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In 2014, I began a simple practice that became one of the most consistent rituals in my leadership journey. Each month, I shared three words – a short mantra to guide reflection, intention, and focus. Not long essays. Not complicated frameworks. Just three words. And somehow, that simplicity became powerful. Over time, it created […]
April is a significant month for me. Because where others see separate observances…I see a leadership pipeline. April is: National Internship Awareness Month• Stress Awareness Month• Financial Literacy Month And at the intersection of all three is a conversation we are not having enough in leadership spaces. As a social work leader who has supervised […]
People ask me why I named my framework S.O.F.T. Leadership™. Because “soft” isn’t what the world taught me to be. As an eldest daughter… The reliable one. The dependable one. As a social worker… Who experienced compassion fatigue and burnout. As a Black woman… Who inherited unfair societal limitations and cultural conditioning Softness didn’t feel […]
Sometimes the leader knows before the leader-in-the-making does. S.O.F.T. Leadership™ requires stewardship. Years ago, I hired a recent graduate for their first full-time role after completing an MPA. During the interview, they shared a bold goal: they wanted to help change the education system — including higher education. Their role included facilitating multiple weekly […]
Nonprofit leaders, We all understand that donors and foundations want to see where their money is going. And truthfully? When we accept funding, we accept a level of access. But access should never come at the cost of program disruption, interrogation, or client exploitation. S.O.F.T. Leadership ™ requires ethical leadership and that is something different. […]
March is Social Work Month and Women’s History Month. For most of my career, I focused on doing the work – not documenting it. I did my job well, because what else would I do? My work spoke for itself… just not always in rooms I wasn’t in. Over the years, I supervised diverse […]
As we close out Black History Month and near the start Women’s History Month and Social Work Month I’m reminded that I went into social work to become a leader and an entrepreneur. – Community Economic Development I went into social work to build and lead an intergenerational community connecting seniors and young people […]
Innovation as S.O.F.T. Leadership™ in Action Black History isn’t just American history; Black History is innovation history. The infrastructure of modern life — transportation systems, medical advancements, communication technology, public safety, agriculture, and global computing — exists because Black innovators identified problems others overlooked and created solutions the world now depends on. Traffic signals. […]
Self-love in leadership isn’t a feeling — it’s a practice. And in the context of S.O.F.T. Leadership™, it becomes the foundation for sustainable success, not just temporary relief. Why Self-Love Is a Leadership Competency We’ve spent decades learning that leadership is measured by output — hours logged, results delivered, battles survived. But what if […]