Welcome back, Conscious Leaders!

Welcome to our newsletter, “For the Love of Leadership,” where we share practical tools to support you on your leadership journey.

On Today's Menu:

• 🍂August as a threshold and invitation

• ⚡ Conscious Leadership Catalysts: Tools that help teams to deliver today AND have energy for tomorrow.

• 📚 Fresh Blog Bites: the hidden superpower behind high-performing teams, pressure that breaks people (and how to stop it), and what happened when we turned our own tool on ourselves. 

• 🧠 Brain Food: Sharon’s top read for the month

• 🌅 What’s on the Horizon?

But First, A Note From Our Founder.

August is a threshold month.

Summer stretches on, but the light shifts, evenings shorten, and the year’s final quarter begins to whisper into view.

Leaders know this season. It’s the time when urgency creeps in, goals press close, and the reaction to push harder, demand more, and accelerate at any cost tempts.

But urgency is not the same as leadership.

It’s not the time to push harder; it’s the time to reflect better.

Leadership isn’t measured only by what you achieve, it’s measured in what you cultivate, what you sustain, and what you leave behind. Your team will remember the projects you delivered, yes. But more than that, they will remember how it felt to deliver them with you.

This month, we spotlight conscious awareness—of our nervous systems, our teams, and the systems we shape. Because it’s not enough to be doing; we must also attend to how we’re being as we do.

So as you cross this August threshold, resist the reflex to accelerate. Instead, lead with presence, reflect with intention, and regulate before you respond.

Because this is the heart of conscious leadership: creating the conditions where people don’t just get the work done—they grow, they sustain, and they thrive in the process.

In awareness and alignment,
Sharon

Alright, Change-Makers, Let's Get to the Juicy Stuff

Mid-year slumps aren’t simply about motivation or time of year.

They’re about capacity–too much urgency and pressure, for too long, with too little rest and repair.

The CLEAR AAR helps teams recalibrate the system itself so teams can deliver today and have energy for tomorrow.

Explore the CLEAR AAR

Hot Off the Digital Press.

Why Traditional After Action Reviews Fail—and How Conscious Leadership Fixes Them

Most After Action Reviews fail because they skim the surface, measuring tasks, not the toll. Our CLEAR AAR shifts the lens, surfacing team dynamics and systemic pressures that make or break performance. Read more.

We Turned Our Own Leadership Tool on Ourselves—Here’s What Happened

We put our CLEAR AAR framework to the test—on ourselves. The result? Game-changing clarity.

The Problem Isn’t the People—It’s the Pressure

Burnout isn’t about bad hires—it’s about bad systems. Here’s how to fix that. 

What Is Co-Regulation—and Why High-Performing Teams Depend on It

Your nervous system sets the pace and your presence sets the tone. Discover why co-regulation is the most underrated tool in your leadership arsenal. Read more.

On Sharon’s Nightstand.

Leadership isn’t only about strategy and performance. It’s about people—and people carry histories, stress, and stories in their bodies. If we ignore that, we miss what most shapes how they show up at work. Here’s Sharon’s top pick of the month:

The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel van der Kolk

“Van der Kolk’s work is a reminder that what we call ‘burnout’ or ‘resistance’ is often the body protecting itself. If leaders want sustainable performance, we have to attend not just to output, but to nervous system health and healing.” – Sharon Podobnik Peterson

_{Please note that as an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.}

On the Horizon.

• 🔮 Coming soon: new pieces on unlocking hidden leadership potential, supporting culture change, regulating courage in the face of fear, and real-world stories of what fight/flight looks like in teams.

• ✉️We’re crafting Q4 content, and we want to hear from you. Hit reply and tell us: How are you really doing? What leadership questions are pressing on you right now?

• 🤝 Now partnering with organizations for Q4 and beyond. If you’re ready to ground your leaders in conscious, sustainable practices, let’s talk. Let’s talk.

💌 Before You Go…

Thanks for being part of this bold, brave community of conscious leaders.

We’re grateful to walk this path with you—through the slumps, the shifts, and the breakthroughs. 

Here’s to leading with presence, reflection, and renewal in the months ahead.

Until next time, steady on