a meeting and see that your colleague leads with Context, you instantly know:
“I need to give them the history behind this project.”

That kind of awareness transforms communication, reduces friction, and makes collaboration smoother.

🎙 Catch the full episode here.

Leadership Lesson - Command Talent

One of the biggest lessons I’ve learned in leadership is this:
👉 What feels like chaos to me may feel like connection to someone else.

I used to step in and “bring order” whenever a meeting felt unstructured. 

Most people appreciated it—but one boss didn’t.

His goal wasn’t efficiency. 

His goal was that people felt seen and heard.

When I asked him upfront what success looked like for the meeting, everything changed.

💡 Sometimes leadership is knowing when to lean in - and when to step back.

Knowing your colleagues StrengthsFinder talents helps us understand and value what they bring to the table.

Podcast Naming story

When I first started my podcast, I didn’t even have a title.

Then a client with MS said: “I don’t want to be defined by it.”

I told her:
💡 “It’s not the things that happen to you that define you—it’s how you talk about them.”

That became the title of my podcast: Your Stories Don’t Define You, How You Tell Them Will.

And it became the foundation of my work—helping people improve communication and uncover the patterns in their own stories. 

Because once you see your patterns, you can change them.