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I've spent the past year developing a talk that keeps me up at night—not because I'm worried about it, but because I can't stop thinking about the leaders who need to hear it. It's called "No Ego at Altitude,"  and it's born from a haunting statistic: 60% of new executives fail within their first 24 months. Not because they lack intelligence or drive, but because they don't recognize the symptoms of leadership isolation until it's too late. Here's what caught my attention: wh

"Why do some executives thrive while others—equally smart, equally experienced—flame out spectacularly?" This question haunts me every December as I reflect on the year's coaching sessions. The answer isn't what you'd expect. It's not strategy, vision, or technical expertise. It's not even the emotional intelligence skills we've been discussing. It's the invisible skills. The ones no one talks about, teaches, or puts on job descriptions. The ones that separate legendary leade

"I believed becoming CEO would feel like a victory. Instead, it feels like I'm drowning," confided a newly-promoted executive during our first coaching session. She had been in the role for three months and was starting to panic. "Everyone expects me to have all the answers, but the problems are completely different now. I feel like I'm failing at something I worked my entire career to achieve." Sound familiar? If you've recently been promoted to a higher leadership role, you

Last month, I received a call from a brilliant VP of Operations who'd just been passed over for the COO role—again. "I hit every metric, led successful transformations, and have an MBA from Wharton," she said, frustration evident in her voice. "What am I missing?" The answer, it turned out, wasn't in her resume. It was in three critical emotional intelligence blind spots that most high-performers never see coming—and that quietly sabotage C-suite promotions every day. The Pro