Sometimes leadership lessons come from the most unexpected places. For Gayle Lantz, it was a massive 70,000-pound oak tree crashing through her home during a recent storm. Fortunately she was out of town.
In this deeply personal episode, Gayle shares what happened when she received that panicked call from her neighbor and returned home to find catastrophic damage throughout her house, including a giant limb that had pierced through her bedroom ceiling like a dagger, right above where she would have been sleeping.
Rather than dwelling on “what if,” Gayle transforms this difficult experience into powerful insights about resilience, perspective, and leading through crisis—whether it’s your own life or your organization.
As someone who regularly advises leaders on navigating change and uncertainty, Gayle found herself putting her own teachings to the ultimate test. The result is a raw, honest look at how to find strength when your world literally collapses around you.
This episode reveals why sometimes the most profound life and leadership lessons come not from success, but from learning to stand steady when the storm hits hardest.
This episode covers:
- Why you don’t need to know how you’ll get through a crisis—just your next step
- How perspective can transform even the most devastating experiences
- The importance of not judging your emotions during difficult times
- Why it’s okay to put things on the back burner when life disrupts your plans
- How to recognize when things look fine on the outside but are broken inside
- The art of receiving help when you need it most
- Why relationships matter more than ever during a crisis
- Finding your anchors when everything around you feels unstable
- How to direct your energy toward what’s still possible rather than what’s lost
- Practical wisdom for leading through your own storms while supporting others through theirs
LINKS:
Previous CEO on the Go Episodes
Discover Inner Peace, Break Free From Perfectionism with Dr. Tara Cousineau (#258)
Fear Less, Speak More: Conquering Performance Anxiety with Jimmy Cannon (#257)