A Note from LaTonya This one has already created some captivating conversations, and I'm genuinely glad it's out in the world. If you've read it already, thank you. I'd love to hear what landed for you; hit reply and tell me. This issue is about the difference between mindset and energy. Mindset is the surface. Energy is what's below it, and it's exactly the kind of work we go deeper on inside Coaching Below the Surface. This Issue's Reflection It was the spring of 2023, and calling it an...
23 days ago • 9 min read
A Note from LaTonya After relaunching this newsletter, I have received several notes from you about what I’ve been writing. Some of you wrote me about how the conflict article really helped; others wanted to break away from masking. I’ve enjoyed getting the replies from you. And, between this and being inspired by all of the leaders and coaches I’ve gotten to talk to recently, I’ve decided to do something different. I'm opening up 10 spots for 15-minute drop-in style connection calls. You set...
29 days ago • 1 min read
A *Quick* Note from LaTonya Whether it's the beach, a long bike ride, a walk, or even staying inside, I hope you are enjoying your version of summer! Mine has included ample beach and bike time. If you want to experience something different, I have an invite for you this Friday. Five cohorts in, and the community we've built continues to remind me why I started. When I started Coaching Below the Surface, I had a vision: a community of coaches and leaders doing this work differently. Not just...
about 1 month ago • 1 min read
A Note from LaTonya Conflict has really been on my mind! I recently read the book Let This Radicalize You, in which the authors, Kelly Hayes and Mariame Kaba, devoted an entire chapter to it. They discussed activists giving up on each other, on organizing in community, because we don't agree on everything. It made me think about how much further we could go if we had the tools to stay in relationship even when every little thing isn't 100% aligned. It's also been on my mind because I'm...
about 1 month ago • 11 min read
A Note from LaTonya This weekend, the U.S. turned 250. And if you were paying attention, it was also a weekend of reckoning. A country still figuring out what it wants to be. Still navigating the tension between who it has been and who it's becoming. As heartbreaking, enraging, and even hopeful as it can be, I couldn't help but see myself in that. Transparently, I didn't do anything to "celebrate" this year. I contemplated, rested, wrote, ate good food, and reconnected with myself and the...
about 2 months ago • 9 min read
A Quick Personal Invitation I’ll be honest. I’m a little behind this week. Between moving, traveling, and a flight delay that created an arrival in the middle of the night, my usual rhythm has been off. But I didn’t want the week to pass without reaching out to you. Coaches regularly contact me, struggling with the same thing: they have the tools, but their sessions aren’t creating real transformation. Leaders tell me something similar. They have the playbooks, but their teams aren't actually...
2 months ago • 1 min read
A Note from LaTonya A note from LaTonya I've been sitting with the idea of the Human Age for a while now. Every time I'd bring it up, I'd get skeptical looks or polite dismissal, so I'd pull back, and I stopped naming it out loud. But something shifted recently. A coffee conversation with someone I've known for years. Watching them become someone almost unrecognizable from who they were, and this was a good thing. I realized I was done waiting for permission to name what I'm actually seeing....
3 months ago • 9 min read
A Note from LaTonya This issue is personal. I've been sitting with relationships for a while now and haven’t really talked about this publicly. So, this month, I finally wrote about it. We are in a moment where relationships are being tested in ways most of us weren't prepared for. Identity shifts. Chaotic environments. The quiet erosion of belonging at work and in life. The internal loneliness of being surrounded by people who don't quite see you. This issue is about all of that. And what to...
4 months ago • 10 min read
A Note from LaTonya Welcome to the new Leading Below the Surface with LaTonya, reimagined as a practice. I got tired of newsletters that only exist to sell something. When I looked at my own, I had to be real with myself. It felt surface. So I shifted it. This is something different. A couple of times a month, you'll find a reflection, journal prompts, and book insights. This will comprise something to actually sit with, not just read and move on from. AI is overwhelming us with information....
4 months ago • 7 min read