You know you should develop your people. You’ve sat through the training, learned the frameworks, even nodded along enthusiastically about the importance of coaching and feedback. But when Monday morning hits and you’re drowning in deadlines, those beautiful theories sit useless in a folder somewhere.

Here’s what most leadership training won’t tell you: the gap isn’t between knowing and doing. It’s between wanting to cultivate people and having the actual time and organizational space to do it. And more importantly, what happens when the whole system is built to make real people development impossible.

This episode tackles the uncomfortable truth that most leaders aren’t failing at cultivation because they don’t care. They’re drowning in organizations that won’t let them be the leaders they want to be. The root is sick, and it’s crushing everyone from the top down.

But there’s a way forward that doesn’t involve adding more to your already overloaded plate. It’s about becoming who you want to be as a leader through small, daily practices—even when the entire organization is working against you.

You’ll discover:

✅ Why you can’t perform who you aren’t—and what that means for your leadership

✅ The “one morsel” approach to cultivating people when you’re overwhelmed

✅ How to give feedback daily without turning it into a dissertation

✅ Why relationship building before hard conversations changes everything

✅ What to do when the whole system is working against authentic leadership

Ready to become the leader you want to be, even when your organization isn’t set up for it? Go to the show notes for key takeaways here.

Want to go deeper?

Visit kemerlinrich.com to access detailed show notes and connect with our growing community of leaders committed to human development.

Ready to learn how to cultivate in the margins? Explore Authentic Power Leadership Training where we help overwhelmed leaders develop people without adding more to their plates. Get your spot today.