The Leadership Investor

If you’re reading this, one (or more) things are true. I’ve worked with you as a coach or facilitator. You’ve heard me speak. We’ve talked about workplace stuff (job searches, culture challenges, annoying bosses).

Or I found your business card on a movie theater floor, admired your taste in fonts, and decided you had leadership potential. Stranger things have happened.

Regardless of how this is showing up on your screen - welcome.

I know your inbox is a competitive sport. Everyone has a newsletter. Everyone has thoughts. And everyone claims their content will “only take two minutes.” This one is designed to be worth your time. Punchy, practical, and pithy. No motivational poster energy. (Although speaking of motivational posters…if you want a giggle, check out a favorite site.)

The Leadership Investor is about how leaders actually grow. Not through hacks or hustle, but through intentional investment - mental, emotional, psychological, spiritual. Where you put your attention, what you practice, what you stop tolerating, and what you decide is finally worth doing well.

This newsletter will show up regularly but not relentlessly. It will offer insight you can use immediately. And it will respect that your time, like your leadership, is a finite and valuable resource.

Consider this a place to pause, recalibrate, and invest wisely.

I’m glad you’re here. And if you don’t want to be here - click unsubscribe. Easy peasy.

So…I wrote a book. It’s the culmination of my childhood fantasy, the topic of my business school application essays, and the coda to my teenage job as a library page. (I shelved books for minimum wage. We do what we must when we’re too young to work at the mall.)

In this section of the newsletter, I’ll be sharing concepts from Developing Your Business Leaders: A Guide to Investing at All Levels - bringing them to life and helping you apply the lessons. This is where my book shows up, in a “this idea has been pressure tested in real organizations with real consequences” way.

What’s the book about? It’s a reimagining of what it takes to develop leaders at work, something I’ve been doing in various ways and settings for multiple decades. Unlike most books, this one doesn’t start with the “how” - how to teach concepts and competencies, how to hire a coach, how to optimize LinkedIn Learning. This book presents a business case for leadership investment (upleveling from just development) that begins with the “why” - because if we can’t connect being better leaders to the success of the organizations and people those leaders lead, then the how isn’t going to make a difference.

It’s a field guide for those in organizations charged with investing in leaders, and it’s a field guide for individual leaders who deem themselves worthy of investment. It’s about designing an approach that will achieve a return.

And who doesn’t want that?

Jumpstart the next newsletter by reading the sample chapters - questions and observations welcome.

I’m a ham. Put me on a stage and I light up like a supernova. And when I speak (at conferences and in classrooms), I hear three things consistently:

Hmm. There’s something here.

In this section, I’ll share where I’m speaking or facilitating next, what leaders there are grappling with, and why those conversations matter right now. If I’ve recently been on a stage or in a room where something sharp or hopeful emerged, I’ll bring that insight back here.

You’ll also see the themes I’m talking about most so you can borrow the tools, the language, and the questions and use them to invest in yourself (and your teams).

Good leadership ideas should travel.

Here’s a teaser - this week I’m facilitating the DiSC assessment with a fabulous consumer goods organization. The themes - a shared language for understanding our own and each other’s behavioral tendencies so we can come together more fluidly and frequently.

Leadership requires self-awareness - what motivates us, how others perceive us, our go-to ways of communicating and contemplating and collaborating. With self-awareness comes self-empowerment - to dial up and dial down those go-to behaviors to meet others where they are. That’s the growth mindset - accepting ourselves while recognizing we are not fixed or final.

I’ll let you know how the workshop goes.

If you’ve read my LinkedIn posts, you know I have a split personality. There’s workplace Tina, with 30 years of cross-industry and cross-functional corporate and consulting experience. The honors graduate, the published author, the executive coach and former professor.

Then there’s intuitive Tina, the professional tarot card reader, decades-long student of astrology, and believer in synchronicity and manifestation.

I’ve spent years integrating those sides into a badass and bubbly whole person, a workplace advisor who harnesses her inner voice in service of her clients.

So yes, in this newsletter, there will be tarot. Sometimes astrology. Always reflection. But before you panic and punch unsubscribe, this is not about predictions or vibes. It’s about pattern recognition, self-trust, and decision clarity - tools leaders have used for centuries. And why not use all the tools in our toolbox - the mundane AND the magical?

In each issue, I’ll offer a reflective prompt or pull a card and translate it directly into workplace reality. Think perspective, not mysticism, with the goal of helping you lead with more clarity. No crystals required. (Although I do have a few on my desk.)

We launch this newsletter with a double whammy of a beautiful full moon in Leo and the Four of Pentacles. Full moons are manifestation, a cycle peaking, and everything being illuminated.

Leo full moons shine a bright, theatrical light on identity, pride, and what we want to be recognized for. They ask: What matters to me? What am I claiming as mine? The Four of Pentacles responds by slowing that energy down and grounding it. It’s about containment, discernment, and protecting what actually has value.

Together, they’re less about clinging out of fear and more about conscious stewardship. The Leo moon amplifies desire and visibility. The Four of Pentacles asks you to choose where you place your weight.

This pairing is a reminder that confidence doesn’t have to be loud to be anchored. Real leadership comes from knowing what you value and investing in it intentionally, rather than scattering yourself for approval or applause.

“Le mieux est l'ennemi du bien.” - Questions sur l'Encyclopédie, 1770

To translate Voltaire into English, better (or best) is the enemy of good. I’ve talked about launching this newsletter for…years. And had to find the courage to get it out of my head, out of the “shoulds,” out of the possible and into reality.

Now it’s out. You might not love it. You might unsubscribe. Or you might share it with friends after reading it multiple times and wait anxiously for the next issue. That’s the thing about what we as leaders create - we can shape the launch but cannot control the reaction. I’m not the boss of you.

I’ll close each issue with three things to carry forward. Something to try or to just notice. Consider it a micro-allocation for your leadership energy - intentional choices that compound over time.

Because the most important leadership investment is you. And like any smart investor, you don’t need to do everything. You just need to do the right things, consistently.

Let’s return to our Leo full moon + Four of Pentacles vibe. Ask yourself:

Until next time,

Tina