Stress

Leadership Under Pressure: What Early Shock and Loss Taught Stephen Colbert About Endings

By Sylvia Lafair | May 28, 2026 |

Summary: Leadership is often misunderstood. Many assume great leaders are defined by confidence, charisma, or authority. Yet some of the most powerful leaders are shaped by something far less glamorous: pain, loss, shock, and what they choose to do with it. Here is a “hats off” tribute to Stephen Colbert as he redirects his career.…

Family, Culture, Crisis: The Three Forces Quietly Running Your Life and Leadership

By Sylvia Lafair | May 18, 2026 |

Summary: There are moments in life when everything feels uncertain. Your company restructures. Perhaps your marriage cracks or your child pulls away. War begins, or the market collapses. You may get a difficult health diagnosis. A fire burns through your town. An election divides a family. AI changes how people work overnight. And suddenly, what…

Ted Turner, Restless Energy, and the Leadership Glimmers That Changed the World

By Sylvia Lafair | May 15, 2026 |

Summary: Many years ago, I attended a conference focused on one enormous question: What do we need to do to make the planet healthier and more humane? The room itself felt electric. Among the dignitaries were John Denver, Ram Dass, and Ted Turner. To say Ted Turner commanded attention would be an understatement. He was…

Secret Stress: What Happens When We Carry Too Much for Too Long

By Sylvia Lafair | May 12, 2026 |

Summary: Stress has quietly become one of the defining experiences of modern life. Most people are under far more pressure than they admit, and many wear exhaustion like a badge of honor. But when stress goes unaddressed, it doesn’t simply disappear into the background. And perhaps most concerning of all, many people become so accustomed…

The GLIMMERS EFFECT: Reawakening Clarity, Courage, and Connection in a World Fueled by Fear

By Sylvia Lafair | May 5, 2026 |

Summary: Everywhere we turn, there’s noise, uncertainty, division, and pressure to perform. A constant low hum of anxiety that never quite shuts off. Leaders feel it. Teams feel it. Organizations live inside it. And here’s the uncomfortable truth: most leadership tools today are designed to help people cope with chaos, not transform it. Let’s go…

Leadership Under Fire: What Clarissa Ward Can Teach Every Leader About Courage and Calm

By Sylvia Lafair | April 30, 2026 |

Summary: Most people think leadership is tested in team meetings, boardrooms, and strategy sessions. Sometimes it is. But the deepest truths about leadership often show up when the stakes are high, emotions are raw, and no script exists. That is when we see underneath the charisma and charm. Here is a great example of positive…

America’s Addiction to Gun Violence: Can We Move from Triggers to Glimmers?

By Sylvia Lafair | April 28, 2026 |

Summary: Every time there is another mass shooting, another child killed by a stray bullet, another family shattered in seconds, the same question rises like smoke: why does this keep happening in the United States? Here is a perspective that can lead us out of so much darkness, despair, and fear. Dear Dr. Sylvia, Why…

Leading Through Uncertainty: Why Your 2026 Strategy Is Already Outdated

By Sylvia Lafair | April 7, 2026 |

Summary: Here’s the hard truth—most leadership strategies for 2026 are built for a world that no longer exists. Leadership today isn’t just about hybrid work or KPIs; it’s about navigating a human reset. The real shift? Moving from automatic triggers to conscious awareness. Organizations that thrive will embrace Human-Centered Leadership, seeing people as whole humans…

The GLIMMERS Leadership Flow Chart: 5 Steps to Real, Lasting Transformation

By Sylvia Lafair | March 31, 2026 |

Summary: Most leadership programs promise change. Better communication. Stronger teams. Less conflict. And for a while, things improve. Then stress hits, and everything snaps back. Why? Because most leadership work focuses on behavior. But behavior is just the surface. Underneath every reaction, every conflict, every miscommunication, there is a pattern. And if you don’t complete…

Revenge Quitting: The Workplace Warning Sign Leaders Are Ignoring

By Sylvia Lafair | March 17, 2026 |

Summary: Did someone just quit your company today? Not quietly, but with determination? Consider the fact that they quit to make a point. Welcome to the new workplace phenomenon known as “revenge quitting.” It’s when employees resign in anger or frustration to send a message to leadership about a workplace culture that has stopped listening.…