Hello Reader,
You’ve Put in the Hours. But Are You Actually Growing?
There’s a clinician you’ve probably worked with at some point. The one who reads the room before anyone else. Makes the hard calls calmly. Communicates in a way that lands — with patients, with colleagues, even in the middle of chaos.
Here’s the question I keep coming back to: Did they get that way just by putting in the years? Or was something else going on beneath the surface?
This week, Klaus and I dug into one of the most underused frameworks in leadership development: deliberate practice. And I think it might be the missing link between where you are right now and where you want to be as a leader.
Experience Isn’t Enough (and That’s Not Your Fault)
Most of us who move into leadership roles do so because we were good at clinical practice. We loved it. We were respected for it. And at some point, someone tapped us on the shoulder and said — consciously or not — “you’re up.”
And then we kind of… winged it.
That’s not a criticism. It’s just honest. We asked a trusted colleague. We tried things. We made mistakes. We adjusted. That’s trial and error, and it’s how a lot of us learned.
But trial and error is not deliberate practice.
Deliberate practice is structured, intentional, and pushes you beyond your comfort zone — with feedback. It’s not just doing the thing. It’s doing the thing with a plan, a stretch goal, and someone who can see what you can’t see in yourself.
I first encountered this framework as a simulation educator, years before I could name it. In sim, we design experiences specifically so learners can fail safely, get real-time coaching, and try again. The whole point is the feedback loop.
Leadership works the same way. We just rarely set it up that way.
The Feedback Loop Most Leaders Are Missing
Executive MBAs. Certificate programs. Leadership development pathways. These are all valuable. But they’re education, not deliberate practice.
Education gives you knowledge. Deliberate practice is where that knowledge becomes yours — through action, feedback, and iteration.
Think about it this way: you can read every book on difficult conversations and still freeze when one walks in your door Monday morning. Knowledge doesn’t automatically translate into skill. Action does.
So the question isn’t whether you’ve been learning. It’s whether you have someone helping you turn what you’ve learned into something you can actually do under pressure.
What This Looks Like in Real Life
Here’s a concrete example from a pattern I see all the time: meetings.
A lot of leaders quietly don’t love their own meetings. They sense something’s off — too long, too flat, too disengaged — but they’re not sure what to change or how. That awareness? It’s the first step.
From there, deliberate practice looks like this:
- Name a specific micro-skill you want to work on (ending on time, starting with gratitude, clarifying action items in the last 10 minutes)
- Try it intentionally in your next meeting
- Collect real feedback — from colleagues, from your one-on-ones, from your coach
- Debrief what happened and adjust
That’s it. It’s not flashy. But two months of doing that consistently? It becomes normal. And normal is how culture changes.
A Word on Feedback (the Hard Part)
I know feedback can sting. Especially when you’re already carrying a lot, and especially when it comes from someone whose opinion you didn’t ask for.
Here’s what I’ve come to believe: you don’t have to accept every piece of feedback you receive. But you do have to find the grain of truth in it. Because hurt people hurt people — and sometimes critical feedback is also someone’s awkward attempt to tell you something real.
The goal isn’t to be liked by everyone. It’s to bring as many people with you as possible. And that requires actually listening, sitting with discomfort, and figuring out what you want to do with what you heard.
Having a coach or trusted advisor to help you process that? It’s not a luxury. It’s part of the practice.
One Thing to Try This Week
Find one small leadership skill you want to strengthen. Name it specifically. Then find one person you trust to give you real feedback after you try it.
Because here’s what I’ve noticed: when you commit to something privately, it’s too easy to let it quietly slide. When you say it out loud to another person — a colleague, a mentor, a coach — something shifts. You’re more likely to follow through, and you’ll have someone to actually debrief with.
That’s the deliberate practice loop. That’s how leaders grow — not just with time, but on purpose.
🎧 Listen to the podcast sneak peek episode below and listen to the full episode on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, Podbean, or Amazon Music.
What's inspiring us this week:
My local Department's annual Fink Day, where we celebrate the projects that everyone is working on: from education, quality improvement, and research. Having a wonderful breakfast with the guest speaker, someone whom I have looked up to the entirety of my career in pediatric simulation education and resuscitation science. Get out there: say yes to projects, and national involvement matters!
The Practice: Celebrating Wins
We get more of what we focus on. The practice of gratitude and celebrating the goodness of life is the first step in changing our brains, mindsets, and circumstances for the better.
Finishing up a 14 day bootcamp to learn intermediate to advanced skills in Generative AI for Founders by Outskill. It was intense! And amazing to take the time to deep dive, create, tinker, and play!
Stay mindful and keep leading,
Lillian
Founder & CEO
| We are planning workshops for the fall: What would you be most interested in attending?? |
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