Why High Performing Leaders Avoid Reflection If you’re anything like most of the leaders I coach, you’re always moving.Meeting to meeting. Project to project. Goal to goal.It’s the great trap of ambitious people. You’re praised for producing, so you keep producing. And reflection becomes something you’ll “get to when things slow down.”Which of course, never […]

Why This Matters Now Corporate leaders are under more pressure than ever. A recent Deloitte report showed that nearly 70 percent of executives feel overwhelmed by competing priorities and decision fatigue. At the same time, the demand for leadership roles in high growth cities like Austin and Chicago continues to rise. With promotion paths tightening […]

More women are becoming primary earners than ever before, yet studies show that nearly 70 percent of working mothers still feel guilt about pursuing their careers. It is even heavier for the women who are the first female breadwinner in their entire lineage. In cities like Austin where tech, leadership roles, and dual-income families are […]

Why this matters now If you want to land the leadership role in 2026, your preparation starts now. More leaders than ever are burned out, underpaid, and overlooked. According to LinkedIn’s 2025 Workplace Trends, leadership roles posted in Q4 receive twelve times more applications than mid level roles. Austin and Chicago continue to pull top […]

The right mindset can completely transform your career, confidence, and peace of mind. After leading billion-dollar mergers and serving as Chief People Officer, I learned that success at work means nothing if it costs your life. Through the mindset tools I now teach in my coaching, I discovered how to rewire frustration, own my identity, […]

Why it matters now to say no Corporate leaders are drowning in tasks and starving for strategy, and don’t know how to say no without feeling fear. A Deloitte study found 77 percent of executives say they feel burned out, yet nearly the same percentage admit they take on work that isn’t part of their […]

Why Saying No Matters Now Let’s be honest. Saying no doesn’t always come naturally. Most corporate leaders are drowning in “good” work—committee meetings, team projects, and extra assignments that keep everyone else happy but do nothing for your actual career growth. According to Gallup, employee burnout costs U.S. companies over $190 billion a year in […]

Why this matters now We live in a world wired for negativity. News cycles, social media, and even everyday conversations are designed to keep our brains focused on what’s wrong, not what’s possible. According to research from the National Science Foundation, the average person has around 60,000 thoughts per day—and more than 80% are negative. […]

Train Your Brain to Follow Through: The Desire + Identity Strategy for Executives Hi friends, Shayla King here—your favorite executive coach for leaders who want to increase performance, pay, and happiness. Fall and school activities are in full swing here in Austin, TX, and it got me thinking about motivation, discipline, and how we actually […]

Most people quit too soon. That’s the real reason they don’t get the promotion, land the dream job, or hit the big life goals.
In today’s world of corporate leadership, high performers often think that hard work should equal results. But when it doesn’t happen on their timeline, they give up. That’s the difference between the 95% who stay stuck and the 5% who create epic careers and lives.