December already! 🤯 Where did the year go??

A while has passed since you heard from me… but maybe you didn’t even notice I was gone. 😄

I needed a time-out to think and reshape my work and also had to help my elderly parents downsize.

But now…

…and today I want to reintroduce this newsletter and share what you can expect going forward.

Courage & Empathy – An audacious combination

Empathy, Inclusion and Communication are still my guiding lights; that hasn’t changed.

But I’ve seen, helping build people-first cultures with teams and businesses around the world, that the courage – or audacity – people need to do this human-centred work is absolutely core to progress. That’s why I’m now specifically calling out courage and audacity in my messaging.

Over the coming weeks I’ll be talking and sharing much more about courageous action and Emotional Audacity. Yes, I’ve mentioned them here before, but now we’re going to go deeper.

Emotional Audacity is the heart driven fuel that helps us create good change, even when it doesn’t feel easy. It shows up when:

• A leader is gutsy enough to listen well and sit with uncomfortable feedback when they could easily ignore their team’s views
• An employee takes a risk and shares a suggestion that cuts across the usual way of doing things, because the current method doesn’t sit right with them
• A team sees that AI/tech might take them 70% of the way, yet bravely recognises that human contributions are needed to make the solution truly work

It’s the courage to:

• Feel what you feel, instead of numbing out
• Speak up and defend your values, even when it’s uncomfortable
• Act with boldness and care, all at once

In a world where AI is everywhere and workplaces can feel more controlled and pressurised than ever, it’s about staying in touch with the very essence of who we are, exercising our sovereignty, and using our emotional intelligence and values to guide our words and actions.

While we’re increasingly outsourcing and offloading cognitive tasks to technology, we need to be aware that we can’t outsource our emotions. AI doesn’t have true empathy.

So, we need the audacity to tap into our values, trust our guts and dig deep into our emotional intelligence, using our emotions as data that can help us make, or guide, the right decision.

Talking of courage… to be honest with you…

I realised that in my own communication, I was playing pretty safe. Sometimes I felt I wasn’t sharing my full self.

In the spirit of Emotional Audacity, that’s changing.

I can’t ask you or your teams to be braver, more open and more human if I’m not willing to do that too. So in these emails you’ll hear more of my real voice. Still thoughtful and practical, but a bit more personal, too.

I hope you’ll come with me!

What I’ve been creating

Behind the scenes I’ve been:

• Developing a keynote on Emotional Audacity in a tech-driven world, alongside my existing talks on empathy, psychological safety and communication
• Creating a pathway for organisations that want to take their people on the journey towards a more courageous, empathetic culture. (Take a look at the keynote pyramid on my home page sholakaye.com)
• Experimenting with ways to make keynotes more experiential and emotionally engaging (more on that in future newsletters)
• Discussing collaborations with international speakers and leadership coaches so I can bring their additional insights to my client work

If you’d like to see how it all fits together, you can browse my latest brochure here: Download the brochure

What you can expect from this newsletter

I want this to stay rich and useful, without becoming unwieldy. So most issues will include:

• One core idea about empathy, communication, inclusion or (of course!) Emotional Audacity at work
• A short story or example from client work or my own journey
• A simple framework, question or tiny practice you can use or share with your team
• One or two curated links, such as a YouTube video or LinkedIn post, that are genuinely worth your time

Something to think about…

• Where could you be more audacious in your own life/work?
• Have you set too small goals for your career? How can you go bigger?
• Have you given up on pushing for a specific change in your workplace because it feels too difficult? If so, how can you break your efforts into more manageable tasks?
• Is there a work relationship that would improve dramatically if you were more honest or frank with the team member concerned? What’s getting in the way of you having that conversation?

📹 Something to watch: The gift and power of emotional courage by Susan David

At 14:17 David says “When people are allowed to feel their emotional truth, engagement, creativity and innovation flourish in the organisation.”

📄 A quick read: Is empathy required in the age of AI or can we just outsource it?

🎧 Something to listen to: Re:Thinking with Adam Grant – Brené Brown and Simon Sinek on the leadership skills we need to build

I want to hear from you!

I’m collecting stories of courageous empathy in the workplace for my latest book, so if you’d like to share an experience – either with a name check or anonymously – let me know!!

Or maybe you’d like to share:

• A topic you’d love me to explore in a future email
• That you’re planning 2026 events or leadership sessions and want to chat through ideas

I’m grateful you’re here, and I’m looking forward to this next chapter together.

Warmly,

Shola

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Hi, I’m Shola and I help you create a people-first culture. My work sits at the intersection of Inclusion, Communication & Emotional Intelligence.

My keynote talks and workshops help your leaders and employees create high-performing work environments where people feel a sense of belonging and psychological safety. Sessions are high energy, interactive, and every participant walks away with at least one practical framework for connecting and collaborating more effectively.

Sound good to you? Please reach out and let’s discuss your next event! 🙂🎤✨