#112 What Got You HERE Won't Get You THERE

In this solo episode of The Culture Coach Podcast, Wendy dives into a common but critical leadership crossroads: realizing that the leadership style, team structure, and culture that got you this far… may not be what gets you to your next level.

Inspired by a real coaching conversation with a new CEO, Wendy walks through the process of stepping into a broader, more strategic leadership role. She explores questions every senior leader should be asking themselves mid-year:

• Is my leadership philosophy still serving me and my team?
• Do my mission, vision, and core values still align with where we’re headed?
• Does my team have what they need—clarity, direction, support—to truly thrive?
• Am I showing up with the energy, intention, and strategy required for what’s next?

Wendy also shares practical ways to reset your leadership approach, reengage your team, and recalibrate your goals for the back half of 2025—so you don’t just finish the year strong, but with alignment and purpose.

Plus, get a sneak peek into her upcoming programs launching in September:
 👉 The Empowered CEO™
👉 Free Culture Strategy Session – Aug 19

Whether you're a CEO stepping into a bigger role or an HR leader shaping the future of your culture, this episode is a timely reminder that growth requires evolution—and intentional leadership is the key.

____________________________
With 25+ years of leadership experience, spanning multiple roles across corporations and non-profits, I have gained a wealth of experience in understanding what makes organizations successful.

FREE Culture Roadmap Webinar Series: http://CultureCoachWendy.com/WebinarSeries

FREE DOWNLOAD - The Culture Strategy Audit:
https://culturecoachwendy.com/cultureaudit/

Online Community - The Culture Strategy Lab:
https://culturecoachwendy.com/strategylab/

FREE Online Mini Course - The C.E.O. Reset:
https://culturecoachwendy.mykajabi.com/offers/zqP7fYvR/checkout

CONNECT WITH ME
Website: CultureCoachWendy.com
LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/wendybrand/
Instram: Instagram.com/culturecoachwendy
YouTube: YouTube.com/@CultureCoachWendy

The CultureCoach Podcast Page: CultureCoachWendy.com/podcasts/

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:10

You are listening to the Culture Coach Podcast. This is the place where CEOs and people first leaders come to boost productivity, extinguish burnout, and cultivate a vibrant culture that reflects a fully integrated mission, vision, and core values. Get ready to take your culture to the next level. I am your host, Wendy Brand. Welcome back to the Culture Coach Podcast. I'm Wendy Brand, your host. So excited to have you back. And today is a solo episode, just me and you. And I'm going to be talking a little bit about a conversation that I had with a client, and it got me thinking just, you know, the overall theme of what got you here won't get you there. And I think for me, what it caused, so I'll tell you the situation. So a client of mine in a new CEO role was really struggling with how to lead in the CEO role. They'd been at the C-suite level before, but the C CEO role is a little different, as you know. And so one of the things we were working on is helping her to really look more strategically across the organization. Do some obviously focusing on culture and looking at how she leads. Like what is her leadership philosophy? And in that conversation, you know, we uncovered that her leadership philosophy previously, it was a lot of um, you know, doing and leading. So she had results that she was responsible for as a contributor in her role previously and leading her team. And now she has an opportunity to look more strategically, decide where she wants to play to her strength. Is she better at um, you know, going out and being that face of the organization, or should she be focused more on the marketing and let her sales team step up? We just we had a we really dug deep into first of all her strengths and then where she wanted to play. And when we looked at that and looked across the organization, there were a couple things that needed to happen because she couldn't lead the way she had before. She needed to broaden her um not necessarily depth, right? But um to stretch across the organization and have that holistic view. And one of the first things we did is we looked to make sure, number one, that she had the right people in the right place that allowed her to lead in an impactful, powerful way. And then also for her team of her leadership team to be living to their best ability and to living, leading in their strengths as well. And so it was over several different sessions where we dug into defining what her strengths are, defining where she wants to lead, and then determining what her leadership philosophy is. For example, how are decisions going to be made? How does she want decisions to be made? Should they, does everything need to roll through her? Or to what level will other will the leadership team be making those decisions? What what is what are the most critical things that need to come across her desk, basically? And so um we talked a lot about that. And then obviously, you know, in any organization, when the a new leader steps in, the mission of the organization doesn't change, but the vision may change. And depending on whether you have a board or not, that board um oversight may request you to stay on that same vision, or you may be a CEO coming in with being brought in to help make changes and a vision change is required in order to scale and grow the organization. So looking at the vision and deciding what needs to change, are we still headed in the same direction or do we need to make some shifts? And then believe it or not, looking at the core values. Well, I don't believe core values need to change very often. I still think in a leadership changeover, there is value in looking value, there's value in looking at the core values again and making sure that as the leader of the, as the new leader of the organization, do you still expect people to behave in the same way that they did before under the previous leadership? So even if the vision doesn't change, do the behaviors that roll up to your core values need to change? Is there a value or two that might need to change? And if your vision is changing, you definitely need to look at those values and make sure that it's going to get you where you need to be. And so what got you here won't necessarily get you there. I think it's such a great um, it's a it's a good time in the year as we're heading up the backside of 2025 and looking back on where we've been so far this year, really taking inventory on what's been working, what hasn't been working, what goals have we met, what goals may have been too much of a stretch. And if we're still being held accountable for those goals, what needs to change now in order to get us there? Because if what you've done in the first half of the year didn't work, maybe something needs to be reprioritized. But if it's if something isn't working, you have to look at changing, pivoting. And, you know, there is um there's pivoting and there's iterating. And if you're going to iterate on something, the goal's not changing, but maybe you're slightly tweaking how you're getting things done. But if the goal needs to change and you need to pivot, it may require a whole new direction. And so I just encourage you to think about where you're headed in the second half of 2025. And is what got you here going to get you there to the end of the year, meeting and achieving those goals that you've set for yourself, for your team, for your organization. It's also a good time to check in with your team and make sure they're still aligned with the vision and the goals that you've set. Because what can happen is halfway through the year, maybe priorities shifted, as I'm sure at least one did. And they may be off running on a track that they believe is still a priority. But meanwhile, months ago, you know, you discussed it with the board or you discussed it with one or two of your leaders, which I've seen happen with some of the leaders that I work with, where there's a couple of your leadership team that you may go to, but then the rest of the leadership team wasn't made aware. And so if you're making a pivot on a goal or a strategy that the rest of the organization is following you on and you're leading in that direction, but you've decided to pivot, just make sure that the rest of the organization is aware. And then I'll say too, as a leader, look at your leadership philosophy. Check in with yourself on how you're leading. So, not just the goals, but how are you bringing what what is the level? What is the energy level that you're bringing to work every day? Do you feel just kind of beat down and exhausted halfway through the year that you probably should have taken a break this summer, um, but didn't get to for one reason or another? Really take stock of how you're feeling, what your energy level is, and what you might need to reset or regroup in order to push forward to the next level. One of the things that I'm launching in September for CEOs specifically, I actually have an HR program that launches in September and a CEO program, but the program for CEOs, the empowered CEO, we're going to be digging into what is your leadership philosophy? Where are you headed? Where do you need to stop and recalibrate? And then as we move into 2026, thinking strategically about where you want to go with your leadership style, with your team dynamics, and even with culture as a whole in your organization. So that's something that you can do as well. Um, you can join us, obviously, or do that on your own. Really start planning for maybe September or October to schedule some time to put aside where you really take a couple steps back, check in with where you are and where you're headed as you move into Q4 and as you prepare for 2026. Now's the time to think about these things. I know we're just a little over halfway through the year, but it's just always a good time to stop, do a gut check, and then move forward. So if you check in with yourself and see what might need to shift to get you to a new place by the end of the year or moving into 2026, you've looked at the organization, what might need to change, what roles might need to change, mission, vision, core values. Is everything still aligned? The other thing to look at really are your team, the team dynamics and individuals. Depending on when you do performance assessments and how you look at performance in your organization, one of the things that I've experienced in moving leadership roles is the team that you inherit and the expectations that you have of them, that there may be some limiting beliefs that you have about your team and what they're able to accomplish. And so before you grow in the towel, now's a great time to really make sure that for your for your team that you are being clear on expectations, making sure that they understand what is expected of them, how you expect it to be done, whether that's through an assessment or a one-on-one that you do every other week, make sure that they're clear on expectations so that when you get to the end of the year or whenever your assessment period is, they're pretty clear on whether they've been living up to expectations or not. You've probably heard it said that performance shouldn't be, nothing should be a surprise when it comes to review time. It's something, it's conversations that have should have already been had. And even as much as asking for development plans or a work plan, how they're going to, if they're falling behind, what they're going to do to make those, make the necessary changes to get to where they need to be. Because what got them here may not get them there. There may be development needed. There may be additional skills that are needed. So make sure you check in and don't just assume that they're not doing the work the way that you would want them to do it because they don't want to or they're rebelling or whatever reason may be in your head. Make sure that you are clear on expectations, finding out why they're not getting things done the way you want them done, or to the level that you'd like them, and then giving them the opportunity to remove any barriers that they believe are there, whether that's additional development or coaching or even shadowing other individuals that are doing those activities well. Make sure that you're equipping your team to get their job done. That's it. I, you know, I think to sum it up, I love to change. I love, I love change and I love growth. And so I think that's why for me, when I think about what got me here won't get me there, it kind of checks a couple boxes for me. It means that I've got higher aspirations and goals, that I'm looking forward and continuing to evolve as a person, as a leader, as a worker. And we should all aspire to continue to grow and learn and change because otherwise, what are we here for? That's it. I hope this has been helpful. Hang in there, keep working on your culture, be intentional about your leadership, about your culture, and it'll all work out. Thanks so much for listening. And if you want to learn more about my programs launching in September, the Empowered CEO, you can find that at culturecoachwendy.com forward slash CEO. And join us for a free culture strategy session on August 19th to learn more about the culture program that's also starting in September. Thanks so much.