Have a story or inflection point to share? Tap here to message us — we’d love to hear it.
Ever felt like you’re acting like a leader instead of being one? We dig into the real difference between performing leadership and practicing it, and why steady confidence grows from competence, follow-through, and results under pressure. No gimmicks, no borrowed styles—just practical moves that help you choose substance over optics and integrity over approval.
We break down how to “let the work speak” without disappearing into the background or blasting a bullhorn. You’ll hear simple ways to show outcomes, narrate your process, and invite others to name the impact. From there, we get tactical about precision in communication: compressing your message for a time-poor executive, expanding context for someone new, and using synthesis to make complex ideas clear. We also draw an important line between honesty and transparency—how to share enough for informed action while protecting what’s confidential—and why that balance is the backbone of trust.
If you lead a team, you’ll get actionable tools: pair every no with a clear direction, repeat your message with purposeful nuance, and keep standards high while tailoring your approach to the individual. We talk intrinsic motivation and how to map what people actually want so you can design small, practical steps that move them from A to B. Accountability becomes clean and fair when expectations are explicit, support is real, and metrics illuminate decisions instead of policing people. We close with a one-week skill builder: notice where you’re performing leadership, replace it with a grounded action, and watch the work get lighter while the impact grows.
Subscribe for future episodes, share this one with a leader who needs it, and leave a quick review telling us where you’re replacing performance with practice. Your story might be the nudge someone else needs.
Connect with Beki on LinkedIn: Linkedin.com/in/BekiFraser
Learn more about her coaching: TheIntrovertedSkeptic.com
Follow Short Story Long's LinkedIn Page: Linkedin.com/showcase/shortstorylongpod
Get her book, C.O.A.C.H. Y.O.U.: The Introverted Skeptic’s Guide to Leadership - Amazon
Short Story Long is produced by Crowned Culture Media LLC
