Leading Beyond the Spreadsheet
Play to Your Strengths - Olympic Leadership Lesson #4 Ice Skating
Feb 16, 2026
Kris Liebau
Figure skaters know their strengths. If your triple axel is shaky, you feature your lutz. You build your program around what you do best.
Leaders need that same clarity.
But here's what most leaders miss:
- The very strengths that got you promoted can sabotage your leadership when they run on autopilot.
- Your perfectionism delivered flawless work as an individual contributor. Now you're the bottleneck.
- Being the expert got you the promotion. Now you jump in to solve every problem instead of coaching your team.
- Your hyper-responsibility made you reliable. Now you're working nights and weekends while your team waits for direction.
Great leaders know their strengths AND know when to interrupt the autopilot habits that come with them.
This is part of a four-part Winter Olympics Leadership Series:
πΏ Episode 1: Mogul Skiing - Stay focused when everything's chaos
π₯ Episode 2: Curling - Clear communication makes all the difference
π Episode 3: Athlete Stories - Your leadership highlight reel matters
βΈοΈ Episode 4: Figure Skating - When your strengths become liabilities
Want to bring these frameworks to your leadership team? I deliver workshops and lunch-and-learns on Managing Energy for Greater Resilience, Giving and Receiving Feedback, Leading Through Uncertainty, and Recognizing Autopilot Habits.
Learn more at https://www.actionandeasecoaching.com/contact
#leadership #leadershipdevelopment #feedback #communication #stemleadership
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