This episode dives into a part of leadership most people avoid talking about because it feels too internal, too quiet, too unproductive to name out loud: the winter dormancy period. That long, muted stretch where nothing on the outside is changing, but internally you can feel the ground shifting, the roots thickening, and the old structures sloughing off.

I explore what happens to your leadership identity when growth stops being a performance and starts becoming something denser, truer, and far less dramatic than we think transformation should look like. We talk about the strange sensation of sensing something before it has shape, the difference between rest-as-a-strategy and rest-as-a-state, and the relief (and disorientation) that comes from letting old roles, expectations, and ambitions fall away.

And in true Owner’s Room fashion, I answer listener questions and unpack a scenario where a practice owner steps into stillness for the first time… only to find that the quiet raises more questions than it answers.

If you’re in your own winter right now, or you can feel one coming, this episode will help you name what’s happening beneath the surface.

Timestamps
00:00 Introduction to Winter Dormancy in Leadership
00:56 Exploring the Internal Experience of Leadership
02:55 Shifts in Leadership Identity
10:47 The Sensation of Forming Ideas
15:16 Rest as a State, Not a Strategy
19:04 Sloughing Off Old Structures
23:12 Leadership Guided by Felt Sense
27:31 Changing Internal Pace Without Deadlines
31:28 Scenario: Navigating Quiet Seasons
40:10 Conclusion and Call to Action