In a world drowning in leadership prescriptions, this is a different kind of space—one where awareness grows slowly, and answers emerge from within.
I've spent my career in the business of change, working with Fortune 500 companies on strategic transformation. I had a front-row seat to a puzzling pattern: brilliant leaders with all the right knowledge, resources, and intentions would consistently struggle to create the changes they genuinely wanted to make.
The statistics tell part of the story—70% of organizational transformations fail. But behind those numbers are real human experiences: executives who intellectually understand what needs to change but revert to old patterns under pressure, and leaders frustrated by the gap between what they know and what they actually do.
This led me to a fundamental question: Why do smart, committed leaders struggle to implement the changes they genuinely want to make?
Here's what I've discovered after 500+ hours of coaching: Most leaders operate from learned patterns instead of deeper wisdom. We focus on performing rather than becoming. Our attention stays fixed on the external while the internal landscape—where real transformation lives—remains unexplored. We spend 95% of our days in autopilot while applauding ourselves for being self-aware, when research shows only 15% of us actually are.
Why Now?
We've been sold certainty as leaders—the promise that following these steps guarantees these outcomes. But to change with the world as it changes, we must embrace the art of not-knowing. We must become comfortable enough with questions to let authentic answers emerge from our own experience.
This isn't about adding more techniques to your toolkit. It's about developing the capacity to hear what the moment is asking of you—and having the courage to respond from your fullest self rather than your most familiar patterns.
When leaders develop this quality of awareness—this ability to listen deeply to themselves and their circumstances—something profound shifts. They move from being at the mercy of automatic reactions to consciously choosing how to show up. They navigate complexity with greater presence, build trust through authenticity, and create lasting change that emerges from alignment rather than force.
This is the space we're creating together: where the rush to solutions gives way to the patience of inquiry, where the seduction of best practices yields to the wisdom of what's actually needed now.
What You'll Find Here
In this Substack, I explore the intersection of inner transformation and outer leadership effectiveness. I share insights from my work with leaders navigating complex challenges, research that illuminates how change actually happens, and practical approaches for developing the dimensional flexibility that enables sustainable transformation.
Whether you're an individual contributor of leading a team of five thousand, the principles are the same: lasting change starts from the inside out. The goal isn't to become a different leader—it's to access more of who you already are.
Stephanie Schott is an executive coach, facilitator and the founder of Amplify, where she guides leaders to navigate complexity with confidence and create lasting individual, team and organizational change. With over a decade of experience working with both startup innovators and Fortune 500 executives, she specializes in evolving organizations through sustainable mindset shifts and evidence-based leadership practices.
As a founding team member and Head of Product at Bionic (later acquired by Accenture Song), she architected and implemented transformative growth capabilities across global organizations. Her work with industry leaders including AB-InBev, Nike, P&G, Target, Zappos, and dozens more has consistently delivered measurable results by integrating progressive mindsets and building cultures of growth.
Grounded in her background in Organizational Psychology from George Washington University, she brings a unique blend of neuroscience, psychology, and practical business experience to her coaching approach. She specializes in helping leaders navigate transformation and uncertainty with confidence, build sustainable leadership practices, clarify and implement growth strategies, drive authentic organizational change, and create lasting behavioral transformation.
