When feedback stings or a pitch falls flat, most leaders either get defensive or shut down.

In this episode of the Crossing the Threshold Leadership Podcast, we break down how leaders can use failed feedback to grow instead of spiral. You’ll learn how to separate identity from outcomes, recognize when fear—not skill—is driving your approach, and adjust with clarity rather than urgency.

We talk about why anxiety often shows up in sales and leadership conversations, how to tell the difference between hard work and forced effort, and what healthy follow-up looks like after something doesn’t land.

If you’ve ever replayed a misstep, felt pressure leak into the room, or wondered why something almost worked but didn’t, this episode gives you practical language and a simple process to move forward wiser.

🎁 Free Resource: Download the Threshold Starter Guide to identify your single biggest leadership constraint and take one concrete action this week—no guesswork, no overwhelm, just traction.

Download it here: https://thresholdstarterguide.cttleadership.com

Want to work together? Visit cttleadership.com

Share this episode with someone who leads people, and leave a review to help others find the show.

Crossing the Threshold Leadership Podcast
Real life. Real leadership. One threshold at a time.

Subscribe for bi-weekly leadership conversations.

Download the THRESHOLD STARTER GUIDE:
→ https://thresholdstarterguide.cttleadership.com

Want to work together?
→ www.cttleadership.com

Questions?
→ podcast@cttleadership.com

When responsibility increases, most leaders don’t fall apart—they fall into a pattern.

In this episode of the Crossing the Threshold Leadership Podcast, we go one layer deeper into the Identity Threshold and the question underneath so many leadership moments: Who am I to lead this?

Whether you’re leading a small business, a nonprofit, a team, a ministry, or your home—when the stakes feel real, leaders typically default in one of three ways: we shrink, we control, or we compare. And that default quietly shapes your confidence, your decisions, and the culture people experience around you.

You’ll walk away with:

• A simple way to identify your default pattern when responsibility rises
• Language to name what’s happening before it leaks onto your team or family
• A quick practice to move from reaction to intention: Trap → Story → Truth → Step
• One clear next move to take in the next 24 hours

🎁 Free Resource: Download the Threshold Starter Guide to identify your biggest leadership constraint and take one clear next step:
→ https://thresholdstarterguide.cttleadership.com

Next episode: Capability — what you bring to the table (and what you need to build) to lead well in this season.

Crossing the Threshold Leadership Podcast
Real life. Real leadership. One threshold at a time.

Subscribe for bi-weekly leadership conversations.

Download the THRESHOLD STARTER GUIDE:
→ https://thresholdstarterguide.cttleadership.com

Want to work together?
→ www.cttleadership.com

Questions?
→ podcast@cttleadership.com

Download the THRESHOLD STARTER GUIDE:
→ https://thresholdstarterguide.cttleadership.com

Most people who say, “I’m not a leader,” are already leading.

In this episode of the Crossing the Threshold Leadership Podcast, we talk about the Identity Threshold—the moment your responsibility increases but your self-understanding hasn’t caught up yet. It’s that pressure-filled question: Who am I to lead this?

We explore how leadership shows up long before a title and why your influence is already real—at work, at home, and in your community. We also unpack practical definitions of leadership from John Maxwell, Andy Stanley, and a high school student who said it best: leadership is making other people successful.

Then we get practical:

• Name your story (your story is an asset, not a liability)
• Change your self-talk and start asking daily, “What would a leader do?”
• Identify your sphere of influence—who is already looking to you, whether you asked for it or not

One Step for this week:
Write this down: “What would a leader do?”
Then take one next right action—one conversation, one boundary, one decision—even if nobody claps.

🎁 Free Resource: Download the Threshold Starter Guide to identify your single biggest leadership constraint and take one concrete action this week—no guesswork, no overwhelm, just traction.
Download it here: https://thresholdstarterguide.cttleadership.com

Want to work together? Visit cttleadership.com

Crossing the Threshold Leadership Podcast
Real life. Real leadership. One threshold at a time.

Subscribe for bi-weekly leadership conversations.

Download the THRESHOLD STARTER GUIDE:
→ https://thresholdstarterguide.cttleadership.com

Want to work together?
→ www.cttleadership.com

Questions?
→ podcast@cttleadership.com