Grounded and Aligned™

In this episode of Grounded and Aligned™, Karen Gombault speaks with Leah Goldman, founder of an advisory firm focused on integrating intuition into leadership and strategy. The discussion focuses on how leaders make decisions in environments where there is no clear cause and effect. If you’re working with incomplete or conflicting information, this episode looks at how intuition can be used alongside data to support clearer and faster decision-making.Karen and Leah look at:The limits of relying only on data in complex and uncertain situationsHow misunderstanding control leads to ineffective decision-makingIntuition as experience-based input, not guessworkThe impact of information overload on clarity and judgmentThe use of simple structures to support better decisionsWhen data is not enough, decision quality depends on how well leaders use both analysis and experience to move forward with clarity.-----Leah Goldman is the founder of The Intuition Strategist, an advisory firm helping ambitious leaders and organizations integrate intuition and strategy to achieve aligned success. She is the creator of Intuition Strategy®, teaching leaders to trust their gut to make faster, more confident decisions that lead to transformative results. A globally recognized authority on integrating invisible data – unspoken signals that algorithms can’t measure, like experience, conflict, trust, and interpersonal dynamics – into leadership and strategy, Leah helps visionary executives use innovative tools like Corporate Tarot Cards® to turn their Human AI — Actionable Intuition™ — into a competitive advantage. Her work reframes intuition as the most powerful form of intelligence for navigating a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world.Links: https://intuitionstrategist.com/ https://clarityblueprintwithleah.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/leahgoldman/ Connect with Karen: Karen Gombault | LinkedIn

In this episode of Grounded and Aligned™, Karen Gombault speaks with Kirsten Schmidtke, founder of a revenue leadership consulting firm focused on B2B technology companies. The discussion examines why revenue issues are often treated as sales problems when they come from how leadership is operating. If your growth targets are not converting into consistent results, this episode looks at how leadership structure, priorities, and decisions affect revenue, especially in the context of AI, remote work, and shifting buyer expectations.Karen and Kirsten look at:The gap between individual sales performance and the ability to generate revenue through a teamHow low trust in forecasting leads to inefficient inspection processes and slower deal cyclesThe effect of multiple or unclear priorities on execution quality and consistency across teamsLeadership-created bottlenecks that restrict deal progression and reduce responsiveness in the sales cycleThe shift from managing activity to coaching for judgment and decision-making in complex sales environmentsRevenue variability is usually driven by how leadership operates, not the market. Clear standards, consistent execution, and fewer internal obstacles determine how reliable results are.Kirsten Schmidtke is the founder of Kirsten Schmidtke Coaching & Consulting, a revenue leadership consulting firm serving B2B technology companies. With 15+ years in enterprise tech, including AWS, she has generated over $100M in revenue and carried multimillion-dollar quotas. She works with CEOs and CROs to close the leadership execution gap that stalls pipeline, burns out sellers, and keeps revenue unpredictable — helping them find the one problem that, when solved, unlocks revenue growth.www.linkedin.com/in/kirstenschmidtke/www.instagram.com/kirstenschmidtke/Connect with Karen: Karen Gombault | LinkedIn

In this episode of Grounded and Aligned™, Karen looks at a common tension in senior roles: you are expected to be visible and well-connected, but much of the advice on how to do this feels unnatural. As expectations increase, visibility is no longer optional. It affects how often you are brought into discussions, how your work is recognized, and how decisions move along. The episode focuses on how to approach visibility and relationships in a way that is consistent with your innate personality, rather than adopting behaviours that feel forced.Karen looks atWhy visibility is required if you want your work to be seen, supported, and acted onTwo practical ways visibility shows up: being consistently present and top of mind, or being more selective but clear when something mattersThe downside of forcing visibility tactics that don’t match how you naturally interact, and how quickly that becomes noticeableYou do not need to change your personality to be visible, but you do need to be intentional. The key is to make sure people know you are there, understand your contribution, and hear from you when it matters.Next steps🤝 Connect on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/karengombault/

Most senior leaders who avoid the informal conversations — the individual check-ins, the quiet conversations before a decision needs to be made— aren't doing it because they're lazy or disorganised.They're doing it because it doesn't feel right.It feels like politics. Like pre-managing the outcome. Like their work should be strong enough to stand on its own.And that instinct, as understandable as it is, is quietly costing them.In this episode, Karen looks at what happens when strong work meets an audience that wasn't brought along and why the leaders who build the most genuine influence are also the most deliberate about their relationships.In this episode:Why a concern raised in private stays manageable — and the same concern raised in public becomes a positionHow your peers are forming a read on you, whether you're actively shaping it or notThe difference between being politically aware and compromising your integrityOne reframe and two practical things to do before your next significant askIf you've ever walked out of a meeting wondering what happened — this episode is worth your time.Next steps:Follow Karen on Substack where she writes about power, politics and influence: https://karengombault.substack.com/Connect with Karen on Linkedin: Karen Gombault | LinkedIn

Organizations often respond to performance challenges by adding more accountability: additional metrics, more reporting, and closer monitoring. Yet in many cases, these efforts do not solve the underlying problem.In this episode of Grounded and Aligned™, Karen speaks with leadership researcher and author Patrick Veroneau about the difference between accountability and ownership in high-performing teams. Drawing on two decades of work with leaders and teams across industries, Patrick explains why many organizations struggle with engagement even while emphasizing accountability.The conversation explores a structural pattern Patrick has observed repeatedly. Teams that struggle, teams that perform at an average level, and teams that consistently excel all engage in three behaviors: they support each other, celebrate each other, and challenge each other. The difference lies in the sequence.Great teams begin with support. When people trust that others have their backs, challenge becomes constructive rather than defensive, and accountability shifts from external pressure to internal ownership.For leaders, the implication is significant. Engagement, ownership, and performance are not created through tighter oversight. They emerge when leaders create the conditions where people choose to take responsibility for the shared mission.Key discussion points:Why organizations that focus primarily on accountability often miss the deeper issue of ownershipThe three behaviors all teams demonstrate — support, celebrate, challenge — and why the sequence mattersHow the CABLES model builds trust and credibility through consistent leadership behaviorsThe five levels of the Accountability Staircase and how language signals where a team is operatingWhy compliance creates average teams, while commitment creates high-performing onesHow small improvements and declines compound over time through the “1% principle”High-performing teams rarely emerge from pressure alone. They form when individuals feel supported, valued, and connected to the mission. At that point accountability no longer needs to be imposed from the outside. People begin to take ownership for the success of the team itself.Connect with Patrick here:Patrick Veroneau website: www.emeryleadershipgroup.comFree leadership resources and downloads (CABLES model, team assessments, etc.): Resources - Emery Leadership Group - Portland, MECABLES model: CABLES Leadership ModelBook: The Missing Piece: What Great Teams Do That Others OverlookBook: The Leadership BridgeLinkedin: Patrick Veroneau, MS | LinkedIn