Leadership from Within: workplace tools for self-control to drive business forward.

From Anger to Leadership

"I swear, sometimes I just want to scream.

How can they not see the obvious???, a friend, a consultant vented.

THIS is what’s gonna kill me. My doctor says my cortisol is off the charts."

His frustration was real.

But emotion-driven reactions rarely drive the best business outcomes.

I told him:

"Breathe first. Six rounds of a physiological sigh right after the conversation. Do it every time."

"But then they do something dumb again and I'm back to angry"

"Then you breathe again."

Why?

Because your state drives your thinking.

Thinking drives decisions. Decisions drive culture and business results.

Top leaders, Navy SEALs, elite athletes, transformational executives go even higher.

They don’t just control their emotions. They engineer them???

How You Show Up Changes Everything

Ever walked into a room and felt the energy shift?

A leader steps in—calm, focused, engaged. Suddenly, the team straightens up, speaks with more confidence, takes bolder action.

Or the opposite—a leader arrives frustrated, distracted, overwhelmed. The room tenses. People hesitate. They play it safe. The best ideas stay unspoken.

How we show up shapes what people believe they’re capable of.

This is why great leadership isn’t about strategy—it’s about state management. It’s about mastering the space between stimulus and response.

Viktor Frankl, a Holocaust survivor and renowned psychiatrist, famously said:

"Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom."

?? Most animals react.

?? Humans—leaders—have a choice.

The question is: Are you choosing your response, or is your environment choosing it for you? Do you get angry or your choose to breathe, to get curious, why people do what they do? And how can I help them to change?

Are You Leading the Culture—or Letting It Lead You?

Leaders don’t just set vision and strategy. They set the emotional and mental tone of their entire organization.

The energy you bring into the room determines what challenges your people take on—or avoid.

Zach Mercurio, Ph.D. ’s research shows that when leaders show up engaged and present, people feel more capable. They see possibilities instead of limitations.

Culture isn’t built with slogans. It’s built in moments of self-leadership.

"You (or your organization) probably evaluate skills aimed at performing and producing. Do you assess your ability and skills to care? What is your personal and professional development plan for noticing others or ensuring they feel heard? What is your technique for authentically checking in on people? One of the most prominent mistakes leaders make is obsessing about lagging indicators like performance and productivity and neglecting the leading indicator of everything: people"

Your focus is contagious

If you show up reactive, your team plays it safe. If you show up calm, your team thinks bigger.

This is leadership at its core that starts from within:

Control your state → Lead their state → Drive business results.

So, here’s your challenge, dear leader:

What’s one shift you can make today that will change how you show up?

Because how you show up changes everything.

Hint: start with breathing.

Drop your thoughts in the comments—how do you master your state to shape your leadership? How do you make sure that the most turbulent situation doesn't affect your leadership???

Brought to you by YourBestCulture.com.

Culture change that drives business numbers.