961: INCLUSIVE LEADERSHIP: The Shameless Leadership Ascent: A Transformative Leadership Roadmap

Who doesn’t love a roadmap or a step-by-step blueprint to get from Point A to Point B?!  Sometimes, as we are just going about our daily lives, we don’t realize that we are, in fact, following a path without even realizing it.  As I’ve been helping leaders build out intentional journeys in growth over the last few years, I’ve realized a handful of key steps that come together to create a powerful roadmap to leadership success.  When your path to leadership success is intentional rather than accidental, you position yourself for unshakable long-term success and legacy building.  

I am in the process of more publicly sharing the leadership pathway I’ve been guiding my coaching clients on.  In this episode, I’m finally sharing my Shameless Leadership Ascent, a four-part roadmap to your leadership success. After seeing too many leaders with inadequate leadership development opportunities, I realized how much is being left on the table when leaders aren’t given specific growth opportunities.  I see leaders with so much untapped potential on the constant verge of burnout because they haven’t built a proper foundation from which to lead. 

In my Shameless Leadership Ascent, I break down the four stages every leader needs to move through to build a leadership legacy that lives long beyond your current role: Awaken (how you see yourself), Amplify (how you share yourself), Advocate (how you bring others with you), and Advise (how you grow others). Listen in as I walk you through each stage so you can see exactly how to build your leadership legacy in a clear and conscientious way.  

When leaders have a foundation of high self-awareness, strong emotional intelligence, and a deep understanding of their opportunity to influence others in a positive way, they build high retention cultures that are wildly innovative, engaged, and energized.  

In contrast, when leaders ascend too fast without doing the foundational work, they lead from their ego instead of wisdom - gatekeeping, relying on authority over trusting relationships, hoarding opportunities instead of opening doors, and perpetuating the toxic work environments.  These leaders create high turnover, high burnout cultures that are devoid of trust, motivation, and engagement.  While these cultures are often masked as “high-performance”, they are commonly rife with fear and dissatisfaction to the point that many employees are constantly planning their exit strategies.  

Whether you're doing your own leadership development work or you're responsible for building leadership capacity in your organization, the Shameless Leadership Ascent is your roadmap to sustainable, transformative leadership.

Links Mentioned:

• [Open Enrollment] Join Sara’s 2026 Aligned Leadership Incubator: saradean.com/aligned

• Join Sara’s Next Business Coaching Cohort for Women Business Owners: https://saradean.com/influence-ignite-business-group-coaching/

• Hire Sara to speak: saradean.com/speaking

• Coach with Sara: https://saradean.com/executive-coaching-services

• Connect with Sara on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/saradeanspeaks

Watch Shameless Leadership episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@saradeanspeaks

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