Impulses to grow
Reflections for growth, trust and clarity.
Sometimes growth starts with a small pause.
These cards offer moments to reflect, reconnect and create awareness — for yourself, your team and the way you lead.
Each card connects principles from psychology, systems thinking and leadership development with simple, human reflection.
They are not about quick fixes.
They’re about curiosity, courage and the small, consistent steps that turn awareness into action.
Use them on your own for reflection — or together with your team to start meaningful conversations and build shared understanding.
How to use the cards
Small questions. Big awareness.
Each card holds a single question — a small impulse to pause, reflect, and grow with intention.
You can use them in three ways:
For yourself - Choose a card when you want to slow down, gain perspective, or start your day with focus.
With your team - Pick a card to open a meeting, reflect after a project, or spark a deeper conversation.
In workshops or coaching - Use the questions to surface insights, build trust and explore new perspectives together.
There’s no right way to use them - only your way.
Four themes - four ways to grow:
BUILD - Trust& Connection
OPEN - Courage & Openness
SEE - Clarity & Focus
ACT - Ownership & Impact
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Trust & Connection
Growth begins with safety and connection. These impulses invite you to listen, trust and open space for others.
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Courage & Openness
Courage starts where we show up honestly — and stay curious, even when it’s uncomfortable.
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Clarity & Focus
Clarity creates alignment. These reflections help you prioritise, communicate and stay connected to purpose.
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Ownership & Impact
Growth becomes sustainable when we take responsibility — for our actions, our words and their impact.
The ideas that inspire growth
Each impulse is rooted in methods that help us grow - not through theory, but through awareness.
They invite you to look at how we build trust, stay curious, find clarity, and take ownership - every day, in small moments.
Impulses to Grow - Build
Trust & Connection
Trust grows where people feel safe. Connection begins when people feel seen.
Trust begins with how we show up - every day, in every conversation.
It turns uncertainty into shared learning and lays the foundation for meaningful collaboration.
Amy Edmondson
Psychological Safety
A shared belief that it’s safe to speak up, ask questions and admit mistakes — without fear of blame. when safety is high, teams learn faster and innovate more.
In practice
signal curiosity before judgement (“what am I missing?”)
respond to bad news with “thank you for telling me”
make speaking up a norm in meetings (rounds, 1-minute check-ins)
Reflect
Where do people hesitate to speak — and what would make it safer today?
optional link: learn more about psychological safety
Marshall Rosenberg
Nonviolent Communication
A simple way to talk about what matters:
observation → feeling → need → request
Less blame, more clarity and care.
In practice
swap labels for observations (“in last week’s review…”)
name a real need (“I need clarity on scope”)
finish with a doable request (“could we agree who owns x by Friday?”)
Reflect
Which need do you avoid saying out loud — and how could you phrase it clearly and kindly?
optional link: nvc for leadership conversations →
Carl Rogers
Active Listening
Presence over performance: listen to understand, not to reply. Reflecting back (“what i’m hearing is…”) helps others feel respected and safe.
In practice
one conversation, one focus: no multitasking
play back key points, then ask one clarifier
leave a beat of silence before offering advice
Reflect — build
Who needs your full attention this week — and what would ‘listening well’ look like for them?
optional link: the power of silence →
Vulnerability-Based Trust
Patrick Lencioni
Patrick Lencioni describes vulnerability-based trust as the foundation of high-performing teams.
It’s the kind of trust that allows people to say “I need help,” “I made a mistake,” or “I don’t know” — without fear.
When leaders model this behaviour, it gives others permission to do the same.
The result? Stronger collaboration, faster problem-solving, and a team culture grounded in honesty rather than perfection.
Vulnerability builds courage. And courage, in turn, strengthens trust.
(Existing blog link: “From friction to flow – building bridges between teams.”)
https://nataliehuong.com/blog/what-makes-teams-work
Impulses to Grow - Open
Courage & Openness
Courage is not the absence of fear - it’s the choice to stay open, even when things feel uncertain.
Courage & Openness turn safety into movement. They allow learning to happen - when people share an idea, ask for feedback, or admit they don’t have the answer.
In leadership, openness isn’t about being fearless. It’s about showing up with honesty, curiosity, and empathy, even when it’s uncomfortable.
Carol Dweck
Growth Mindset
The belief that abilities and understanding can grow through effort, reflection and feedback. With a growth mindset, challenges become data — not failures — and learning becomes a continuous habit.
In practice
Add “yet” to your language: “We haven’t solved this yet.”
Celebrate experiments, not only outcomes.
Ask “What did we learn?” instead of “What went wrong?”
Reflect
Where could you replace self-criticism with curiosity today?
Explore the growth mindset blog series
Edgar Schein
Humble inquiry
The art of asking instead of telling. Humble inquiry transforms curiosity into connection by inviting others to share their knowledge, experience and ideas. It’s leadership through genuine interest.
In practice
Ask one open question before offering an opinion.
Replace “why” with “how” or “what” to stay constructive.
Pause before answering - leave space for the other person to think aloud.
Reflect
How often do you ask because you truly want to understand?
Learn more about humble inquiry in leadership →
Kim Scott
Radical candor
Feedback as an act of care: challenge directly while caring personally. Radical candor helps teams stay honest without losing respect — because the goal is growth, not perfection.
In practice
Give feedback in private, praise in public.
Ask for feedback before giving it.
Use “I noticed…” instead of “You always…”
Reflect
What feedback do you owe someone — and what might change if you shared it with care?
Optional link: From fear to feedback – how honesty builds trust →
Impulses to Grow - See
Clarity & Focus
When we see the whole picture, our next step becomes clear.
Clarity & Focus bring direction to change.
They help us move from reacting to reflecting - from being busy to being intentional.
Clarity isn’t about knowing everything, but about seeing what truly matters and aligning our energy and actions to it.
TBD
Systems thinkers like Peter Senge describe clarity as the ability to see interconnections rather than isolated parts.
In leadership, that means shifting from managing tasks to understanding relationships — between people, processes and purpose.
IDEO
Human-centered Systems Thinking
Seeing patterns instead of isolated tasks. Systems thinkers look for relationships — between people, processes and purpose.
Human-Centered Systems Thinking helps you understand how people, processes and structures influence each other. It combines the systemic lens (patterns, relationships, feedback loops) with the design lens (empathy, needs, experience).
Instead of looking at isolated tasks, it invites you to step back and see the whole system — and the human stories inside it.
In practice
Map the stakeholders involved before jumping into solutions
Ask: “What’s connected to this?” “What changes if we adjust here?”
Replace blame with curiosity about the wider system
Reflect
Where might a system - not a person - be creating the real friction?
In practice
map the people involved, the needs they have and the constraints they face
look for patterns, not symptoms (“when X happens, Y tends to follow…”)
visualise a workflow or journey to reveal friction, gaps or dependencies
ask: “What part of this is structure — and what part is behaviour?”
Reflect
Where might a wider perspective reveal a connection you haven’t seen yet?
Solution-Focused appraoch
Move from analysing problems to creating progress
The Solution-Focused Approach originates from systemic brief therapy, developed by Steve de Shazer and Insoo Kim Berg.
They discovered that lasting change often begins not by analysing problems, but by identifying what already works — and doing more of it.
Applied to leadership and transformation, this mindset shifts teams from frustration to momentum.
It invites questions like “What would better look like?” and “What’s one small step we can take?”
The focus moves from control to progress, from perfection to learning.
Energy follows focus — and focus grows where solutions lead.
(Possible link: “From problem talk to progress talk – using a solution-focused mindset in change.”)
Circle of influence
Focus energy where it truly matters
Based on Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, the Circle of Influence helps us distinguish between what we can control, influence, or simply accept.
When people focus on what’s within their influence, they feel more empowered and less reactive.
This simple model brings calm and clarity in times of uncertainty — and helps teams invest their energy where it makes a difference.
Focus is a form of self-leadership.
(Possible link: “Leading with focus – what the circle of influence teaches us about agency.”)
Method insight
Bridging psychology and practice
Many of the methods behind Impulses to Grow are rooted in psychology and systemic thinking — from the Solution-Focused Approach and Nonviolent Communication to concepts like Growth Mindset and Psychological Safety.
These frameworks come from therapy, leadership research and organisational development — but they all share one goal:
to make human growth tangible and applicable in everyday work.
In my practice, I translate these theories into practical reflection tools — simple questions that invite awareness, dialogue and ownership.
Because change becomes easier when it feels human.
Impulses to Grow - Act
Ownership & Impact
Growth becomes real, when we take responsibility
Ownership & Impact turn reflection into action.
They mark the moment when awareness becomes accountability -when we stop waiting for others to change and start leading the change ourselves.
In teams, ownership grows when people understand how their actions influence the whole - and impact becomes sustainable when we lead together.
Accountability
Taking responsibility instead of shifting blame
Accountability means taking ownership for outcomes, not just tasks.
It’s the ability to say, “This is mine to improve,” even when circumstances are complex.
When teams move away from blame and towards shared responsibility, trust deepens and collaboration strengthens.
Leaders model accountability not by having all the answers, but by creating clarity, inviting feedback and owning their impact.
Responsibility builds confidence — and confidence builds momentum.
(Possible link: “Creating clarity through accountability – how ownership drives engagement.”)
Team learning
Learning loops as a foundation for collective growth
Inspired by Peter Senge’s idea of the Learning Organisation, team learning happens when people reflect together, share insights and adjust based on what they’ve learned.
It turns individual growth into collective progress.
Learning loops — short, intentional cycles of feedback and reflection — help teams move faster without losing awareness.
They make learning part of the process, not an afterthought.
When teams learn together, change becomes continuous.
(Possible link: “How learning loops accelerate transformation.”)
Change Model
John Kotter - From awareness to action: leading sustainable transformation
John Kotter’s 8-Step Change Model outlines how successful change takes root — not through top-down plans, but through shared vision and participation.
It moves from creating urgency and building a guiding coalition, to embedding change through communication, empowerment and reinforcement.
In today’s fast-moving environment, Kotter’s model reminds us that change is less about one big initiative — and more about consistent small steps that stick.
Sustainable transformation happens when awareness turns into aligned action.
Wrap Up
xxx
tbc
Growth begins with you.
Growth doesn’t start with tools or strategies — it starts with awareness.
With a small impulse that shifts perspective and brings people closer together.
Every question is an invitation — to pause, to reflect, to reconnect with what matters most.
Because leadership starts within.
If you’d like to explore how these impulses could support your and your organisation’s growth journey, I’d be happy to hear from you.
Don’t show up to prove. Show up to improve.
Simon Sinek
Leadership isn't about showing off or proving yourself. It's about continual growth and learning—focusing on improving yourself and those around you. Great leaders know they don't have to prove their worth; they show up every day with a mindset to get better.