A Leader’s Purpose: Navigating Career and Life-Defining Moments with Clarity, Confidence, and Purpose for High-Level Leaders Ready to Lead with Purpose over Pressure

334| The Quiet Weight Leader's Carry (A Resilient Reflection)

Hey friend, this is a quieter episode. A real conversation, leader to leader. As the holidays slow things down for many people, leaders are often still carrying decisions, responsibility, and emotional weight in the background. Today, I wanted to pause and name that — and remind you what resilient leadership really looks like in seasons like this.

“The quiet weight leaders carry isn’t a flaw. It’s responsibility.” ~Tami Imlay

Want to Go Deeper?

If you’re ready to head into the new year with more clarity and less weight, you can book a Leadership Strategy Call to talk through what you’re carrying and what needs to shift.
👉 TamiMarieCoaching.com/call

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Leadership doesn’t turn off just because the season slows down

• Resilient leaders often carry responsibility quietly and consistently
• Feeling tired doesn’t mean you’re failing — it means you care
  Reflection helps leaders carry weight intentionally, not reactively
  

✨ The One Thing You Don’t Want to Miss

Why the quiet, steady leadership you’re offering right now matters more than you think — even if no one is saying it out loud.

💪 Challenge (if you choose to accept it):

Take a moment this week and name what you’ve been carrying as a leader. Decide what truly needs your attention — and what can stay in a holding pattern for now.

📝 Journal Prompt for Reflection:

What weight have I been carrying silently this season, and how can I carry it with more intention and less pressure?

 

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this spoke to you, I’d love for you to:
✅ Share it with a friend who needs this message!
✅ Leave a quick rating & review to help more people find A Leader’s Purpose podcast.
✅ Subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Thank you for being here, Friend. You are capable, you are seen, and you are ready to step into your calling. Choose joy until joy chooses you! 💛

• Find me: @tamimariecoaching on Instagram and Facebook
• LinkedIn @tamiimlay
• Email me:  tami@tamimariecoaching.com 
• My website is www.tamimariecoaching.com
• Send me a DM! I would love to connect with you!
• For more information on the song:
• Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat)
• Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2025

333| The Leader Sets the Weather (Resilient Team Series, Part 4)

Today, we’re talking about something most leaders underestimate, but EVERY team feels. Before you ever set direction, goals, or expectations, you’re already shaping the environment your team operates in. In this episode, I’m breaking down why your presence matters more than you think, how emotional regulation shows up in real leadership decisions, and what it actually looks like to lead with calm and resolve when things get hard.

💬 “You don’t control the storm — but you absolutely set the weather.” ~Tami 

Want to Go Deeper?

If this episode has you thinking, “I need my team to experience this, not just hear about it,” I’m offering sample sessions from my leadership workshops in early 2026.
Book a Leadership Strategy Call to explore which session fits your team right now:
👉 TamiMarieCoaching.com/call 

🔑 Key Takeaways:

•  Leadership starts with regulation before direction
•  Your team mirrors your pace, tone, and presence more than your words
•  Unregulated leadership creates invisible chaos and burnout
•  Calm paired with resolve builds trust under pressure
•  Presence matters more than availability

✨ The One Thing You Don’t Want to Miss:

➡️ Why calm alone isn’t enough — and how resolve is what keeps teams steady even when the pressure doesn’t let up.

💪 Challenge if you choose to accept it:

Before your next difficult conversation, pause and ask yourself:

What weather am I about to bring into this room — and is it what my team needs right now?

📝 Journal Prompt for Reflection:

How does my pace, tone, or presence shift when pressure rises — and what impact does that have on my team?

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this spoke to you, I’d love for you to:
✅ Share it with a friend who needs this message!
✅ Leave a quick rating & review to help more people find A Leader’s Purpose podcast.
✅ Subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Thank you for being here, Friend. You are capable, you are seen, and you are ready to step into your calling. Choose joy until joy chooses you! 💛

• Find me: @tamimariecoaching on Instagram and Facebook
• LinkedIn @tamiimlay
• Email me:  tami@tamimariecoaching.com 
• My website is www.tamimariecoaching.com
• Send me a DM! I would love to connect with you!
• For more information on the song:
• Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat)
• Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2025

332| Your Success Leaves Clues (Lessons I Learned in 2025, Part 2)

Today we are diving into part 2, but first… In Part 1, we talked about why your goals keep slipping and why you feel exhausted even when you think you’re “resting.” Today we’re going deeper — into the leadership patterns, clarity gaps, and subtle habits you don’t always notice… but absolutely shape everything about how you lead. These are the lessons that shifted my clients out of anxiety, out of reaction mode, and back into aligned leadership. And I can’t wait to share them with you.

💬“Your success leaves clues — but you’re not reading them.” ~Tami Imlay

Want to Go Deeper?

Ready to stop managing your lens and start mastering it?
Book a Leadership Strategy Call to discover which of your three filters is running your life and how to finally see clearly.
👉 TamiMarieCoaching.com/call

🔑 Key Takeaways

• Your patterns reveal more truth than your feelings
  • A 10-minute weekly review can change your entire leadership approach
  • Clarity is non-negotiable — and no one can give it to you
  • Delegation isn’t weakness; it’s multiplication
  • Control is exhausting… trust is energizing

✨ The One Thing You Don’t Want to Miss

The story of the CEO who increased revenue by 22% just by analyzing her patterns — not working harder. It’s the perfect example of what happens when you stop reacting and start leading.

💪 Challenge (if you choose to accept it):

Set a timer for 10 minutes this Friday.
Review your week as data — not emotion.
Look for one pattern you’ve been ignoring… and decide what it’s trying to tell you.

📝 Journal Prompt for Reflection:

Where in my leadership am I waiting for clarity from someone else — instead of deciding what I want first?

 

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this spoke to you, I’d love for you to:
✅ Share it with a friend who needs this message!
✅ Leave a quick rating & review to help more people find A Leader’s Purpose podcast.
✅ Subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Thank you for being here, Friend. You are capable, you are seen, and you are ready to step into your calling. Choose joy until joy chooses you! 💛

• Find me: @tamimariecoaching on Instagram and Facebook
• LinkedIn @tamiimlay
• Email me:  tami@tamimariecoaching.com 
• My website is www.tamimariecoaching.com
• Send me a DM! I would love to connect with you!
• For more information on the song:
• Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat)
• Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2025

331| Why Success Feels Heavier Than Ever — And What 2025 Taught Me About Fixing It Part 1

Today I’m sharing the first two lessons I learned in 2025 — the ones that shifted how I lead, how I rest, and how I protect the things that matter. These are simple but they’re powerful, and honestly, they changed how my clients moved through their year too. If success has been feeling heavier than it should… these two lessons are exactly where I’d start. 

💬 “Success doesn’t happen in the margins — it happens in the calendar.” ~Tami 

Want to Go Deeper?

Ready to stop managing your lens and start mastering it?
Book a Leadership Strategy Call to discover which of your three filters is running your life and how to finally see clearly. 👉 TamiMarieCoaching.com/call 

• If it’s not on your calendar, it’s not a priority — it’s a wish
  • You’re not tired… you’re misaligned
  • True rest is active and restorative, not numbing
  • Breakthrough often happens when your hands are busy, not when you’re checked out
  • Small scheduling shifts create big momentum

✨ The One Thing You Don’t Want to Miss

The moment you stopped confusing “checking out” with real rest — and how that realization can change your entire year.

💪 Challenge (if you choose to accept it):

Choose one priority (personal or professional) and put it on your calendar this week. Even 30 minutes. Treat that time as non-negotiable.

📝 Journal Prompt for Reflection:

Where am I scheduling everyone else’s priorities… but not my own?

 

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this spoke to you, I’d love for you to:
✅ Share it with a friend who needs this message!
✅ Leave a quick rating & review to help more people find A Leader’s Purpose podcast.
✅ Subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Thank you for being here, Friend. You are capable, you are seen, and you are ready to step into your calling. Choose joy until joy chooses you! 💛

• Find me: @tamimariecoaching on Instagram and Facebook
• LinkedIn @tamiimlay
• Email me:  tami@tamimariecoaching.com 
• My website is www.tamimariecoaching.com
• Send me a DM! I would love to connect with you!
• For more information on the song:
• Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat)
• Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2025

330| Compassion Without Compromise: The Backbone of Resiliency (The Resilient Team Series #3)

Today we’re talking about one of the hardest and most important parts of leadership: holding high standards and leading with genuine compassion. This is the backbone of a resilient team — and honestly, it’s the part most leaders secretly struggle with. I’m sharing a story from my Air Force days that completely shifted how I understand ethical leadership, and what it really looks like to care deeply without lowering the bar.

“Compassion without standards becomes chaos. Standards without compassion become cruelty.” ~Tami Imlay

Want to Go Deeper?

Ready to stop circling your calling and finally get clear on what’s next?
Take the Purpose Map Quiz—just 7 powerful questions to uncover what’s keeping you stuck and the next aligned step you’re meant to take.

👉 Discover your Purpose Archetype now: TamiMarieCoaching.com/quiz

 

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• A resilient team is compassionate — but never at the cost of standards
• Ethical leadership sits at the intersection of integrity, accountability, and care
• Avoiding honesty creates anxiety, not safety
• Calling people up (not out) builds confidence, dignity, and trust
• Lowering expectations to “be kind” backfires every time

✨ The One Thing You Don’t Want to Miss:

The real meaning of compassion in leadership — and why holding the line is sometimes the most caring thing you’ll ever do.

💪 Challenge if you choose to accept it:

Identify one area where you’ve been lowering your standards to “keep the peace.” This week, raise the standard back up — and communicate it clearly and kindly.

📝 Journal Prompt for Reflection:

Where in my leadership have I confused compassion with lowering expectations, and what would compassion without compromise look like instead?

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this spoke to you, I’d love for you to:
✅ Share it with a friend who needs this message!
✅ Leave a quick rating & review to help more people find A Leader’s Purpose podcast.
✅ Subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Thank you for being here, Friend. You are capable, you are seen, and you are ready to step into your calling. Choose joy until joy chooses you! 💛

• Find me: @tamimariecoaching on Instagram and Facebook
• LinkedIn @tamiimlay
• Email me:  tami@tamimariecoaching.com 
• My website is www.tamimariecoaching.com
• Send me a DM! I would love to connect with you!
• For more information on the song:
• Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat)
• Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2025

329| Tuesday Habits: Building Team Resilience Before You Need It (#2 in the Resilient Team Series)

Today we’re talking about the kind of resilience no one applauds because no one sees it. The quiet reps. The basics. The “Tuesday mornings” that actually shape how you lead when everything tilts. I’m sharing the moment I finally understood what the military had been teaching me all along… plus one Kobe Bryant story that every leader needs to hear.

💬 “Resilience isn’t built in the trauma — it’s built on Tuesday mornings.”

Want to Go Deeper?

Ready to stop managing your lens and start mastering it?
Book a Leadership Strategy Call to discover which of your three filters is running your life and how to finally see clearly. 👉 TamiMarieCoaching.com/call 

 

 

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Resilience comes from the basics you practice long before the pressure shows up
• Crisis doesn’t create strength — it reveals it
• Your “Tuesday habits” shape your team’s confidence and stability
• Clarity and presence build trust faster than perfection ever will

✨ The One Thing You Don’t Want to Miss:

➡️ The Kobe story — and why skipping the basics is the fastest way to weaken your team.

💪 Challenge if you choose to accept it:

Choose one Tuesday habit to practice this week — a pause, a clear conversation, or a small “what if” drill with your team.

📝 Journal Prompt for Reflection:

Where in my leadership have I been skipping the basics… and how is it showing up in my team?

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this spoke to you, I’d love for you to:
✅ Share it with a friend who needs this message!
✅ Leave a quick rating & review to help more people find A Leader’s Purpose podcast.
✅ Subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Thank you for being here, Friend. You are capable, you are seen, and you are ready to step into your calling. Choose joy until joy chooses you! 💛

• Find me: @tamimariecoaching on Instagram and Facebook
• LinkedIn @tamiimlay
• Email me:  tami@tamimariecoaching.com 
• My website is www.tamimariecoaching.com
• Send me a DM! I would love to connect with you!
• For more information on the song:
• Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat)
• Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2025

328| The Pop Quiz No One Studied For: Leading When the World Shifts- The Resilient Team Series

Crisis doesn’t reveal your plan — it reveals your posture.

Nobody hands you a syllabus for crisis leadership.

It just shows up, taps you on the shoulder and says "you're up." In this first episode of our Resilient Leadership series, we're diving into what actually happens when everything shifts and your team is looking at you, not the plan.

I share my experience on an Air Force crisis response team and why the person with the biggest title isn't always who you want leading when chaos hits. Plus, what my new client discovered when they realized they had zero idea who on their team could actually handle pressure.

Want to Go Deeper?

Ready to stop managing your lens and start mastering it?
Book a Leadership Strategy Call to discover which of your three filters is running your life and how to finally see clearly. 👉 TamiMarieCoaching.com/call 

🔑 Key Takeaways:

1. The three crisis realities every leader must know (and why most leadership training misses them completely)
2. Why your team reads your breathing before they hear your words
3. The exact four things to say when crisis hits (short, clear, unshakeable, human)
4. How to identify who should actually be on your crisis team (hint: it's not about titles)
5. Why uncertainty spreads faster than facts and what to do about it
6. The difference between suppressing emotions and regulating them for your team

The One Thing You Don’t Want to Miss:

Your team isn't reading your crisis plan. They're reading your nervous system.

In crisis, people don't follow procedures - they follow your breathing pattern, your shoulder tension, that micro-pause before you speak. You don't need all the answers. You need to be the person who refuses to panic first. That's it. That's the whole game. Your calm becomes a resource your team borrows to survive.

Challenge if you choose to accept it:

Look at your team right now. If crisis hit tomorrow, who would you tap for communication? Who would study the room? Would it be you? If you don't know, that's your first step. Start observing who stays steady when small stressors hit. Those are your crisis leaders, regardless of their titles

📝 Journal Prompt for Reflection:

• What is my default response when uncertainty hits - do I go silent or flood with information?

• Who do I need to be in order to lead (not what do I need to know)?

• When has my energy shifted an entire room, for better or worse?

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this spoke to you, I’d love for you to:
✅ Share it with a friend who needs this message!
✅ Leave a quick rating & review to help more people find A Leader’s Purpose podcast.
✅ Subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Thank you for being here, Friend. You are capable, you are seen, and you are ready to step into your calling. Choose joy until joy chooses you! 💛

• Find me: @tamimariecoaching on Instagram and Facebook
• LinkedIn @tamiimlay
• Email me:  tami@tamimariecoaching.com 
• My website is www.tamimariecoaching.com
• Send me a DM! I would love to connect with you!
• For more information on the song:
• Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat)
• Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2025

 

327| The Invisible Filter That's Hijacking Your Leadership

You know that feeling when you walk into a room and instantly know who's going to irritate you? Or when feedback makes your body tense before your brain even processes the words? That's not intuition. That's your Leadership Lens at work. Today I'm pulling back the curtain on the invisible filter that's making your decisions before you even realize it, and why this is the real reason all those leadership books aren't fixing what you thought they would.

💬 "Most leaders spend their whole careers trying to change what they're looking at instead of adjusting how they're seeing it."

Want to Go Deeper?

Ready to stop managing your lens and start mastering it?
Book a Leadership Strategy Call to discover which of your three filters is running your life and how to finally see clearly. 👉 TamiMarieCoaching.com/call

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Your Leadership Lens has 3 filters making decisions before you do: Core drivers (unchangeable), personality wiring (your 30-year-old autopilot), and internal narratives (stories on repeat)

• You're not broken, your lens is just outdated - like wearing scratched 20-year-old prescription glasses and wondering why you keep hitting the same walls

• Surface solutions can't fix root issues - It's like putting premium gas in a car with a broken transmission

• When you bring things to light, they lose power over you - This is why awareness without integration is just noise

• Your next level isn't about doing more, it's about seeing differently - And that starts with seeing your lens

✨ The One Thing You Don't Want to Miss:

➡️ The Reed Hastings story at minute 8 - How the Netflix CEO almost destroyed the company because his lens was "I'm smarter than everyone" and what shifted when he finally changed it. This is the pattern I see in every executive who's stuck.

💪 Challenge if you choose to accept it:

This week, notice your physical reaction BEFORE your brain processes feedback. When someone challenges you in a meeting, pause and ask: "Is this my lens or is this actually happening?" Track what you discover. Your patterns will shock you.

📝 Journal Prompt for Reflection:

"What criticism from my past am I still hearing in today's conversations? How is my 20-year-old lens affecting my current leadership?"

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this spoke to you, I’d love for you to:
✅ Share it with a friend who needs this message!
✅ Leave a quick rating & review to help more people find A Leader’s Purpose podcast.
✅ Subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Thank you for being here, Friend. You are capable, you are seen, and you are ready to step into your calling. Choose joy until joy chooses you! 💛

• Find me: @tamimariecoaching on Instagram and Facebook
• LinkedIn @tamiimlay
• Email me:  tami@tamimariecoaching.com 
• My website is www.tamimariecoaching.com
• Send me a DM! I would love to connect with you!
• For more information on the song:
• Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat)
• Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2025

326| How to Lead a Fixed-Mindset Team When You're Growth-Minded (You're Asking the Wrong Question)

You're a growth-minded leader. You see possibilities everywhere. You believe your team can do more, be more, achieve more.

So why does it feel like you're the only one?

Why does every conversation about change feel like pushing a boulder uphill? Why do your ideas land with silence? Why does it feel like you're dragging them forward instead of leading them there?

You've probably told yourself: "They're just stuck. They're comfortable. They don't want to grow."

But what if that's not the real problem?

This week, I'm sharing a question a client asked me that I cannot stop thinking about. And I promise—the answer is going to surprise you.

 

💬  "You can't lead authentically from someone else's blueprint. When you're leading from alignment—from deep self-knowledge and trust in your own process—your team feels it. They don't need you to convince them. They need you to be so grounded that they feel safe to discover who they are."

Want to Go Deeper?

Ready to stop performing growth and start embodying it?
Book an Aligned Leadership Call and get strategic clarity on who you are as a leader and how to create the conditions your team actually needs.
👉 TamiMarieCoaching.com/call 

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Being growth-minded about yourself doesn't automatically mean you're leading growth-mindedly. When you label your team as "not getting it" or "resistant," you're actually operating from fixed-mindset patterns disguised as frustration.
• The 4 hidden fixed-mindset patterns growth-minded leaders fall into: (1) "They just don't get it" assumes they CAN'T see what you see. (2) "I need to convince them" treats leadership like a sales pitch. (3) "They're not changing fast enough" operates from YOUR timeline, not theirs. (4) Labeling them as "fixed-mindset" is the most fixed-mindset thing you can do.
• Your team can feel the incongruence. When your words say "we're all about growth!" but your energy says "why aren't you growing faster?!", that gap kills trust and creates the resistance you're trying to overcome.
• Growth-minded leadership is like tending a garden. You can't force a seed to grow by yelling at it. But you CAN create the right conditions—good soil, consistent water, adequate sunlight, space for roots to expand. When those conditions are right, growth becomes inevitable.
• Stop trying to get buy-in. Start creating ownership. Buy-in means "agree with my answer." Ownership means "help me create the answer." When people feel ownership, growth happens naturally.

✨ The One Thing You Don’t Want to Miss:

➡️ You ARE the growth-minded leader you believe you are. But growth-minded leadership doesn't mean fixing your team. It means trusting them enough to create the conditions where they can choose growth for themselves. It means examining YOUR identity, YOUR alignment, YOUR limiting beliefs first. It means being so grounded in who you are that your team feels safe enough to discover who they are.

Stop asking: "How do I lead a fixed-mindset team?"
Start asking: "How do I create an environment where growth becomes inevitable?"

 

💪 Challenge if you choose to accept it:

This week, catch yourself when you start thinking "they just don't get it" or "they're not changing fast enough." Pause and ask: What fixed belief am I holding about their capacity right now? What would shift if I trusted their timeline instead of forcing mine?

📝 Journal Prompt for Reflection:

"What do I actually believe about my team's capacity—not what I SAY I believe, but what I believe when I'm frustrated on a Tuesday afternoon? And what would change if I examined MY fixed-mindset patterns before trying to fix theirs?"

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this spoke to you, I’d love for you to:
✅ Share it with a friend who needs this message!
✅ Leave a quick rating & review to help more people find A Leader’s Purpose podcast.
✅ Subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Thank you for being here, Friend. You are capable, you are seen, and you are ready to step into your calling. Choose joy until joy chooses you! 💛

• Find me: @tamimariecoaching on Instagram and Facebook
• LinkedIn @tamiimlay
• Email me:  tami@tamimariecoaching.com 
• My website is www.tamimariecoaching.com
• Send me a DM! I would love to connect with you!
• For more information on the song:
• Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat)
• Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2025

325| Executive Presence Is a Lie (Here's What Actually Makes People Follow You)

Hey Friend!

You've been told you need executive presence. Stand taller. Speak with authority. Dress the part. Master your vocal tonality. Control the room.

But here's what nobody's saying: if you're exhausted from being "on" all the time, if you're walking into the boardroom looking the part but feeling like an imposter inside, the problem isn't your presence.

The problem is you're performing a role instead of embodying who you actually are.

I've worked with dozens of C-suite and government leaders who have all the right moves, all the right credentials, and they're still paralyzed by self-doubt. They're wondering when someone's going to realize they're faking it.

And no amount of power poses or wardrobe upgrades is going to fix that.

💬 Quote

"You can't fake alignment. You can't perform confidence. The grounded certainty that makes people want to follow you? That only comes from knowing exactly who you are and leading from that place."

Want to Go Deeper?

Ready to stop performing and start leading from your authentic identity?
Book an Aligned Leadership Call and get strategic clarity on your next step.
👉 TamiMarieCoaching.com/call

🔑 Key Takeaways:

• Executive presence isn't something you perform—it's something you embody. When you're trying to project an identity you haven't fully clarified, people can feel the gap. They may respect your title, but they don't feel your authority.

• The real issue? Identity crisis, not presence crisis. You've been promoted into a role that requires you to be someone you're not sure you are. The title says C-suite. The internal identity says "I'm still figuring this out." That gap kills presence.

• Performance-based leadership is costing you everything. Every decision feels like it could expose you. You're exhausted from being "on" all the time. You avoid bold moves. Your team respects your title but doesn't fully trust your leadership. And you go home feeling like an imposter.

✨ The 3 Elements of Authentic Presence:

1. Identity Clarity
   You can't lead with conviction if you don't know what convicts you. Most executives skip this step—they spend 20 years becoming the leader everyone needed them to be without ever asking, "Who am I underneath all this armor?" Once you have clarity on your core motivations, values, and how you're wired, the "how" becomes natural.
2. Belief Alignment
   If you're walking into the boardroom thinking "I don't belong here" or "What if they realize I'm a fraud?", that belief will undermine everything. Your authority. Your decisions. Your credibility. The trust you're building. Presence requires internal conviction, and that means rewiring the limiting beliefs that keep you second-guessing yourself.
3. Embodiment
   This is where most leadership programs stop. They give you tools and tactics but don't help you embody the shift. When you've done the identity work and paired it with belief work, your presence stops being something you project and becomes something you inhabit. You walk into a room differently because you ARE different.

✨ The One Thing You Don't Want to Miss:

When you lead from alignment, your presence isn't something you have to think about. It's just who you are. People trust it. They follow it. They want to be led by you. Not because you're performing—because you're grounded in exactly who you are.

💪 Challenge if you choose to accept it:

Notice when you're performing versus when you're being. Pay attention to the moments you feel like you're "on" versus the moments you feel grounded. That gap is your roadmap to alignment.

📝 Journal Prompt for Reflection:

"Who am I underneath all the armor I've built to get here? What would change if I led from THAT person instead of performing the role I think I should play?"

🎯 How This Aligns with the SHINE Framework:

S - Strategic Clarity: Uncover who you actually are—your wiring, values, core identity, and strengths
H - Hone Your Conviction: Rewire the limiting beliefs undermining your authority
I - Integrate Identity and Impact: Align your authentic self with your leadership role so it stops feeling like a performance
N - Navigate with Intentionality: Build decision-making frameworks rooted in YOUR identity, not someone else's playbook
E - Embody Aligned Leadership: Fully inhabit your leadership. No more performing, no proving, just presence.

 

Enjoyed the Episode?

If this spoke to you, I’d love for you to:
✅ Share it with a friend who needs this message!
✅ Leave a quick rating & review to help more people find A Leader’s Purpose podcast.
✅ Subscribe so you never miss an episode!

Thank you for being here, Friend. You are capable, you are seen, and you are ready to step into your calling. Choose joy until joy chooses you! 💛

• Find me: @tamimariecoaching on Instagram and Facebook
• LinkedIn @tamiimlay
• Email me:  tami@tamimariecoaching.com 
• My website is www.tamimariecoaching.com
• Send me a DM! I would love to connect with you!
• For more information on the song:
• Guitalele's Happy Place by Stefan Kartenberg (c) copyright 2017 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution (3.0) license. https://dig.ccmixter.org/files/JeffSpeed68/56194 Ft: Kara Square (mindmapthat)
• Copyright Daily Choosing Joy LLC 2025

executive presence, authentic leadership, leadership identity, C-suite coaching, imposter syndrome leadership, embodied leadership, leadership alignment, performance vs presence, authentic authority, leadership conviction