Here they are … www.nancygeenen.com/blog/2026/my...

Capital doesn’t find women-owned businesses by accident. It finds them in rooms like this one. Flexability is proud to sponsor the WBC’s 2026 Women’s Capital Summit – October 6 and 7, New York. Marketplace, capital matchmaking, fireside chats and panels. Building, backing or brokering? Be there.

If you get butterflies in your stomach when you have to speak to a colleague who is underperforming, you are not alone. As managers we must become comfortable having difficult conversations with underperforming colleagues. The secret is to be candidly kind, and curious. 📸 Pixabay

As a senior United Nations legal officer, I led a team that resolved $10-billion claims arising from Iraq’s unlawful invasion of Kuwait. Here's the big thing I learnt: choose your battles, then frame them. The outcome is often decided by whoever sets the terms of the debate. 📸 Unsplash

It is when you are struggling that you should reach out to friends. As business expert Simon Sinek says, friendship is built on trust and trust is built by asking for help. If you’re like me, asking for help is hard. But, when we ask for help we give our friends the honor of showing up.

The last few weeks were hard. A 911 call, 14 days in hospital corridors, and a lot of scenario planning that only made me miss the moment I was actually in. What helped: going back to a 5am routine. Exercise, meditate, coffee. In pajamas.

“Feeling seen and heard” sounds like soft stuff. It isn’t. It’s the difference between a team that tells you about a problem in week one and one that lets you find it in Q3. Work at creating a welcoming place for each individual. It hits your bottom line. 📸 Unsplash

My book The Advantage of Other teaches lessons through storytelling, such as a tacos seller who nearly went under because he was selling his tacos for less than it cost him to make them. 📕 www.amazon.com/Advantage-Ot...

“On board with the changes” + zero questions about one’s own role is not agreement, it’s fear. People don’t resist change, they resist change when they can’t see their place in it. The silence in the meeting is telling. Start there. 📸 from Unsplash

It’s neuroscience: swapping one word for another, especially when you’re feeling challenged or frustrated, can help you look at the situation with new eyes, and make it easier to find the right solution. Read more here: www.inc.com/minda-zetlin...

#NancyTalks: Resilience is the ability to get up eight times after being knocked down seven. But, just getting up and not changing things is neither efficient nor effective. Read more here: www.nancygeenen.com/blog/2026/he...

Fresh perspectives … Good-to-great leaders understand that if you begin with “who,” instead of “what,” you can more easily adapt to a changing world.

What are you deeply passionate about? What can you be the best in the world at? What best drives your economic or resource engine? Here’s why the “hedgehog concept” is effective: amp.theceomagazine.com/business/man...

I love this from DanielPink: “Spend … time just doing stuff and trying stuff and taking chances … Eventually, you will find your footing.” What’s my “thread” over a multifaceted career? It’s helping people see the best version of themselves. 👓 som.yale.edu/story/2025/a...

I’ve coached tennis, women’s wheelchair basketball and fast-pitch softball. My learnings? 🎾 We all have biases. The trick is to be aware of them 🏀 You are as good as your team 🥎 The best coaches have an “eyes on, hands off” approach. How about you?

Today my message is simple. Have a good weekend. Intentionally. And rest.

#NancyTalks: what resilience actually looks like Resilience is one of the most overused words in leadership conversations and, I believe, one of the most misunderstood. It is often used as a synonym for endurance: pushing through, keeping at it, not showing strain. But that is not resilience.

I am happy to share that I have been named the Equity & Inclusion CEO of the Year 2026 (USA) in Acquisition International magazine’s (www.linkedin.com/posts/acquis...) Influential Businesswoman Awards!

Today is International Day of Families. And it’s made me think about how rarely we talk about what it actually takes to manage a career and a family – not in theory, but in practice. Although policies for this exist in most organizations, the culture often doesn’t match them.

#NancyTalks: positive feedback as a leadership tool Failing to tell your team they have done a good job is a missed opportunity.

I was recently in a meeting that ended without us reaching consensus on how to approach an urgent matter we had been grappling with.

#NancyTalks: the invisible ceiling We talk about the glass ceiling as if it is one thing. It isn’t. For many women, the real barrier isn’t at the top – it’s at the first rung.

The most dangerous state for a leadership team is comfortable agreement. We’ve been conditioned to believe that a meeting without friction is a successful one. But consensus is often just the path of least resistance.

Why does it take a crisis for humans to truly connect? I’ve been pondering this since my plane was diverted to another airport for an emergency landing … Read more about my experience here: www.nancygeenen.com/blog/2026/th...

#NancyTalks: the unspoken Most leadership advice tells you how to listen. But the real skill is knowing what you’re listening for. In a meeting, the most critical information often isn’t in the verbal update.

#NancyTalks: playing it too safe We spend a lot of time trying to be perfect, but leadership isn’t just about performance. It’s about practice, and making mistakes (sometimes repeatedly), learning and adapting.

There is something about the weight of a fountain pen on heavy paper. In a world of digital clouds and constant pings from messages and group chats, I find myself craving the things that stay where I put them. 📸 from Pexels

#NancyTalks: pacing Quarterly goals often feel like a sprint to a finish line that keeps moving. But high-performance leadership is a marathon. If you’re breathless at the end of Q1, it’s time to look at your pace, not just your results.

#NancyTalks: the pause The urge to fill silence in a meeting is a natural human reflex. Silence can feel heavy, and our instinct is to lighten it with more words, more data, or noise. But one of the most powerful tools a leader has is the intentional pause.

Fresh perspectives … The most expensive liability in business is the mindset that says: “We’ve always done it this way.” Institutional habit is often mistaken for institutional wisdom. While “the way we do things” provides a sense of security, it can also become a blindfold.