What made you successful will not hold for what’s coming, especially in AI era.


You have a vision.
You’ve built success through capability, resilience, and determination.

And yet, you want a more meaningful impact, wider influence, more peace in leading business and organizaton towards the future.

Pressure builds.
Clarity fades.
Momentum or growth slows.
Doubts creep in.
And fulfillment feels just out of reach.

You are at a leadership inflection point 
— where your inner expansion as human will determine what becomes possible & how you lead the future of your organization and business.

I partner with visionary CEOs and executives at inflection points in their leadership — moments where pressure builds, teams plateau, and the old way of leading no longer works.

I help leaders to evolve who they are, how they lead, navigate uncertainities and shape legacy impact.

Through my signature process, leaders expand their presence, elevate their energy, and become trusted, magnetic forces who shape culture, inspire change, and scale with coherence — not pressure.

Because in the new era, the future is shaped by those who are more human, more present,  and more aligned from within.
----------------------------

With 15 years inside global and Fortune 500 environments, and over a decade in transformational leadership work (incl ICF PCC), I translated what most leaders never access into a proprietary approach — integrating neuroscience, energy, body awareness, executive coaching, and transformational leadership through Extraordinary Leadership™.

I’ve partnered with leaders across industries including Maersk, Abbott, Chanel, IKEA, Roche, Microsoft, and GE, and I’m known for my presence and transformational depth.

If you sence there’s more available - this is your next move.
Book a private consultation.
https://calendly.com/dagmaraasbreuk/30-min-consultation


Book me for your leadership events, summits, leadership team off-sites.
https://calendly.com/dagmaraasbreuk/30-min-consultation

Dagmara Asbreuk

You’re not losing your edge.

You’re in an environment that can’t hold it.

Because even the most capable executives will start shrinking in the wrong system.

Not because you’re not strong enough.
But because the space around you is built for comfort… not evolution.

The right environment expands your leadership.
The wrong one slowly erodes it.

10 signs you’ve outgrown the place (or it’s misaligned):

1. You feel drained more than energized.
 Even when you’re “doing well.”

2. You hear constant excuses instead of commitment.
 “We can’t.” “It’s not possible.” “That won’t work here.”

3. You’re shrinking your goals and expectations.
 Not because you want less - because you’re tired of pushing.

4. You’re constantly convincing others to see potential.
 You’re selling vision instead of leading it.

5. You feel like the only one driving change.
 And it’s exhausting.

6. The organization isn’t truly willing to change.
 They want improvement… without transformation.

7. You feel like you’re going backwards.
 More effort. Less impact.

8. Your standards are treated as “too much.”
 Instead of being respected.

9. You don’t feel safe telling the full truth.
 So you filter, soften, hold back.

10. You feel yourself shrinking instead of expanding.
 And deep down… you know it’s not you.

Your brilliance doesn’t need more proving.
It needs the right environment.

Because the right room doesn’t just value your results.
It amplifies your leadership.

Leadership Partner to visionary CEOs & Executives | Guiding you to lead with inner authority, magnetic presence, legacy impact to build future ready organization | Keynote Speaker | Founder | Podcast host

Culture isn’t a slogan.

It’s a driver of business performance.

The challenge:
leaders try to “build culture” through policies, perks, or programs.

While culture is actually created in the moments that matter most:
✅ how you lead
✅ how you listen
✅ what you tolerate
✅ what you reward
✅ what you normalize under pressure

🎧 In the latest episode of the Extraordinary Leadership Podcast, I sat down with Emma Davies - Founder of Evolve People Network and Evolve Hub, and a People & Culture leader with 20+ years across the UAE and KSA.

We unpack what truly creates a culture that fuels success - not in theory, but in real organizations moving at speed.

In this conversation, we explore:
• why presence beats policy
• why “open door” often means the opposite and what real accessibility looks like
• how to spot culture in seconds (and why surveys don’t always tell the truth)
• psychological safety as a performance strategy - not a soft perk
• why pay rises don’t automatically improve culture (and what actually does)
• the HR–leader partnership dynamic that makes or breaks companies

This episode will recalibrate how you think about performance, trust, and leadership impact.

🎧 Listen here: https://lnkd.in/ekhcSyUX

Question for you:
What’s one leadership move that resulted in better culture and performance?

Strategy & action alone do not create momentum.

It's the source beneath them.

“Be consistent.”
“Do not give up.”
“Continue, results will come.”

This advice isn’t wrong.
It’s incomplete.

High-level leaders usually don’t struggle with discipline or effort.

What they miss is something deeper:
Awareness of the real source of results.
Beneath strategy.
Beneath determination.
Beneath action.

- Your identity.
- Your beliefs.
- Your state.

Most leaders never go here.
Yet this is where performance, change, and momentum are actually shaped.

Because very often, the source of strategy and action is not clarity or alignment, but:
• Pressure
• Lack
• Proving
• Fear
• Nervous-system survival
• Exhaustion disguised as ambition

These drivers don’t create momentum.
They create resistance.
Friction.
Stuckness.

So when things aren’t working, the answer is rarely:
- more effort.
- more pushing.
- more strategy.

The most strategic move is often the opposite.

Slow down.
Recalibrate internally - before recalibrating strategy or team.

When outcomes aren’t landing, something deeper is usually asking to shift:
– A belief
– An identity edge
– A subconscious limit
– A suppressed emotion
– A body that doesn’t feel safe to expand
– A vision you’ve outgrown

Recalibrate here, and momentum follows.
Traction returns.
Movement becomes natural again.

So yes - be consistent.
Yes - don’t give up.

But first, recalibrate the inner drivers of leadership success.

Because when you shift internally, the external world responds fast.

Sometimes it’s the same actions.
With a different state.
Creating entirely different results.

👉 Where do you sense it’s time to recalibrate from the inside?

Most culture work focuses on behavior and values.

Important.
And incomplete.

Because culture isn’t only what people do.
It’s what people feel the moment they enter the room.

Culture is an energetic operating system.
An invisible field.

You sense it before anyone speaks.
Before meetings start.
Before data confirms it.

And here’s what most leaders underestimate:
That field is shaped - consciously or unconsciously - not just by what leaders do, but by the internal state leaders operate from.

Neuroscience explains this through mirror neurons.
Humans subconsciously attune to the emotional and physiological state of others.

In simple terms:
people don’t hear leaders, they feel leaders.

Which means this:
Your internal state shapes the dynamics, behaviors, and performance of your organization.

A calm, grounded leader creates psychological safety - without trying.
A stressed, reactive leader creates tension - without noticing.

This is nervous-system leadership.

And this is what I see consistently shifts when leaders change the source:
– Behavior changes without being managed
– Conversations soften without losing clarity
– Accountability strengthens without fear
– Performance increases without burnout

Because culture doesn’t need to be forced, when leadership is internally aligned.

The real question isn’t: “How do I motivate people?”

It’s: “What internal state am I transmitting every day - already?”
That’s the layer that changes everything.

-> If you want to go deeper into leading from your highest state - this is the episode to watch: https://lnkd.in/eZiVvvhh

-> If you’re ready to elevate the signal you’re sending, shape culture from the inside out and lead from a grounded, calm, confident, and coherent state - let’s have a conversation about what will support that shift.

You don’t need a survey to know if your culture is strong.

You feel it the moment you walk in.

The energy.
The pace.
The way people look at each other before they speak.

After years of working in corporate and with CEOs and leadership teams, I’ve learned this:
the strongest cultures are sensed long before they’re measured.

Surveys confirm.
Attunement reveals.

This carousel breaks down 5 signals before any data, dashboards, or engagement scores enter the room.

If you’re a leader preparing your organization for the future, this matters.
Because culture isn’t built through initiatives.

It’s built through presence, safety, and how leadership shows up - every day.

Swipe through.

Then ask yourself one question:
What does your culture communicate the moment someone enters your space?

5 Signs Your Culture Is Strong

Culture isn’t a transaction.

It’s your leadership in action.

Money rises do not buy it.
And I fully agree with what Emma Davies said in our last conversation.

Yes, paying beneath market won’t fuel engagement.
But even strong compensation won’t create trust, ownership, or collaboration.

Thriving culture and performance rise on psychological safety + trust + authentic presence + growth opportunities.

If you want a thriving culture, here are 10 moves you will need:
✅ Set/co-create the vision + priorities (people can’t perform in confusion)
✅ Ask for input and actually listen
✅ Address issues early (don’t let them grow)
✅ Recognize & appreciate effort - not only results (be specific)
✅ Give real ownership, not just tasks
✅ Create space for honest conversations (psychological safety matters)
✅ Model the standards you expect from others
✅ Show up human and vulnerable, not invincible
✅ Find out what people truly want (what drives them, what they care about)
✅ Create growth opportunities that match it (so they can evolve and stay engaged)
✅ Protect wellbeing + energy (rest, boundaries, sustainable pace)

For that, developing coaching abilities, strengthening emotional intelligence, mastering your state/energy and mindset will be key for you as a leader.

These were true game changers for me.

It’s what helps you move from being an expert…
to become the catalyst and multiplier - for people, performance, and culture.

That’s why when I partner with executives, we work on all of it - the inner leadership and the practical skills that build thriving culture fueling performance.

Because culture isn’t bought.
It’s built.
And what matters most is how you lead.

More on topic of thriving culture in this episode: https://lnkd.in/ekhcSyUX

AI accelerates efficiency and execution.

Human evolution shapes the future of leadership.

Yesterday, I was invited to participate a Singularity University event in Dubai, on exponential mindset & AI driven leadership.

My favorite was speech of John Sanei the futurist who  put one simple truth in the spotlight:

AI will replace intellectual intelligence.
Where we need to evolve is as humans.

Underlying the need to adapt by evolving From within - awareness, perception, EQ and being.


From the lens of my work, I see 3 key areas where leaders must evolve now to stay relevant for the future that unfold very fast:

1. State mastery
Your mind & body determines how you think, decide, and lead under pressure & what culture dynamic you shape.
A coherent state creates clarity, trust, safety & flow.
A survival state creates tunnel vision, stress & chaos.
Aligning & elevating your state is number one leadership superpower.


2. Identity & belief evolution
You don’t see the world as it is - you see it as you are, through the inner filters.
Your identity and belief system shape your perception, choices, leadership capacity.
Most leaders are running unaware on old conditioned program.
Evolving it expands what becomes possible for you, organization, business.

3. Intuition & inner wisdom
Data informs, but intuition decides.
In an AI-shaped world, accessing deeper inner knowing becomes the ultimate human advantage.
From here best strategies & unique approaches will come.

So the future isn’t about knowing more.
It’s about leading from a more evolved inner self.

And its already here and happening at speed.

So the question is:
are you evolving to be on the forefront?

Thank you Varun Malik & Matthieu Bonelli for inviting me to this relevant conversation shaping the future of business and humanity.

Gratitude is not a mindset trick.

It's a state that determines how you lead.

Your brain follows what you focus on.
Your energy follows your focus.

Neuroscience shows: 
gratitude strengthens new neural pathways that help you notice what you already have - instead of staying on autopilot, scanning for lack.

Gratitude activates presence.
It supports emotional regulation, resilience, and wellbeing & psychological safety.

And in challenging moments?
Gratitude is often the first place to return to.

In leadership, that matters.
Because your decisions…
your energy…
your presence…
are shaped by what you repeatedly focus on.

Today, my gratitude looked like this:
✨ Activating the gratitude state through an energetic activation designed by me (one of many inside the Extraordinary Leadership App for State & Embodiment mastery)

🦷 A kindness from the receptionist and wisdom from the doctor. Plus, learning something new.

🌊 Coffee, sunlight, and ocean waves.

💎 And gratitude anchored at home - fragrance + beauty in my office.

Gratitude is a leadership decision.

Choose it daily - especially when things feel intense.

Because what you focus on becomes what you lead from.

What are you grateful for today?

Our closest relationships are never separate from our leadership.

They quietly influence how we decide, regulate ourselves, and show up.
Often beneath the surface.

In many ways, a family is an organization.
And partners are the leadership team.

The relational dynamic between partners shapes the wider system -  including children, culture, and emotional climate.

Cultivating this relationship is one of the most important areas of my own life.

I value friendship, connection, shared purpose, and shared values with my life’s partner.

What strengthened our partnership most was evolving from within, on both sides.

☑️ Understanding and valuing our differences.
☑️ Learning to manage and reduce triggers.
☑️ Growing emotional maturity together.
☑️ Freeing from past conditioned beliefs, memories, traumas.

And creating intentional time together, 
outside of family chores.

I’m not a personal relationship coach.

But some of my clients move through profound life phases that unfold alongside our core partnership.

And these moments inevitably influence their leadership, clarity, and capacity.

With care, I want to share two resources I often recommend when it comes to closest partner relationships:

1. The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work
 — John Gottman

If you want to strengthen your relationship in a practical, research-backed way, this is foundational.

The principles focus on:
➝  Building deep friendship
➝  Managing conflict without damage
➝  Creating shared meaning
➝  Protecting respect and emotional safety

Clear. Grounded. Timeless.
And helpful in challenging common myths that quietly erode connection.

2. Conscious Uncoupling
 — Katherine Woodward Thomas

If you are separating or divorcing, this book offers a radically different orientation.

It supports:
➝  Ending a relationship without destruction
➝  Taking responsibility without self-blame
➝  Extracting wisdom rather than carrying residue
➝  Creating a clean emotional future - for yourself and others involved

Both books center consciousness, choice, and maturity.
Whether you are staying together or parting ways.

I trust this share will serve you or someone close to you.

Feel free to pass it on to leaders and friends who may need it now.

Your organization and business can’t outgrow you.

When pressure rises, complexity grows and AI challenges your relevance - strategy is not the first place to look into.

Elevating who you are and how you lead - is.
Because your impact & business results depend on your inner architecture.

Here is how it works:
→ Your state determines your leadership capacity - shaping decision quality, execution speed, and culture under pressure.
→ Your identity shapes your authority - what you tolerate, how you operate, size of your vision and how decisively you move when it matters.
→ Your beliefs define your strategic range & possibilities-  and whether growth feels constrained or inevitable.
→ Your energy creates organizational leverage - influencing momentum, performance, and how people respond to you.
→ Your ability to access intuition stabilizes leadership under pressure & uncertainty - enabling decisions that are fast, aligned, and sustainable.

Mastering mind, emotions, and inner state, changing beliefs & expanding your identity is real leadership work.

And in a world where AI replaces IQ, who you are becomes the competitive advantage.

This is the real work I support my clients with.

So they lead with inner authority, magnetic presence, and create legacy impact - while shaping future-ready organizations.

So they don’t just stay relevant - they set the direction.

Executive Coach | Mindfulness teacher | General Counsel (ex BigLaw, ex Fortune 100) | Outdoor enthusiast

Values driven leaders and high achievers turn to me for the hidden dynamics that make or break careers. Most come to me for one of three reasons:

✨ They’re facing huge change and uncertainty and want someone in their corner who understands.

✨ They don’t know what they want and are looking for clarity about their next steps.

✨ They’re ready to create more meaningful impact.

Beneath each of these challenges are the same hidden dynamics, the patterns that leave people feeling like they’ve lost the map, unable to see what’s really driving their choices or holding them back.

Maybe you’ve been putting off reaching out to a coach. I did the same. Self-sufficiency works… until it doesn’t. (If I’m honest, it cost me professionally. Years.)

Maybe you’re not even sure coaching would help. Or hardest of all, like many of my clients, you’re not sure what you want anymore, and you’re starting to wonder if you ever really did.

As a certified coach (ICF-ACC, CPCC, NARM), mindfulness teacher, and with my background in psychology and law (I am still also a General Counsel), I help clients rewire their brain and nervous system, align with their values and who they are becoming, and build the self-awareness to not only recognize but confidently overcome or use the hidden dynamics to intentionally shape their lives and careers.

I offer private coaching, practical tools and group classes.

Book a call: tidycal.com/alanatart

Alana Tart

Leaning into fairness/unfairness 
 
Holds you back
 
Matthew McConaughey spent decades as Mr. All Right, All Right, All Right
 
Rising fast off the luck of those 3 lines from Dazed and Confused
 
(unfairness working for him)
 
He then chased box office success. critical acknowledgement and respect of his peers
 
And they started to elude him
 
He became THE shirtless rom-com lead, dismissed by critics and only offered roles he did not want
 
(unfairness working against him)
 
The turning point came when he accepted unfairness and stopped chasing approval
 
He stepped away from $10–15 million offers and into obscurity for nearly two years 
 
He recognized Hollywood wasn’t going to hand him the career he felt he deserved. 
 
So he started exercising choice: smaller films, harder roles. Work that gave him joy, even if it didn’t guarantee box office glory. 
 
And the paradox? 
 
That is when he received the Oscar, critical acclaim, and a “McConaissance” that redefined his career
 
The myths of fairness and meritocracy (“with perseverance, resilience and hard work I will get what I deserve”) will hold you back
 
Here are three shifts you can make today:
 
1/ See unfairness clearly
↳ Merit ≠ reward 
↳ Expecting fairness keeps you stuck
↳ Clarity gives you agency
 
2/ Replace fairness with contribution
↳ Corporate is designed as a zero-sum game (it is not fair)
↳ Contribution gives you connection and dignity
 ↳ Lift others to not lose yourself
 
3/ Define your success
↳ Fairness keeps you chasing a universal scorecard
↳  Self-definition sets you free
↳ Paradoxically, it’s often when recognition arrives

As Matthew McConaughey says: “The sooner we become less impressed with our lives, our accomplishments, our careers, and more involved in them… the sooner we get better at what we’re doing.”

Coach, Teacher, Trusted Advisor | Also a General Counsel (ex Fortune 100, ex BigLaw) and Board Director | Soft heart, steel spine.

Twice a week at 5:30 a.m., I travelled into central London
 
Not heading to the office early. Not “getting ahead”. Not “seizing the day.”

Instead a parent taking her six-year-old to the figure skating rink before school and work

We’d eat breakfast on the tube (the London underground)

I tied her skates with cold fingers and tried to remember the names of what she practiced 

I still have no idea. 

Is an axle harder than a double salchow? What even is a camel spin?

It has always been her dream to realise, mine to support

In two weeks I’m taking that same girl, now 14, to visit a boarding school where she can skate every day

The thought of not seeing her daily hurts 

And makes those dark, cold, and inconvenient mornings treasured memories

One day, she’ll look back with the understanding that her dreams matter

I hope you know the same about your dreams

I’m not on holiday

But the powder is perfect, so I’m here 👇 with a friend

We ski in the mornings
We do focused work and meetings in the afternoons
And we end the day with the spa and good food

People tend to confuse seriousness and commitment with visible strain, as if work only counts when it looks like:

Evenings spent recovering from the day
Exercise treated like a scheduling problem
Meals eaten at a desk because it’s “more efficient”

I’m still a lawyer at heart. I love hard work. I’ll probably always have my workaholic tendencies, I’m just more intentional now about when and how they show up.

So I’m not skiing instead of working.

I’m skiing because this is how I’ve learned to structure my work week.

(Picture taken by me from No. 14 Verbier. Highly recommend: https://lnkd.in/eHzDPp67)

A fellow poodle owner publicly informed me that I was cruel for letting my dog Clemmie play in the snow without a coat.

Let’s call this what it was: concern mixed with an unsolicited grab for moral authority.

Some would call her a “Karen.” 

I understand the impulse. 

Being called cruel (toward animals!) spikes your defensiveness and practically begs you to swing back.

But “Karen” is a sugar rush. 

It feels satisfying for a second, then it flattens the whole moment into a cheap label and quietly mirrors the exact judgment you’re critiquing.

Calling her “Karen” would’ve dragged me into a status fight I didn’t sign up for.

So I tilted my head (approachable, curious, non-dominant without being submissive)

Smiled (warm, regulated)

(combo = Not here to fight. Not threatened)

And said, “I appreciate concern for animals.” (Sincere. Aimed at the principle, not the accusation.)

No debate. No performance. No counterattack.

Because the higher regard move isn’t ‘winning’, it’s being the person who doesn’t need to.


PS I hope that all those with snow are having fun! ❄️❄️❄️

This is doing the rounds

Laugh, cringe, then look closer...This is a masterclass in getting your value recognised

You don’t promote yourself, you create the conditions for others to promote you.

And others (including me) are promoting this dog

Here’s what the dog accidentally teaches about recognition:

1/ Don’t just bark. Signal value.
Link behaviour to outcomes others care about, at the moment it matters. 
 
2/ Combine competence with warmth
Humour (and puppy eyes) helps. Recognition sticks when people feel safe and impressed.
 
3/ Make it easy for others to validate you
Act alongside those who already have standing. Let the pack validate the contribution.
 
4/ Repeat with consistency.
Predictable usefulness beats one big bark

So yes, the graphic is cringe.
  
But the lesson is precise.

The recognition formula is simple: clear contribution + social attunement + a subtle claim

Even when it’s taught by a dog narrating a basic bark like it’s a heroic act

I used to work in a 70,000+ organization
There were meetings about meetings.
Meetings to “socialize” decisions already made.
Meetings where an hour was spent debating punctuation.

The cartoon mocks meetings for being empty.

They aren’t.

They’re doing exactly what a system demands.

And when people complain about meetings, they’re often criticizing behaviour encouraged by their organization.

Meetings reveal:
💠 how work is made visible
💠 how much risk individuals are allowed to carry
💠 how decisions earn legitimacy
💠 how to show alignment to the group

Meetings also allocate attention. They determine which problems matter, which data gets airtime, and which alternatives quietly disappear.

When outcomes are visible, meetings are efficient.

(In my current SME, meetings run like Swiss trains)

When progress is risky for participants, meetings are performative.

So the art isn’t to complain about meetings.

It’s to notice what they reward and what they quietly punish.

And then to decide, deliberately, whether you’re using meetings to shape reality, or letting them shape you.


---

The truth about LinkedIn most do not want to admit:


It follows the rules we already live by but pretend don’t exist

The same ones that operate in corporate

Just like in the office:
-Doing good work doesn’t always lead to recognition.
-Being right doesn’t automatically translate into influence.
-Being likable isn’t the same as being powerful.

And a lot of well-intentioned LinkedIn advice suggests to:
 “Just post good content.”
 “Just add value.”
 “Just be authentic.”

But that advice tends to work best among perceived peers.

What consistently does work, on LinkedIn and in organizations, is:

💠 Demonstrated competence paired with genuine warmth.
 
💠Contribution that leaves others feeling respected, seen, and elevated.

You can see this pattern clearly in Simon P MARSHALL's Q4 2025 Legal LinkedInfluencers report.

It highlights trusted, grounded, and generous lawyers many of whom I’m fortunate to learn from and call friends.

Different platform. Same social dynamics.

Thank you to Simon for your tireless work on the report. I am humbled to be included. 

Download the report here: https://lnkd.in/e7w5K3Sf

Whether you have one direct report or you’re the CEO of a Fortune 100 company, leadership changes how credit works.

People in leadership roles tend to get more credit, and more blame, than they deserve. 

That can feel frustrating, especially to those without teams or titles. 

But it also explains why generosity with credit matters so much. 

Credit often feels like a limited resource, especially in competitive environments. 

But recognition isn’t zero-sum: giving it doesn’t reduce you own.

When leaders name others’ contributions and thank them for fuelling shared success, they don’t give their own credit away. 

They add to it, while building loyalty, trust, and commitment.

And long before you have a leadership role, people are already watching how you handle credit. 

Scrambling for recognition rarely helps. 

Calmly and accurately acknowledging others tends to signal confidence, credibility, and readiness to lead.

(picture of the medal given to the members of Dominant Information Solutions Canada (DISC) Inc's expert witness and litigation support team for their outstanding contribution in 2025)

Your competence is judged in seconds
And once people decide, they stop looking
(Do you see the zebras? Most people can’t, until someone points them out.)

Warm → not commanding
Quiet → not influential
Older → Out of touch
Younger → Inexperienced

It's unfair. It’s exhausting 

But you can change perceptions without changing who you are 

Here’s how:

1/ Own your story
↳ Define situations before others do
↳Speak about results, not intentions
↳ Manage impressions strategically
If you don’t shape the story, someone else will.

2/ Shape how you’re read
↳ Match body language and tone to situations
↳ Listen and be warm to build trust.
↳ Be clear and grounded to command respect
Presence changes perception.

3/ Make your impact visible
 ↳ Silent excellence is wasted potential.
 ↳ Share insights where people are paying attention
 ↳ Be seen where decisions are made
What stays unseen gets misunderstood.

4/ Turn differences into differentiators
↳Warm? You lower defences so ideas can land.
↳ Quiet? You create space for others to think.
 ↳ Older? You bring pattern recognition
↳ Younger? You see possibilities
What makes people underestimate you can become the reason they remember you.

Bias shapes how people see you.

But you can teach them to look again: to see the zebras, not just the shadows

Don't let other people's false assumptions define you.

-- 
We are coming up to week 2 of my first 2026 cohort for Power, Purpose and Presence program; week 3 is all about perception

There is little skill in deal-making with leverage

I know: I’ve negotiated hundreds

When you have leverage, the outcome reflects power asymmetry, not negotiating ability

The “deal” was never really in doubt

What often gets celebrated as success is theatre: a performance of competence where the ending was already written

That’s transactionalism masquerading as expertise

But what looks like a “win” today often becomes a problem later:
💠 Resentment gets priced in
💠Co-operation thins out
💠People look for ways around you

The harder work shows up when leverage is incomplete and the future matters.

That’s when judgement and restraint count

That’s when you find out who actually knows how to negotiate.

Don’t confuse leverage with virtue.
Don’t confuse outcomes with wisdom.

Anyone can win once with power.

Skill is winning again, and again, without burning the field.

Honesty about power isn’t cynicism.

It’s the prerequisite for agreements that hold and for relationships that still exist when the leverage is gone.

Power that compounds always outperforms power that consumes.

--
Yesterday was week 1 for my Q1 2026 Power, Purpose and Presence program: when power and status dynamics are clear, progress stops being so hard.

Most know that perception is reality

The problem is not knowing what to do, especially without feeling fake or political

So people keep performing.
Increase their visibility
And nothing changes.
  
Perception doesn’t change through effort or intention.
It changes when your work lands in what gets rewarded.

Is about relevance.

If others can’t quickly see:
→ why your work is important now
→ how it affects outcomes they care about
then it doesn’t count, no matter how good it is.

Work that isn’t clearly tied to priorities people reward gets ignored. Work that is gets amplified.

Perception isn’t about spin or self-promotion.

(and if this still feels fake or political, clarity about how things work isn’t the same as endorsing them)
 
It’s about alignment.

And until your contributions are clearly aligned with what others value, “perception is reality” stays true but useless.

Visual adapted from @VisualizeValue

--
We are nearly half way through my first 2026 cohort for Power, Purpose and Presence program; week 3 is all about perception

As a Canadian I get liking Heated Rivalry (the sound of ice, slap of sticks, a sweaty rink). But the fandom only makes sense in the context of what workplaces don’t allow

Yes, it’s gay erotica. And unapologetically Canadian. 

But Heated Rivalry’s popularity is not about the sex. 

(or Canada)
 
Or the romance.

It’s the yearning.

Something that most workplaces quietly discourage

Work norms reward neutrality, and restraint

And to be fair: unstructured, self-focused wanting always backfires
 
But when yearning is disallowed, people don’t stop wanting.

They become cynical. They disengage. “Purpose” gets outsourced to HR decks and values statements
 
The yearning in Heated Rivalry may feel uncontrollable to Ilya and Shane, but it’s anything but chaotic.

It’s disciplined.

Disciplined yearning is:
💠 Specific about what you want
💠 Backed by competence and sustained commitment
💠 Willing to tolerate cost, discomfort and uncertainty
💠 About outcomes over approval
💠 Not posturing. No moral cover.

That’s not softness.
 
That’s power with a pulse.

I don't think people are obsessed with Heated Rivalry because they want fantasy.

They’re obsessed because it models something many professionals have been trained to suppress: wanting deeply.

When was the last time you allowed yourself to yearn?

Maybe it’s just US bankers who can’t be trusted to work remotely


Switzerland has made two days of home office the norm

Work gets done. Trust holds. 

Or does it?

We frame RTO mandates as an issue of trust or control

(those in power say it is about culture and collaboration)

But every organization still needs to decide: who is committed, who matters, who gets heard.

Offices used to solve that cheaply:
show up = committed
sit close = heard

Remote and hybrid work removes those signals.

So we pretend performance will speak for itself.

It never has.

I work internationally and I love it. But I’m very aware what it requires.

Remote work rewards the intentional and punishes the naïve

Switzerland updated policy

Now we must update how we get recognized

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Dagmara Asbreuk

Alana Tart

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taplio

The Battle

Dagmara Asbreuk

Alana Tart

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Posts

Engagements

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Dagmara Asbreuk's LinkedIn Performance

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