This week, I’ve been working from home while supporting my husband through his recovery. It’s a different rhythm, laptop on the kitchen table, calls taken between medication reminders, strategy sessions happening alongside icepack rotations. It’s not glamorous, but it’s real. And honestly, it’s one of the clearest mirrors of leadership I’ve experienced in a while.
Caregiving and leadership have more in common than we think. Both require presence. Both require patience. Both require the ability to shift gears without losing your center. And both ask us to hold space for someone else’s needs while still moving the work forward with intention.
This season has reminded me that leadership isn’t something we turn on and off. It’s something we live, in the office, at home, and everywhere in between.
Here are some lessons I re-learned over the last few days.
- Leadership Isn’t a Location, It’s a Way of Showing Up
Working from home this week has reminded me that leadership isn’t tied to an office, a title, or a calendar full of meetings. Leadership is how we show up when life is layered, imperfect, and demanding.
Some days that looks like running a client session with clarity and energy.
Some days it looks like stepping away for a moment because someone you love needs help standing up.
Some days it’s both, within the same hour.
And that duality doesn’t dilute our leadership, it deepens it.
When we lead from a place of grounded presence, even in the middle of personal responsibility, we model something powerful: that leaders are humans first. That life happens. That we can honor our commitments without abandoning ourselves or the people who rely on us.
This is the kind of leadership that builds trust.
This is the kind of leadership that creates psychological safety.
This is the kind of leadership that lasts.
- Caregiving Sharpens the Skills Leaders Need Most
My husband says I am more Vince Lombardi than Florence Nightingale, but regardless of my approach, I am his caregiver as we navigate through his recovery.
Here is what I was reminded of this week. Being a caregiver while working has a way of refining the very skills we expect from strong leaders:
- Prioritization with purpose. When you are balancing work and caregiving, you quickly learn what matters. You become ruthless about what deserves your attention and what can wait. That clarity is a leadership superpower.
- Emotional intelligence in real time. Caregiving requires attunement. You notice subtle cues, anticipate needs and you respond with empathy. These are the same muscles leaders use to support teams, navigate conflict and build trust.
- Adaptability without drama. Plans shift. You adjust. You breathe. You keep moving. Leaders who can adapt without spiraling create stability for everyone around them. (Seriously I do not have the time or luxury of spiraling right now)
- Presence over perfection. Caregiving forces you to be where your feet are. You can’t be everywhere, but you can be fully present where you are. That is the heart of modern leadership. Not doing it all, but being intentional with what you choose to do.
These aren’t “soft skills.” They’re leadership essentials.
- The Myth of the Uninterrupted Leader
There’s a lingering belief that leaders must be endlessly available, uninterrupted, and unaffected by the realities of life. But that’s not leadership, that’s performance.
Real leadership acknowledges that we are whole humans with responsibilities, relationships, and seasons that stretch us. When we allow ourselves to lead from that place, we give our teams permission to do the same.
Working from home this week hasn’t made me less committed to my clients or my work. If anything, it’s made me more intentional, more focused, and more appreciative of the systems and people that make flexibility possible.
When leaders allow themselves to be human, they give their teams permission to do the same. That’s how cultures shift. Not through policies alone but through lived examples.
- A Leadership Practice Worth Borrowing
If you’re navigating a season where work and life are blending more than usual, here’s a practice I’m leaning into:
Ask yourself: “What does leadership look like today?”
Not in theory.
Not in perfection.
Not in an ideal week.
Today.
Some days leadership looks like strategy.
Some days it looks like support.
Some days it looks like boundaries.
Some days it looks like rest.
Some days it looks like all the above, woven together in a way only you can manage.
Leadership is not a fixed identity, it’s a daily practice. And the more honest we are about what leadership looks like in real life, the more sustainable it becomes.
- Still Here. Still Leading. Just From a Different Chair.
This season has reminded me that leadership doesn’t disappear when life gets complicated; it deepens. It becomes more honest. More human. More aligned with what we say we value.
I’m grateful for the flexibility to work from home, the trust of my clients, and the chance to model what sustainable leadership actually looks like in practice.
And as my husband continues to heal, I’m carrying forward a renewed appreciation for the leaders who show up fully, not perfectly but authentically, in every season they’re in.