Andrea Learned

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Living Change: A Quest For Climate Leadership

Leading, Convening and Influencing with Barbara Buffaloe

Columbia, Missouri, Mayor Barbara Buffaloe started her political career with the idea that if you love where you live, it’s a joy to serve there too. In this lively conversation with Andrea, she shares insights that many other city leaders can learn from, including why and how to build quiet influence and the beauty of peer learning communities. Of course, there is an emphasis on the freedom of riding a bike for transportation.

Urban Sustainability Directors Network
United WE
National League of Cities

Leading, Convening and Influencing with Barbara Buffaloe Transcript

Barbara Buffaloe / Mayor of Columbia, MO

Barbara Buffaloe (00:00):

I like being an active commuter. It’s funny, when I talk to people, they’re assuming I’m doing it because of the environmental reasons for it, which is a big part of it. Um, but in reality it’s just more fun. I get to breathe fresh air, I get to wave at people. I get to just be more conscious of my surroundings and present. And so for me, it’s, it’s just, yeah, it’s just more fun.

Andrea Learned (00:34):

I’m Andrea Learned and welcome to Living Change, a podcast exploring unconventional climate leadership. I talk to people who’ve converted their personal values into business and policy decisions in a load of different sectors. I believe that the more we’re visible about these changes, the more we chart the way for other leaders wanting to create new social norms. Today I’m speaking with Columbia, Missouri Mayor, Barbara Buffalo. Before being elected mayor in 2022, Barbara served as the city’s first sustainability director. I’ve been following her for a long time on Twitter, and I love the hashtag she uses. Love where you live and serve Where you Love.

Barbara Buffaloe (01:12):

I think it actually started, um, way back in the day. So our downtown district, they had a campaign at one point in time. It was about love where you live. It is about this, like, appreciate what it is that you have. And so I just started using that just, you know, throughout my life. Like, I love where I live, so I just kind of used that hashtag. Um, and so then when I was, when I announced that I was running for office, I was like, well, hey, this is why, you know, I’m, I love where I live. And then one of my colleagues was like, well, yeah, and you’re, you’re volunteering to serve where you love. And I was like, no, . So then, yeah, so then it just became the thing that I put on all of my posts, because that’s what it is. Mm-hmm. , this is like the whole walking the talk sort of thing. Serving where you love rather than just like talking about it, but also willing to put yourself out there mm-hmm. and serve.

Andrea Learned (02:00):

If you love where you live, there’s a natural incentive to go out there and live. The change you’re hoping to see reflected in your community and the larger world, loving where you live fuels the desire to serve locally. And that dedication, care, and commitment is felt by the community you serve. Columbia is one of the first places in Missouri to have a Complete Streets policy, and now there’s a focus on Livable Streets. I asked Barbara about the difference between Complete Streets and Livable Streets.

Barbara Buffaloe (02:27):

Complete Streets. The, like, the way that we’ve kind of historically done it was that it was thinking into multimodal transportation, but usually all in the same footprint. Okay. So a complete street had like, you know, lanes for automobile traffic and then a bike lane, and then a sidewalk. You know, on the next part, well now as we’re talking about Livable Streets, we’re thinking how do we make sure that we have that? It’s, um, when we talk about it’s not just a bike lane, but there’s a protected bike path or shared shared mobility paths, um, that are separated so that it’s actually thinking more of trying to align our vision Zero goals of having, you know, zero basically no death is acceptable, um, from, um, car pedestrian, bicycle, fatality. None of that is acceptable. Um, and so then how do we then incorporate all of those together? So our infrastructure is not just about getting you from point A to point B, but the actual, um, what is the, what is the experience

Andrea Learned (03:21):

Ah, along

Barbara Buffaloe (03:22):

Okay. That road. Okay.

Andrea Learned (03:23):

So livable it puts the experience into the whole picture.

Barbara Buffaloe (03:27):

Yeah. Yeah. Columbia was one of the first places in Missouri to have a Complete Streets policy. And so that was like 2004. I mean, that was a while ago,

Andrea Learned (03:36):

Right? Yeah.

Barbara Buffaloe (03:37):

Yeah, yeah, yeah. It is. It is. Big deals we, like, we touted ourselves for, for years. I’m like, well done Us. Well, it’s been a while, right? It’s been a hot minute . So now we are, now we’re working with our groups on like, what does it mean to be a livable street? Like what does that mean? So how do we think about, you know, different types of collectors mean different things in different areas of town. Okay. Like in our urban area, it probably means something different than in more of our suburban areas. Yes. Like right. With new construction versus old construction. And then also, how do we then, you know, we talk about Complete Streets or like a bike lane on the road. Well, you know what, on some of these faster, faster moving roads, I don’t feel as comfortable riding on a bike lane right next to a car that’s going 45 miles per hour. Right? So what does that mean to be a livable street? How do we then think about that? So over the next year, we’re gonna be working on that so that as we make those incremental changes, as we’re going into a new area or an existing area making improvements, we’re then thinking about the future of what Complete and Livable Streets mean.

Andrea Learned (04:40):

It sounds like Columbia is a welcoming community ready for this change. Are there any specific strategies your team uses to get people psyched?

Barbara Buffaloe (04:48):

Local Motion is our local kind of pedestrian bicycle advocacy group. And they’ve worked really well on both doing inclusive community engagement around these pieces. So rather than just calling up our usual bike advocates, pedestrian advocates, yes. Um, but also like getting out into the neighborhoods and talking to those who are struggling to have a safe path to school or path to work mm-hmm. and getting their input on this. What did they define Livable Streets

Andrea Learned (05:14):

As? Yes. Yes. So

Barbara Buffaloe (05:16):

They’ve been doing just a fantastic job and did a lot of community engagement over the last, um, year, and that’s where it’s really fantastic to have an existing relationship Yeah. With those groups. Yes. Because then, you know, they’re like, Hey, we’re gonna do this. What do you think? Before we kind of start and then I’m like, it’s not all of a sudden comes to me completed. I’m having opportunity for input.

Andrea Learned (05:35):

I’m interested in how Barbara’s past role as sustainability director makes her job easier as mayor now.

Barbara Buffaloe (05:41):

Yeah. I worked for the City of Columbia for over a decade before I took a short break and then threw my name into the hat to run for mayor last year. . So I, um, when I was with the Sustainability office, you know, I think it’s important to remember by starting the position in 2010, it was one of the first offices of sustainability in the U.S. Wow. And so there was not really a roadmap or anything of which to tell us how to do the work we wanted to do . Um, and so it, uh, a lot of it was by forging relationships, both the nationwide and in North America, but also within my own community. And so, you know, I got to talk to, you know, partners in Vancouver to Portland to Iowa City and Lawrence, Kansas, and talking about like, what are you doing in your areas and what are you trying to improve?

(06:32):

And then making those relationships in our city. So by talking to what local motion was called before, which was PED net, um, by talking with our county, by talking with the university and others, like building those relationships was what we had to do to create the position, right. To create the office. And then what is our, what are our work plans? What are we working on here? Mm-hmm. . Um, and so when I made the decision to kind of switch, but, um, I joke to get to basically work just as hard, but get paid way less since it’s a volunteer position as Mayor

Andrea Learned (07:04):

.

Barbara Buffaloe (07:05):

I dunno, when I, my husband’s like, what ? Um, but it, it was the same, right? So I had to, I had to lean on those relationships that I have built. What does it mean to lead in this area, um, but also use that existing knowledge that I had of, of what is it that other cities are doing to help lead them into successful into the future so that we can recreate it in Columbia. Um, and then also what is currently going on? Who is working in this space? And how do I then check in with them and see w how is it going and what do we need to improve?

Andrea Learned (07:38):

I think that’s fantastic. And it, and it is the, the organization was the Urban Sustainability Directors Network that is mm-hmm. that is the organization of all of those roles through across the country. Correct.

Barbara Buffaloe (07:49):

Right. So, so, um, U S D N, that’s the acronym for Urban Sustainability Directors Network, uh, is Yeah. Made up of like, gosh, over, I don’t even know now, it’s like over 200 member communities that’s made up now of cities and counties in North America and Canada. Um, and at the time when I started, it started in 2009, when I went to my first meeting in 2010, there was only 65 of us there. Wow.

(08:14):

And that was like individual people just trying out this job. Some of us, our titles were like recycling coordinator, but we were getting tasked with all this other projects we were supposed to do. Yeah. Um, and then now, yeah, now it’s grown. I think there’s something like 1500 people in the network in representing all those different communities, and it’s just, um, it’s, it’s amazing to see. And I think the crazier thing to me though is that like, you know, to see people applying for the job, they now have degrees in this, which there was no degree when I was in college. Right. For sustainability, it was not even a word. Right.

Andrea Learned (08:47):

Right. Yeah. Oh, wow. I mean, that’s super exciting to me because you actually were, you were in that kind of pivotal or that transitional time mm-hmm. where Yeah. And now it’s just sort of obvious. Doesn’t your city have a, a sustainability? Right, right.

Barbara Buffaloe (09:02):

Right. Doesn’t your county Yeah.

Andrea Learned (09:04):

What is wrong? You know, and I’ve, since, since kind of knowing you were in that role, I have re that’s kind of been important to me to build a community and kind of understand more of the people in that space as well. But the thing that’s really exciting me, about what your transition is, just like, Ooh, this is really cool, because you’re kind of seeing in this, in the corporate space too, the sustainability director becomes the kind of integral leader, and it just makes sense, right. For the sustainability director to be the mayor . Right. It does.

Barbara Buffaloe (09:32):

Well, because it, you know, you think about it for sustainability, um, it’s not like you’re just like a street engineer or you’re just a police officer. You had to know everything about the streets department and the police department and the utilities department. Like you had to know all these different things in order to propose changes and improvements. And so to move from that to mayor Yeah, it was very . It was actually pretty easy. Yeah.

Andrea Learned (09:58):

That’s so cool. Did I read that you’re also involved in the National League of Cities?

Barbara Buffaloe (10:02):

Yeah, so we are a member of the National League of Cities. I will say, you know, the difference I see though in those different types of network coalitions is about how relationships are formed. Okay. And how, how they invest in relationships and how they also help, like, I guess kinda like support innovative ideas. So with U S D N, a big part of it was about the relationships. So they really focus on how do we get peers together, peer networking together, because that’s where we, that’s those are those safe spaces where you can share, I’m really trying to work on this, but I’m struggling. Does anybody have any advice or opportunities that they wish they had done or, or things that they wish they had not done? Mm-hmm. , you know, safe space. Yeah. A lot of times in the larger, um, associations, there’s not as much, you almost, you have to develop those relationships before you can share, frankly. Oh, okay. And, um, and sometimes they’re just, it’s, it’s only when they have an in-person meeting. Do you ever, ever actually get to do that? But otherwise it just seems like a lot of fans are thrown at you. Yeah. But it’s not really encouraging two-way conversations.

Andrea Learned (11:11):

It would seem to me that the people that are in National League of Cities are some of those larger associations who came up from a sustainability director’s network, which to me kind of sounds like a grad school cohort. Right. Like you’re right. Right. Yeah. Which really appeals to me because I remember, and I did grad school kind of later in my life and was with, you know, much younger people and I was like, this is fantastic. Right, right. To just have this be like, I don’t know what I’m doing. Ugh. Can anyone help me? Yes. And then the exchange of ideas is more on an even level rather than saying our city has long since had an e-bike share. You know, like being sort of Yeah. I’m so cool. So I love, is there anything else you can say about that? Because I think that’s really powerful and from a leadership perspective, building those networks and kind of understanding and really appreciating these grad school type cohort organizations Yeah. For what they are.

Barbara Buffaloe (11:58):

Yeah. Well, I, I will say, I mean, I can’t, I can’t like plus one that enough. Okay. I think any opportunity that these organizations have or these associations have where they could create smaller pods for people to have frank conversations is always useful.

Andrea Learned (12:15):

So you, uh, you are apparently now on the board of directors for the Urban Sustainability Directors Network.

Barbara Buffaloe (12:19):

I am.

Andrea Learned (12:20):

So tell me, like what are the bigger picture strategies or shifts that you’re maybe forwarding with that group these days?

Barbara Buffaloe (12:26):

Um, so one of the big ones is like for, you know, his history of the group. I mentioned it was a lot about peer networks, right? It was about that peer learning, that peer exchange, all of that. And that is still mission critical. That’s still so important to make the change. Um, the other thing that we’re looking into the space moving forward is about actually understanding you have all of these, those lived experiences, those on the ground examples of what’s worked and what hasn’t worked. And what they need help with is to help move that, to help give that feedback to like state and federal governments, oh, and okay, large institutions that are maybe going to look at funding some of these things or requiring or advocating for these sort of changes to have them have a relationship with those local practitioners so that, you know, we’re, I’m not getting like a unfunded mandate coming down from the state when I have a different experience with that program or policy. Right. Right. And so trying to help build those relationships so that, um, we are actually like, now we are making the change like system wide Yes. As opposed to just locally. But to give that feedback,

Andrea Learned (13:36):

Oh wow. That’s extremely powerful right now, I would imagine.

Barbara Buffaloe (13:40):

Yeah. That’s really powerful for that influence. But then also to think about it on our other regional partners that we can gather together with. So, you know, it’s really important for me, um, when I was the sustainability practitioner here in Columbia, I was part of the Heartland Regional Network, which is about, you know, seven states in the Midwest where we would talk, we would have monthly conference calls and talk with one another. The projects that we worked on together mm-hmm. were so influential for even me locally. Wow. So for instance, we partnered with some of those other like university towns in the Midwest about items like, um, what are, what are local climate data tell us that we’re gonna be experiencing in the future? I don’t have that personal information, but if we work together, we’re able to partner right. With somebody, they’d have those data sets to tell us what to prepare for in the already changing climate. So regional collaboration is another one that is a key focus of U S D N.

Andrea Learned (14:37):

So kind of related, I’m always interested in how you got into sustainability or environmental stuff in the first place. Mm. What did you study in college?

Barbara Buffaloe (14:45):

So I always wanted to be an architect and one of my passions with architecture was existing buildings, like necessarily new construction, but giving new life to existing buildings that maybe, especially if they had like kind of fallen on hard times. Mm-hmm. . Um, so adaptive reuse was a passion of mine. Um, I went to school and after school I worked for an architecture firm in, uh, actually downtown St. Louis, Missouri. And then I went on to graduate school for Environment and Behavior because I realized I was an okay designer, but I was a much better influencer. And this is before influencer was like a terminology.

Andrea Learned (15:20):

I love it. But that you came to it yourself and owned it.

Barbara Buffaloe (15:23):

Yeah. Like I was like, hold on, I’m okay at designing, but I’m better at actually encouraging like my firm to do. Like, um, this is when lead Accreditation first came out and lead certified buildings first came out. Yep. So in 2004 I became, I got my lead accreditation professional certification and I started to realize, hold on, I can influence other people to do better. So that’s when I went back to graduate school studying the social sciences and looking into what makes people choose Yes. Environmental behaviors. Yes. Yes. And then I volunteered on a commission with the city volunteering again, . Exactly. I volunteered on a commission with the city and that’s where I learned the impacts of local government. Okay. And I realized, you know, me just encouraging one-off homeowners to do sustainable practices in their buildings is great. Mm-hmm. me riding my bike or saving my own energy. That’s great. Yeah. But if I could influence, you know what I mean, like policy mm-hmm. or the creation of programs mm-hmm. that’s even greater. Yes. And so they were creating the sustainability office with stimulus funds. Okay. And I thought, huh, I wanna apply to be on that. Great. So I wanna apply it for that position. And so that’s kind of how I transitioned into actually working for local government because of the, the just amazing power of good that it has.

Andrea Learned (16:43):

Barbara’s the first person I’ve talked with who specifically brings up the term influencer and a lot of people including me, struggle with the term and perhaps wrongly shy away from it.

Barbara Buffaloe (16:53):

I do it not to monetize myself. I think that’s where Okay. I think influencer has become, um, money has like a stigma against it. Yeah. Has a stigma against it about it being like, to monetize things. And I would argue the majority of people you see that are like quote influencers, they’re actually, I mean they’re, they’re doing it cuz they actually do believe in the things that they’re doing. Right. They, they want to encourage good household decorations, they wanna encourage Right. You know, active transportation or climate action and then

Andrea Learned (17:21):

They start getting paid.

Barbara Buffaloe (17:23):

Right. And that’s great. Right. We wanna pay people for doing good things. And so, and so I think the term has become kind of sway them with the idea that they’re only doing it for basically monetization. Right. Whereas, like, for me it was like, well no, it’s for encouraging good behaviors. Yeah. Yeah. To show that this is not, you know, I’m active transportation advocate and I can still wear heels like

Andrea Learned (17:45):

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Barbara Buffaloe (17:47):

it doesn’t, it’s not you not just one look.

Andrea Learned (17:49):

You’re not running in the room going, everyone here, I rode my bike and this is why. Right. You’re just slowly over time showing up at meetings. Yeah. Maybe you’re a little rain drenched, you know, maybe you’re a little sweaty, whatever. That’s, yeah. And that’s living change. Right. That is a huge part of my thing. So thank you for saying that and thank you for doing it and I hope that I kind, I, I love that this conversation is about that and maybe can help influence other people to think about what they can do and to redefine influence at least in your head. Yeah. Maybe

Barbara Buffaloe (18:20):

Say, yeah, what

Andrea Learned (18:20):

Does it mean? You can own it a little bit. So to the other point, when did you start riding your bike for transportation and why?

Barbara Buffaloe (18:27):

Um, when my husband and I first moved back to Columbia, you know, we were both going to school. We both chose to live within a mile of the campus because we didn’t want to drive, like we wanted to walk to campus. Yes. Hallelujah. But we were renting at the time when we decided to buy our first home, we couldn’t afford to live right next to campus, but we wanted to live in a house that we could at least then ride our bikes. Yes. Easily. Right. So it’d take a little bit longer to walk, but we could ride our bikes. And so we purposefully chose a place that we could, you know, easily ride our bikes within like 20, 30 minutes to get to campus or to work. Those are conscious decisions. And you know, one of the things that I always tell people, um, and I did, I do Pilates and you know, one of the things they talk about in your principles is consciously competent mm-hmm.

(19:16):

And like your, your goal is to be unconsciously competent, to be standing up with good posture and doing all those things. And that’s one of the things I always ask for people is to make conscious decisions. Like to be consciously competent in the decisions that you are making, in the hopes that eventually it becomes unconscious. Right. You know, it’s easy for me on Wednesdays to ride my bike or a walk cuz my husband will take the kids to school. Like these are just Yes. You know, I was consciously making the decisions and then it just became unconscious. Like, this is just the decisions we make. Um, so I like being an active commuter mm-hmm. . And it’s funny, when I talk to people, they’re assuming I’m doing it because of the environmental reasons for it. Yes. Which is a big part of it. Um, but in reality it’s just more fun. Like, it’s a lot more fun to ride my bike or walk than it is to drive, to go to work. I get to breathe fresh air, I get to wave at people, I get to just be more conscious of my surroundings and present. And so for me it’s, it’s just, yeah. It’s just more fun.

Andrea Learned (20:22):

Well it’s so funny you say that because being now in the climate space as much as I am, people are always like, oh, well you must have started biking for climate. And I’m like, no, no, no, no. And I lived in Portland, Oregon back in the day when none of that infrastructure was there. If you visited it lately. Yeah. Yeah. And it was just extremely… one, I’m from Michigan, it was extremely practical. Yes. I didn’t wanna, I didn’t wanna drive. And then the other thing is, again, the Michigan, or my impatience, it was the bus was too slow. mm-hmm. . And so I was like, someone, one of my friends was just like in a band, right. This sort of Nirvana era and we would go to shows at night and he’s just like, why don’t you just get a bike? And I literally got a three speed bike at a thrift store like that day and it changed my life and it was practicality, freedom from waiting, freedom from parking.

(21:07):

Then I slowly over time was like, oh my goodness, this is climate action. So I, yes. I think that to your point, the reasons that people get into some of this stuff often has nothing to do with these big lofty causes that we’re all trying to forward now. It’s just, and again, the conscious competence and the unconscious competition, it’s just like I unconsciously am running around riding my bike and just sort of being a reflection so that people are like, oh my gosh. People will say, Andrea, I’m gonna buy an e-bike cuz I sat here and talked with you for 15 minutes.

Barbara Buffaloe (21:38):

I remember I had a conversation, I think this is like maybe 2019 with one of our local advocates for, for cycling infrastructure. And I was talking about the climate impact of it and he’s like, you know, I never really thought about that. What? And I was like, you’ve been like the ex, you know what I mean? Like the executive director of this, you know, for how long? And you never really thought about the environmental impact of what it is you were advocating for, which, but that just goes to show yes, we have our own lived experiences mm-hmm. , we come at this from different ways. And so I think most people, they have assumptions about what it means to be a cyclist, and yet, you know, we could say the same thing about pedestrians, drivers, all these different things. And so it’s just kind of like, take that out of it.

Andrea Learned (22:22):

Yeah. Yeah. Oh, I love that story. That’s so great. Has there been anything that, a lot of what I talk about here is surprising validators or surprising, you know, kind of, uh, instigators or things that launch other programs. Has there been anything surprising where this thing happened and then all of a sudden that happened and you just didn’t see it coming?

Barbara Buffaloe (22:40):

Yeah, so, you know, we had our Missouri Department of Transportation is looking at improvements to where two major highways meet in Columbia. Uh, and it was really interesting to me, but based on them just talking about that initial project, we now have a local coalition of groups that are getting together about how do we influence what that looks like. When that physically comes together, that helps us kind of think about how does regional transportation physically look across all of Columbia and then potentially other communities could, could replicate that as well. And so I was just, I really loved how that kind of like, you know, normally Missouri department transportation is kinda like, we are doing this, we’re gonna say we’re talking to you . But we’re like, no, we do wanna actually think about how that looks. So,

Andrea Learned (23:25):

Yeah. So, and the, the point there was that you sort of invited the convening of that meeting or that that Yeah. I mean that is huge, right? So just introducing, and that is part of this understanding of influence. Right, right. Right. I know. And I trust that in the long term, this is probably gonna help us get into a deeper, better conversation. Yeah. So I will convene the fun little party at first. ,

Barbara Buffaloe (23:49):

I heard this really good, this is one of the feedbacks that I got at that, that new mayor’s, uh, training that I was at the, all of a sudden click that I’m the mayor and when I ask people to come together, they do. Oh. And I’m like, whoa,

Andrea Learned (24:03):

That is so cool. And I was like,

Barbara Buffaloe (24:06):

Oh, that’s a great feeling. So now I don’t wanna abuse that. Right? I don’t wanna just call everyone together all the time, but like the idea that they will come, I was like, oh, that is, thank you for reminding me that

Andrea Learned (24:17):

From a broader leadership perspective, no matter where your career takes you or what area you’re in, understanding the power of convening is key. Whether it’s virtually for a tweet up or in your neighborhood for a book club, people who are brave enough to step up and say, I’ll convene a group, can have a lot of impact. These gatherings open up so many doors for more conversation and community. So realizing the power to convene is a major insight. Have you applied this understanding about convening in your own work?

Barbara Buffaloe (24:45):

Yeah. Well, so one thing I was just thinking of is that, you know, I stepped into this space. I, I started working for the city because I was volunteering on a commission. Like that’s how I just had a subject. I just thought I was gonna be an architect or I thought I was gonna work in this space, right? Mm-hmm. . And then I volunteered on a local commission and I started to understand the importance of local government and like the way it really impacts where we live and where, you know, and I love where I live. Mm-hmm. thinking about that. Um, so one of the things that I’m working on is with the United We Project. Mm. Um, it is basically this idea of sort of building the bench to get more and more women and minoritized communities involved in boards and commissions.

Andrea Learned (25:31):

Oh my gosh. Um,

Barbara Buffaloe (25:31):

To help influence the decisions that are made locally. And, you know, eventually if those people decide to run for office even better, right? Yes. Like, let’s, let’s really get more involvement from, from our other community members in our local government. And so by partnering with the United We Project, one of the things that we’re doing in Columbia is, is kind of hosting events where we can help women help minority communities know how to apply or be involved in local government and like where the applications available. Um, what does it mean to serve on a border commission basically, it just kind of help almost like demystify Yes. The process of being engaged mm-hmm. , uh, and having your voice heard. So we’re looking forward to basically just increase the representation.

Andrea Learned (26:20):

I think this has been an amazing conversation. It’s been so wonderful to talk to you and I’m so glad that I came across you whenever I did two years. It’s been a really long time. Anyway, I find I find joy in the biking and I find joy in the podcasting and I find joy in talking to you. So thank you.

Barbara Buffaloe

Thank you, Andrea.

Andrea Learned (26:43):

I can’t thank Mayor Buffalo enough for the joyful conversation, which I hope will continue on Twitter and in person soon. It’s unique when leaders actually recognize their strengths and harness that power in their leadership. I love calling it out and I really emphasize it with my clients. And frankly, I get frustrated by the lack of it because we’re all limiting our climate influence by not owning it. The last thing I wanna emphasize is Barbara’s goal of being consciously competent in the hopes she becomes unconsciously competent. I love that way of framing intentional decisions in the moment as muscle memory for future lifestyle shifts. I’m going to steal it. Identifying, building and leveraging your leadership is something few may feel prepared to do, but climate influence can’t wait. If your organization is ready to make the shift, reach out to me. I’d love to help. Find me@www.andrealearned.com. I’m also easy to find on Twitter until it is no more. And LinkedIn

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