Leadership

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Soft Power for Success

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | June 16, 2025 |

When setting your goals, it’s important to think strategically about how we can achieve them. One concept that is often overlooked in leadership is soft power—the ability to influence others without formal authority or control. Take 10 minutes today to map out your top three to five goals for the second half of 2025. Then,…

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From Problems to Possibilities

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | May 23, 2025 |

Change is inevitable, but how your team responds to it makes all the difference. In a recent conversation with executives, one recurring challenge emerged—how to stay strategically aligned while adapting to unexpected external changes, like shifts in federal policy or industry regulations. It’s easy for teams to get stuck in a cycle of worrying about…

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5 Steps to Great Leadership

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | April 15, 2025 |

Recently, I was in a meeting with a group of really smart coaches. One of them shared these 5 Steps of Great Leadership. No-one in the group could find the citation or an attribution for these steps. So if you know where they came from, please share in the comments below. But in the meantime,…

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Beyond the Resume: 3 Power Moves for Your Executive Job Search

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | March 27, 2025 |

An executive job search isn’t just about having an impressive resume and applying for jobs through job boards such as LinkedIn—it’s about visibility, strategy, and meaningful connections. Too often, leaders focus solely on their credentials when what truly sets them apart is how they engage with their network and position themselves in their industry. On…

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No pain, no gain. Not always.

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | February 18, 2025 |

I’ll be honest here. I have a love/hate relationship with the phrase “No Pain, No Gain.” On the one hand, as a leader, you need to do hard things. That’s not only part of your leadership remit, it’s part of being human and learning, growing, and developing. It’s not easy work but you don’t get…

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Leading with Values: Reenergize Your Work

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | November 7, 2024 |
For this article by Jo Ilfeld, CEO of Incite to Leadership on leading with values the image shows Jo Ilfeld with a green background and the title of the article.

Have you ever had a situation at work that totally exhausted or completely frustrated you? Feeling demoralized at work may stem from a deeper issue — your core values might not be aligned with the situation at hand. Recently, I worked with a client who was exhausted by a work challenge. After some reflection, we…

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Best Advice for New Grads

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | October 23, 2024 |
For this article by Jo Ilfeld, CEO of Incite to Leadership on the best advice for new grads shows a set of steps made out of wooden blocks.

An edited version of this article appeared in Forbes Coaches Council If you could go back in time, what advice would you have given your newly graduated self? I wrote this latest newsletter this past summer when I was in Carmel for my third annual “work-cation” with my husband. I’ve come to value this time…

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Are You Rewarding Bad Behavior?

By Jo Ilfeld, PhD | September 4, 2024 |

I received some advice recently from my dog trainer after I shared my frustrations about one of the things that my puppy does that annoys me. The trainer pointed out that my puppy kept engaging in certain behaviors because, unknowingly, I was rewarding him with attention. This got me thinking about how it translates to…

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