Core Values in Practice

The Invisible Work of a Chef____ When people evaluate a chef, they usually look at food quality, menu creativity, food cost, guest satisfaction scores, and kitchen performance. But some of the most valuable contributions of a chef never appear on a plate, a report, or a financial statement. The true work of a chef extends far beyond cooking. Every successful kitchen team is shaped by countless unseen actions: coaching a young commis who lacks confidence, resolving conflicts before they damage morale, motivating exhausted staff during peak seasons, protecting team members from unnecessary pressure, and creating an environment where people can grow professionally and personally. These efforts rarely receive recognition because they are invisible. A chef spends years transferring knowledge, discipline, values, and professional standards to future generations. Many successful chefs, sous chefs, restaurant managers, and food service leaders are products of mentorship they received from someone who invested time in them without expecting recognition. Organizations often celebrate results but rarely see the foundation behind those results. They see lower food costs but not the hours spent training teams on waste reduction. They see improved guest satisfaction but not the countless pre-service briefings and coaching sessions. They see employee retention but not the chef who listens, guides, supports, and inspires team members during difficult times. They see successful openings but not the months of planning, SOP development, recipe standardization, recruitment, training, and culture building. The invisible work of a chef is the work of leadership. It is creating systems that function even in the chef's absence. It is building future leaders instead of followers. It is protecting standards while developing people. It is balancing business objectives with human development. A great chef does not merely manage food production. A great chef develops talent, builds culture, strengthens organizations, and creates a legacy that continues long after a menu changes or a service ends. The strongest kitchens are not built by recipes alone. They are built by chefs who quietly invest in people every single day. Because great food may build a reputation, but great leaders build an organization. And that is the invisible work of a chef.

Are you building a career around... your values -or- your expectations? When your path feels out of alignment, it’s often a call to reconnect with your core values. For leaders navigating reinvention, values serve as a compass, guiding us toward choices that truly resonate with who we are and the impact we want to make. When your next chapter is built around what genuinely matters to you, the work doesn’t just look good on paper... it feels right in your soul. Here are a few ways to lean on values as you shape your next professional chapter: 1) Identify Your Three Core Values as Your True North As we shift into new ventures, it’s easy to get caught up in what seems impressive or “marketable.” Take time to identify or rediscover your top three values. Write them down, and check in with them regularly. Are these principles clearly reflected in the work you’re choosing? Do your goals feel aligned with these values? This practice brings clarity and makes it easier to say “yes” to what’s right and “no” to what’s not. 2) Use Values to Filter Opportunities Especially in transition, many options can arise, and it’s tempting to explore them all. Before diving into new projects, ask yourself: Does this opportunity align with my values? Does it contribute to the legacy I want to build? This filter helps ensure that your choices add authentic value to your life rather than just filling up your schedule. 3) Reflect on Values When You Feel “Stuck” or Uncertain Feeling stuck is often a sign of misalignment with your values. When you sense that resistance, revisit your core values. Ask yourself where there might be a disconnect. Sometimes, the act of reconnecting with our values helps dissolve doubt and make a tough decision feel much clearer. 4) Share Your Values with Key People in Your Life Transparency about what drives you isn’t just for your benefit. Share your core values with those close to you: • mentors • peers • loved ones This opens the door for deeper connections and meaningful conversations. It also invites accountability: when your values are out in the open, you’re more likely to stay true to them. 5) Embrace Values as Fuel, Not Restriction Sometimes, leaders worry that values may “limit” their choices. The truth? Values expand what’s possible by giving your journey depth and meaning. They prevent burnout by focusing your energy on work that aligns with who you are. Trust that this foundation fuels both fulfillment and long-term success. As you step into this next phase, let your values be your steady guide. Professional reinvention is a journey, and values keep you moving in the direction you desire most. 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝘃𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲𝘀, 𝘄𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝘀𝗮𝘆 “𝗻𝗼” 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆?

We MUST move words like ‘integrity’ and ‘respect’ from concepts to behaviours that exist in the way we work. Most organisations proudly display their values on walls and websites: integrity, respect, excellence, innovation. Yet how many have actually defined what these actually look like in daily practice? In meetings, how many people are actually thinking about what respect means to them? Because, ultimately, these words remain meaningless until translated into observable actions. When ‘integrity’ is just a word, anyone can claim to embody it. But when integrity means ‘acknowledging mistakes and working to fix them,’ we create a standard against which behaviour can be measured. Leaders who truly want to build ethical organisations don’t just preach values — they define, demonstrate, and reward the specific behaviours that bring those values to life. They understand that values without behaviours are just aspirations without commitment. Could your team members specifically describe what your organisation’s values look like in action? Or are they just reciting pleasant-sounding words? Comment below: what ONE organisational value could you translate into three specific behaviours by the end of this week?

Everyone kept telling Elena she was making a HUGE mistake. "You're throwing away a perfect career." "You'll never make it back to this level." "Nobody leaves a Fortune 100 executive role voluntarily." But perfect on paper doesn't always mean perfect in reality. --- Elena's resume was flawless: → MBA from a top-5 school → Fast-tracked to leadership by 32 → Managed a $75M P&L → Led a team of 120 people She had the corner office. The prestigious title. The impressive salary. And she was completely miserable. --- The unspoken truth about success: Climbing the conventional ladder often means sacrificing what matters most. For Elena, that meant: → Missing her children's milestones → Constant anxiety about quarterly numbers → Sunday evenings filled with dread → Physical health deteriorating → Marriage strained to breaking point But when she confided in mentors about wanting a change? "Just push through. This is what success looks like." --- Elena happened to see a LeaderUP LinkedIn post and decided to make the leap to work with us. In her first coaching call she was shocked: "What if success wasn't about climbing higher, but climbing the RIGHT mountain?" --- Most career coaching focuses on just helping you reach the next rung. LeaderUP asked a different question: "Is this even the right ladder for YOU?" Our unconventional approach: → Identify what genuinely energized Elena (not what impressed others) → Map career possibilities that aligned with her core values → Create a transition plan that preserved her financial security → Develop a narrative that positioned her shift as strategic, not desperate --- The result wasn't what anyone expected. Elena didn't step down. She stepped FORWARD. She leveraged her executive experience to join a high-growth startup in a completely different industry. → 40% less travel → Flexible work arrangement → Purpose aligned with her personal values → Equity upside that far exceeded her corporate salary → Team culture that celebrated both results AND wellbeing --- Six months later: → She led a successful Series B funding round → Implemented systems that doubled efficiency → Built a diverse team of passionate experts → And was home for dinner with her family most nights Her old colleagues couldn't understand it. "But you had everything! Why would you leave?" Elena's response: "I didn't leave success. I redefined it." --- True career freedom comes from realizing: The traditional path is just ONE option. The most courageous career move isn't always up. Sometimes it's a complete redirection. What mountain are YOU climbing? And more importantly—is it the right one? --- Comment "REDIRECT" to learn how to align your career with your authentic values.

Discovering Your "#Why" at #Work: Finding your "why" at work can be a transformative journey. Here's a step-by-step process to help you uncover your purpose: 🤔 Reflect on Your Values: Identify core values: What principles are most important to you? Consider things like honesty, integrity, compassion, and creativity. Connect values to work: How can these values align with your professional goals? ❣️Explore Your Passions: What activities bring you joy and fulfillment? Consider skills: What are you naturally good at? Identify strengths: What are your unique talents? 🌋 Consider Your Impact: Think about contributions: How do your work and skills contribute to the world? Reflect on purpose: What positive impact do you want to make? 🥸 Ask Yourself Meaningful Questions: Why do you do what you do? Is it for money, status, or something deeper? What brings you a sense of purpose? What makes you feel fulfilled? What problems do you want to solve? How can your work contribute to a better world? 📒 Seek Feedback: Talk to mentors or colleagues: Get their perspectives on your strengths and potential. Join professional communities: Network with others who share your interests. 🎳 Experiment and Iterate: Try new things: Explore different roles or projects to see what resonates. Be open to change: Your "why" may evolve over time!!!! Remember, #findingyourwhy is a personal journey. It may take time and introspection.

💡 Every executive meeting comes down to trade-offs. Yesterday we found our tiebreaker💡 I sat with our Product team and two other members of our Executive team, going deep on one of our roadmap items and trying to determine where it fit in our Q4 priorities. If you’ve ever been in one of these meetings, you know how it goes: • Many points of view • Plenty of sharp ideas • A healthy dose of agreement and disagreement And rightly so, these conversations matter. They’re about trade-offs and risks. We had to weigh what would best help us grow as a company, what our teams needed to deliver and sell successfully, and what would best enable future product capabilities. So what won in the end? 👉 The promise we’ve made to our customers, rooted in quality and meaningful insights and outcomes. (That’s actually why DISQO is spelled with a “Q.” It stands for Quality.) That customer promise became the tiebreaker that aligned us across different perspectives. It was a small moment, but it made me proud. And it made me reflect: ❓ Of the thousands of decisions made every day across our company, how many are rooted in our value to "Champion the Customer"? That’s the real measure of whether our values are alive in practice, not just on the wall or in a slide deck. Here’s the action plan I’m challenging myself (and others) to follow every day: 1️⃣ Ask the customer question. When making a decision, pause: How does this help deliver better outcomes for our customers? 2️⃣ Use values as the tiebreaker. When trade-offs are hard, let company values decide, not convenience, politics, or ego. 3️⃣ Call it out. Celebrate when decisions reflect values, and respectfully challenge when they don’t. 4️⃣ Repeat daily. The small decisions add up. Every “yes” or “no” shapes whether customers feel our values or not. ✨ Values aren’t tested in easy decisions. They’re tested in the tough trade-offs. Yesterday reminded me: when in doubt, Champion the Customer. That’s how we keep our promises, and that’s how we continue to #CreateTheFuture. #Leadership #CustomerSuccess #ProductManagement #CustomerExperience #Culture #CreateTheFuture

Knowing your values gives you the discernment, not between right and wrong, but between what looks right and what IS right. That’s why the very first activity that I do with a new, 1-1 executive coaching client is to uncover and name their top five values. Honestly, my clients resist this exercise at first. They may often say that they’ve done this or that it feels basic. I get it. I don’t blame them, because I felt this way at one point too. Values have been worn out by being plastered on corporate web pages as a virtue signal but optionally being followed through on. So why bother? In your life, and especially for women in the workplace today who will make and influence many decisions, so many things will look right. People are eager to give you advice on the best decision you should make, and it’s tempting to go along with popular opinion. Your values inform how you’ll show up and take action in executing those choices. At the end of the day, if you don’t know what you stand for, what will you settle for? So at the end of our coaching relationship, guess what my clients say was their most valuable takeaway? Naming and claiming their values. 🔥 ➡️ Many times, their initial list of values is a list of their “shoulds.” We get a layer deeper to remove all the shoulds and get to the core of what they truly stand for. This creates clarity. ➡️ When they know their values, it gives them permission to say no to the things that aren’t in alignment with them, which creates peace. ➡️ And when they are faced with ambiguity or challenges, they can lean on their values as a compass or map and take small steps in alignment with them, creating freedom and confidence. Values help you discern what you stand for as a leader so you aren’t left tolerating less than you need, want, and deserve. Here’s where to start: Start noticing what must be present in your life and work to make it meaningful, and notice what makes you feel resentful or angry, as it could signal a value being crossed.

I learned more about building a legal career from 75 one‑on‑one conversations than from any course outline or book. Last August I barely had a network in Toronto. So I set a personal challenge: speak with 75 lawyers and record what actually helps a career move forward. I stopped tracking job titles and started tracking sentences that changed how I work. Here are 9 that reshaped my habits. I grouped them so you can act on them right away. 1. Reputation “Reputation compounds. Protect it more than a single win.” If a tactic helps you win once but costs quiet trust, skip it. 2. Communication “Your emails are your reputation.” Write like the other side, a client, or a judge could read it tomorrow. 3. Initiative “Stop waiting to be invited to lead. Lead by organizing the next step.” Own loose ends. Summaries. Debriefs. Next-action lists. People remember who brings order. 4. Relationships “Law looks transactional from the outside. It is relational from the inside.” Track touches. Send follow ups. Remember small facts. That is how work finds you later. 5. Learning “Do a short 'post-mortem' after every file.” What went well. What went poorly. What will I do different next time. 90 seconds. Massive payoff. 6. Focus “Early in your career you think speed is value. Clarity is value.” Pause before you respond. Confirm the real question. Then answer it cleanly. 7. Boundaries “You teach people how to treat your time.” If you always reply in 2 minutes, that becomes the expectation. Set a sustainable rhythm now. 8. Resilience “If you feel like you are drowning, call someone who has already survived that wave.” Isolation makes problems bigger. One candid conversation shrinks them fast. 9. Courtesy “Say thank you to everyone. Even opponents. Especially opponents.” The profession is smaller than it looks. Courtesy is strategic endurance. These are not slogans. They became small daily filters I (try to) use before I hit send, say yes, or move on. Which one hits you hardest right now. Or drop the single best line of advice you have received so another student or junior lawyer can use it. Save this if you want a quick reset checklist later. Share it with someone starting out next month!

When I started law school, my biggest struggle wasn't the coursework. It was the artificial competition that permeated everything. The relentless pressure to outperform peers and the outsized emphasis on grades seemed disconnected from what makes a truly effective attorney. As a 1L questioning this environment, I knew that be true to myself I needed to be unwavering in one thing - remaining authentic and maintaining complete control of my own path. Fifteen years into my legal career, this principle of ownership over my professional journey has been fundamental to both my wellbeing and success. Along the way, some lessons I've learned (and been reminded of) are: 1) The legal profession demands being mentally strong. You'll play the "bad guy," absorb criticism, and face difficult situations—while still deserving basic respect and dignity. 2) Mistakes are inevitable—both minor and significant ones. Some days you'll struggle; others you'll excel. Embracing this reality is part of being human in a demanding profession. 3) If you're practicing law primarily for accolades, more credentials, recognition or gratitude, there's far more important things that should be driving you than these things. 4) Law school is just the beginning. Our profession requires lifelong learning, especially as technology transforms practice. Being tech-savvy doesn't mean becoming a developer—it means effectively leveraging tools that serve your clients and staying current with innovations affecting legal service delivery. 5) Acknowledge what you don't know. Seeking help and guidance isn't weakness—it's wisdom. 6) Perhaps most importantly: don't leave your humanity at the door. 7) Your unique perspective matters. Law needs diverse voices, approaches, and experiences to evolve and better serve society. What principles have guided you? #legaltech #innovation #law #business #learning

If leadership were truly about titles, we’d trust org charts more than people. But we all know that’s not how it works. Some of the most meaningful leadership I’ve witnessed throughout my career didn’t come from the top of an org chart. 
It came from people who chose to lead through their actions long before anyone officially gave them a title. In the early stages of my career, I assumed leadership arrived after certain milestones:
• a promotion
• a bigger mandate
• formal authority But over time, I learned something very different: Leadership begins with how you show up — not the role printed under your name. 
And a title alone has never turned anyone into a true leader. Real leadership reveals itself in small, consistent behaviors: 
→ speaking up when something can be improved
→ taking ownership when things go wrong instead of pointing fingers
→ supporting teammates in the way they need — not just the way you think
→ thinking beyond your own role toward the larger mission None of these require permission.
They require intention, clarity, and courage. And it’s often the people who lead quietly and consistently — without fanfare, without needing credit — who become the ones others trust most. Because trust doesn’t follow hierarchy.
It follows behavior. So if you’ve ever felt “too junior” to lead or believed you had to wait for the right title: You don’t need a title to lead. You just need to act like one. The org chart may define your position,
but your actions define your leadership. What’s one small way you can lead today, right where you already are?