This conversation explores the importance of strategy within HR, the value of a team culture built on authenticity and support, and the need to balance compassion with accountability. From employee experience and feedback to systems, learning, and leadership, this episode offers a thoughtful look at what strong HR leadership can make possible.

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Stepping Into Your Power: A Conversation on Confidence, Transition, and Leadership

with Sarah Zaharia

What happens when you finally see yourself the way others have seen you all along?
 In this powerful episode, Sarah joins David to explore the internal shifts, bold risks, and subtle mindset changes that helped her step into a larger, more confident version of herself—and reshape her career in the process.

Sarah opens up about leaving the public sector after nearly two decades, navigating the complexity of a major career transition, leading in a high-pressure environment, and maintaining relationships with intention and grace.

This conversation is an invitation: to challenge the beliefs that hold you back, to rethink what confidence actually looks like, and to step more fully into the leader you’re becoming.

🌟 In This Episode, We Explore:

✨ The moment Sarah realized she was underestimating herself

and how a simple reframing helped her step into a senior leadership mindset.

✨ Why language shapes leadership

—from apologetic qualifiers to declarative confidence.

✨ The hidden emotional work of transitions

and how to move from one chapter to the next with intention and integrity.

✨ How women can stop self-limiting and support each other more powerfully

including the importance of bold conversations and strong female community.

✨ Why “work-life balance” is a myth

and how to rethink balance across months (or even years).

✨ What it takes to leave a role without burning bridges

and how those relationships can fuel your success later.

✨ The surprising power of space, reflection, and self-care

(and why you can’t lead well from an empty cup).

🔥 Why This Episode Matters (and Might Hit You Hard)

This is one of those rare episodes that feels like listening in on the exact conversation you didn’t know you needed.

Sarah speaks with honesty, vulnerability, and grounded clarity about:

• The fear and excitement of reinvention
• The expectations placed on women leaders
• The tension between ambition and wellbeing
• The reality of leading through high-pressure seasons
• The courage required to say “I’m ready for more”

Whether you’re contemplating a transition, looking to reclaim your confidence, or craving leadership conversations that go deeper than buzzwords—this one is going to resonate.

🔑 Key Quotes From the Episode

💬 If You Enjoy This Episode… Share It.

Someone in your network is sitting on the edge of their next big step—and this conversation could be the permission or perspective they need.

🔍 Episode SEO Keywords :

• women in leadership
• leadership transition
• career change stories
• confidence at work
• executive coaching
• public to private sector transition
• imposter syndrome
• workplace confidence
• professional reinvention
• leadership podcast Canada
• Space to Lead podcast

🙌 Connect With Us

Host: David LeBlanc
Leadership Coach • Team Coach • Founder, LeBlanc Leadership Group
www.SpaceToLead.ca
| www.LeBlancLeadership.ca

Guest: Sarah Zaharia
Communications Leader • Infrastructure Sector

Follow Space to Lead for more conversations that create clarity, courage, and growth in leadership.

The conversation bridges psychology, leadership, and systems thinking, linking grief to models like Kübler-Ross’s Stages of Grief, William Bridges’ Transition Model, and Sam Kaner’s Groan Zone. Together, they highlight that creating space for endings — to name, honor, and process what has been lost — allows new beginnings to emerge with clarity and trust.

💡 Key Concepts & Models Referenced

• Kübler-Ross’s Stages of Grief: Understanding emotional responses to loss — denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance.
• Anticipatory Grief: The anxiety and emotional weight of knowing change or loss is coming before it happens.
• William Bridges’ Transition Model: Moving through endings, the neutral zone (or “messy middle”), and new beginnings.
• Kaner’s Groan Zone: The discomfort and confusion that accompany true transformation and collective sense-making.
• Space to Lead Model: The importance of slowing down, reflecting, and making intentional space for what’s true before moving forward.

🧭 Key Takeaways

• Grief is not just personal — it’s professional, collective, and systemic.
• Leaders must name and honor endings to build trust and make room for renewal.
• Anticipatory grief is common in organizations facing change and can heighten anxiety if unacknowledged.
• Doing endings well prevents unresolved emotional residue from surfacing later in team dynamics and culture.
• “Name it to tame it” — identifying loss gives people language and permission to process emotions.
• Good endings create psychological safety and pave the way for creative, clear beginnings.

🗣️ Memorable Quotes

🔗 Resources 

• On Death and Dying by Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
• Transitions: Making Sense of Life’s Changes by William Bridges
• Facilitator’s Guide to Participatory Decision-Making by Sam Kaner

🎧 Closing Reflection

Leaders are constantly navigating endings — some clear, some ambiguous. By acknowledging grief and making space for endings, we invite authenticity, integrity, and renewal into our leadership practice.

What happens in that moment after someone says something that hits you wrong?
Before the judgment, before the reaction—there’s a pause. And in that pause lies the possibility for understanding.

In this episode of Space to Lead, David LeBlanc explores the power of language, how certain words—like “sissy”—carry history and emotion, and how our reactions often reveal as much about us as they do about the word itself.

This is a conversation about words as both weapons and bridges, about sensitivity and awareness, and about the practice of pausing before we decide what’s right, wrong, or off-limits.

In This Episode

• The story behind why a single word in a previous episode stayed with David
• How language carries history, identity, and emotion
• The psychology of reaction—what’s happening in your body when a word triggers you
• How to pause and reflect before judgment
• Why curiosity, not censorship, builds understanding
• What leaders, coaches, and teams can learn about communication through awareness of language

Key Takeaways

• Words are never neutral—they live in relationship and context.
• Our reactions are often shaped by memory, identity, and experience.
• The pause between stimulus and response is where reflection and growth happen.
• True inclusion isn’t just about policing language—it’s about staying open to dialogue and difference.
• When we replace judgment with curiosity, we open the door to empathy.

Reflective Prompts for Listeners

• What words have power for you?
• When you react strongly to something someone says, what might that be telling you about your story?
• How can you create more space to pause, reflect, and respond rather than react?

Connect & Explore

• 📰 Read the companion article: The Power of Words: Pausing Before We Judge – TEAMshift Magazine

• 🎧 Listen to past episodes of Space to Lead
• 🌐 Visit www.leblancleadership.ca
  for leadership and team development resources
• 💬 Join the conversation on LinkedIn — share your reflection using #SpaceToLead #TEAMshiftMagazine #LiveLearnGrow

🕊️ Episode Quote

🎵 Credits

• Host: David LeBlanc
• Produced by: LeBlanc Leadership Group – The LIVE. LEARN. GROW. Company
• Find more at: The Space to Lead Podcast

We explore Salvatore’s three pillars of communication — content, delivery, and presence — and why great leadership communication often begins with stillness and the power of pause. From practical tips like “move 5% slower than the room” to principles such as “You, then Me,” Salvatore shares strategies that help leaders turn complex ideas into messages that connect and inspire.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• Why stillness and pausing build confidence and presence.
• The difference between a download and a dialogue.
• How “You, then Me” can transform conversations and relationships.
• Simple ways to start small and practice one shift at a time.

Whether you’re leading a team, presenting big ideas, or simply striving to communicate with more clarity and impact, this episode offers tools and inspiration you can apply right away. Learn more about Salvatore and his work at www.salvatoremanzi.com and be sure to order his new book - Clear and Compelling: Communication Strategies for Big Thinkers and Bold Ideas.

In this insightful episode of "Gabi Space," join us for a profound conversation with Gabby as we explore self-differentiation, a concept critical for leaders and for navigating our daily lives.

Gabby introduces self-differentiation, rooted in family systems theory, as the lifelong practice of being "separate and connected". It's about recognizing our individual distinctness while acknowledging our constant interaction with and need for others. This isn't a destination, but an ongoing journey with "no arriving".

Key themes and insights from our conversation include:

• Understanding Your Experience: We often get into trouble by blaming others for our feelings, saying things like "you make me so upset". A core part of self-differentiation is asking: "Who is actually creating the upset here, or the joy, or the happiness?".

• The Model of Experience: Gabby shares a helpful model from Jervis Bush's "Clear Leadership," which breaks down our experience into observations, thoughts, feelings, and wants. A common challenge highlighted in coaching is confusing our feelings with our thoughts, often using phrases like "I feel that" or "I feel like" followed by a thought. The practice encourages slowing down to access the distinct energy and sensation in our bodies.

• Slowing Down and Creating Space: This intentional pausing is a crucial "doorway to self-differentiation". It allows us to connect with our whole selves, not just our heads, understanding that our entire body is engaged in our experience.

• The Breath as a Reset Button: A simple yet elegant tool, the breath serves as a universal reset button, inviting the parasympathetic system to shift our internal state and move us from reactivity to a more thoughtful response.

• Attentive Listening and Responsibility: Self-differentiation extends to how we listen. It means seeking to understand another's experience—their thoughts, feelings, and wants—without feeling responsible for changing it or rushing to "fix" things. This helps us discern how our experiences differ from others'.

• "Saying I When You Mean I": A powerful practice is using "I" when talking about our own distinct experience, rather than assuming a collective "we" in tight relationships. Gabby shares an insightful story about her nephew learning it's "not okay to have a different experience," highlighting how deeply ingrained patterns can make it difficult to assert our individual voice. This practice helps us avoid becoming our ideas or emotions in a reactive "addictive loop".

• Cultivating Awareness in Busy Lives: The episode addresses the challenge of being "addicted to how busy we are" and viewing pauses as "indulgent". However, Gabby notes a growing trend of leaders embracing mindfulness practices and "moments of arrival" to build "connection before content" in meetings and create space to notice and address the energy in the room.

Gabby's Challenge for You: As a final thought, Gabby encourages us to "be willing to say I when you mean I" and become an "I specialist". We invite you, over the next week, to notice how many times you use "I," "we," or "you" when expressing yourself.

Join us next time on Gabi Space for more transformative conversations!

In the conversation, two videos are referenced, and you can find them on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiY4gMVb3Tk AND https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW8amMCVAJQ

We also discussed "Simple Rules" based on the work of Glenda Eoyang and the Human Systems Dynamics Institute - https://www.hsdglobalservices.org/

If you would like to learn more about Suzanne and her work, you can find her at www.foxdenconsulting.com, and be sure to check out one of her signature programs - "Getting Good Things Done" - https://foxdenconsulting.com/getting-good-things-done/