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As leaders, many of us inherited a blueprint for what “good leadership” should look like. We learned it from mentors, past bosses, classrooms, and corporate cultures. But what happens when we realize we’ve been performing leadership instead of truly living it?

In this powerful episode of Leadership POV: Conversations with Alkema and Friends, we explore the deeper question beneath titles, goals, and performance metrics:

Who are you when you lead?

Alkema shares a coaching moment that sparked an awakening, when a leader admitted, “I’ve been performing leadership instead of living it.” That realization opens the door to a transformative conversation about authenticity, identity, and the internal narratives shaping how we show up.

Joining the conversation is Dr. Shade, Founder and CEO of The Leadership Synergy Institute. A distinguished research professor, consultant, speaker, and coach based in Canada, Dr. Shade empowers leaders, particularly immigrant women and technical professionals, to lead with clarity, courage, and purpose.

She is also the author of Overcoming the Impostor Syndrome: How to Quiet Your Inner Critic, and a respected voice helping high-achieving women silence self-doubt and step fully into their leadership identity.

Together, Alkema and Dr. Shade unpack:

• What we’ve internalized about leadership
• The difference between leading from expectation versus authenticity
• How identity shapes leadership impact
• Why unlearning can be just as important as learning
• What it truly means to embody leadership from the inside out

This episode is an invitation to slow down and reflect:

Are you doing leadership… or being a leader grounded in who you are becoming?

Free Resource: Download your Leadership Identity Reflection Journal at alewisconsult.com to assess your current leadership and gain clarity for your next level.

Contact Alkema Lewis @

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If this conversation resonates, subscribe, rate, and follow Leadership POV: Conversations with Alkema and Friends on Apple, Spotify, or iHeart.

Because leadership is not just what you do. It is who you are becoming along the way.

#LeadershipIdentity #AuthenticLeadership #ImpostorSyndrome
#WomenInLeadership #LeadershipDevelopment

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Season 4: Unmasking Leadership Identity

Welcome to Season 4 of Leadership Point of View: Conversations with Alkema and Friends — and this season, we’re going deeper than ever before.

Our new series, Unmasking Leadership Identity, challenges the way we’ve been conditioned to think about leadership. Many of us have inherited definitions of what “good leadership” looks like — from mentors, former supervisors, organizational culture, and systems we’ve navigated. But have we ever stopped to ask:

• What have I internalized about leadership?
• Am I leading from expectations or from authenticity?
• What does it truly mean to be a leader, not just do leadership?

This season, we’re pulling back the layers.

Each episode will feature powerful national and international voices including Dr. Shade, Mr. Ron Rapatalo, Mr. Michael White, Mr. Chandler S. Bailey, and other dynamic leaders who are living and leading from the inside out.

Together, we’ll explore what it means to lead with identity, heart, and purpose — because leadership isn’t just about performance. It’s about becoming.

Season 4 officially launches Wednesday, February 18, 2026.

Be sure to follow, subscribe, and share. Join us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and iHeart as we shift the conversation on leadership and unmask what authentic leadership truly looks like.

Let’s grow. Let’s reflect. Let’s lead from within.Contact Alkema Lewis @

+ Instagram: @thealconsulting

+ Facebook: A Lewis Consulting

+ YouTube: Alkema Lewis

+ Website: ALewisConsult.com

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In this First Start Monday reflection, Alkema invites leaders to face the mirror they’ve been avoiding—not a literal one, but the internal mirror of self-reflection. This episode challenges us to pause, look honestly at our habits, emotions, and mindsets, and confront the areas we often ignore while staying busy leading others. From defensiveness and procrastination to fear and pride, Alkema reminds us that avoidance doesn’t stop growth—it only delays it.

Rooted in faith, self-awareness, and transformational leadership, this episode reframes reflection as refinement, not failure. You’ll be encouraged to take just five quiet minutes to ask a powerful question: What mirror am I avoiding? Because the mirror isn’t punishment—it’s preparation. When leaders lean into discomfort, they gain clarity, maturity, and the courage to grow into their next level of leadership.

In this episode, you’ll explore:

• Why leaders often avoid self-reflection—and the cost of doing so
• How the “mirror” reveals growth opportunities, not perfection
• The connection between inner transformation and effective leadership
• A simple, practical reflection to start your week with clarity and courage

Start your week ready to lead better—by looking inward first.

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Fresh Start Monday: Identity Before Impact

This episode invites you to reflect on the truth that impact means very little without identity. In a culture obsessed with performance, outcomes, and external success, it’s easy to lose sight of who we are beneath the titles, expectations, and applause. But real leadership begins when we stop performing to impress and start becoming who we were created to be.

You’ll hear why performance may build reputation, but identity builds the foundation. When your doing flows from your being, your influence becomes natural, not forced. Leadership rooted in values, faith, purpose, and authenticity creates lasting impact without the exhaustion of constant striving.

As you start your week, take a moment to pause, breathe, and realign. Stop chasing applause. Chase alignment. Lead from a place of wholeness, because when you walk in who you truly are, impact will always follow.

Stop performing. Start becoming. New episodes every Monday. Fresh starts included.

Connect with Alkema Lewis

Website: www.alewisconsult.com

Partnering with leaders to align purpose, strategy, identity, and culture for lasting organizational impact.

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Happy New Year! A new year calls for a new beginning. In this Fresh Start Monday episode, leadership coach Alkema Lewis invites you to pause before the busyness takes over and reflect on who you are as a leader and who you are becoming. Through thoughtful questions and a gentle reset, this episode reminds you that clarity comes from self-awareness, not speed. Start 2026 grounded, aligned, and leading from identity first.

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• Instagram: @thealconsulting
• Facebook: A Lewis Consulting
• YouTube: Alkema Lewis
• Website: ALewisConsult.com

#LeadershipDevelopment #SelfAwareness #MotivationalMondays #LeadershipJourney #AlkemaLewisConsulting #Coaching #FreshStartMonday

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We’re on a short leadership reset until January, so we’re revisiting some of your favorite conversations. While we recharge and prepare an even stronger lineup for the new year, enjoy this encore episode that still has plenty to say about growth, clarity, and the courage to lead well. New episodes return in January.

*REPOST*

Guest: Paul Fisher — Technology Guru, Leadership Coach, Speaker

Episode Overview: In this compelling season finale, host Alkema welcomes Paul Fisher to delve into the intricacies of leadership transitions. With a wealth of experience guiding teams through pivotal changes, Paul offers invaluable insights into the emotional and strategic facets of stepping into new leadership roles.

About Paul Fisher: Serves as a leader in his role of Director of Information Technology in the Greater New York area. He has extensive experience identifying avenues for operational optimization through strategic resource management, technical solutions engineering, and employee empowerment. Perceptive changemaker with a track record of overhauling outmoded electronics and systems, developing business partnerships, and driving cross-functional synergies to procure industry-leading technologies in a cost-effective manner. Dedicated leader adept at supporting the non-profit mission through large-scale system implementations, enhancing internal capabilities to effectively support community-driven technology modernizations.

Follow & Connect:

• Instagram: @thealconsulting
• Facebook: A Lewis Consulting
• YouTube: Alkema Lewis
• Website: ALewisConsult.com

Listen & Subscribe: Don't miss this insightful discussion on navigating the complexities of leadership transitions. Subscribe to Leadership POV Conversations with Alkema & Friends on your preferred podcast platform to stay updated on future episodes.

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In this Fresh Start Monday bonus episode, leadership coach and consultant Alkema Lewis invites you into a countercultural practice that just might transform the final stretch of your year: being still.

After a full Thanksgiving season of family, gratitude, and (hopefully) rest, Alkema returns with a grounding message for leaders navigating the pressures of December—the goals, expectations, and decisions tugging at you from every direction.

What if your most strategic move this week isn’t action… but stillness?

Drawing from timeless wisdom and practical leadership insight, Alkema explores how intentional quiet creates space for clarity, creativity, and God-given inner guidance to rise to the surface. When we pause, we position ourselves to hear what hurried living often drowns out.

In these final 30 days of the year, Alkema challenges us to shift from doing more to becoming more: calm, clear, centered, and aligned with our next right step.

Take a moment to breathe, listen, and realign as you step into a new week with purpose.

#LeadershipPOV #Reflection #AlignedLeadership #StillnessIsStrategy #AlkemaLewisConsulting

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On this Fresh Start Monday, Alkema invites us into a season of authentic thanksgiving—gratitude that is lived, not performed. In a culture that often turns thankfulness into a display, this episode reminds us what real leadership looks like: showing up with sincerity, groundedness, and a heart aligned with purpose.

Alkema explores how leading with presence instead of pressure allows us to serve others from a place of calm confidence rather than urgency or expectation. When we slow down, breathe, and root ourselves in genuine gratitude, we create space for deeper connection, stronger teams, and more intentional decisions.

Whether you’re leading at work, at home, in community, or within your own spirit, this Fresh Start Monday centers you in grace, humility, and the power of showing up fully—without force, without performance, and without pressure.

Start your week anchored. Lead with gratitude, presence, and purpose.