by Rachel Kuhlen, on Aug 27, 2025 11:11:11 AM
Have you ever looked back at a decision and wondered what a difference in outcome there might have been if only you had made a slightly different decision?
Early in my career, I learned this the hard way. My brain loves solving problems, which sounds like a strength—until it isn't. I'd jump into solution mode before people even finished talking, missing key details, interrupting without realizing it, and rushing to "fix it" before they felt fully heard. I thought I was demonstrating leadership by "fixing" when I was slowly pigeon-holing myself as "Ms. Fix It," moving further and further away from being seen as a leader or strategist. I wasn't building influence, I was putting out fires. It took me over two years to undo what I had done and change my reputation. This was a turning point in my career, and the lessons I learned have shaped my leadership approach ever since.
What’s My One-Degree Shift?
I trained myself to pause and ask two simple questions before jumping in:
- Is there anything else you want me to know?
- Are you looking for a friend (just listen), a coach (ask questions to help you figure it out), or an advisor (I'll tell you what I'd do)?
That brief pause gave people space to feel seen and heard and helped me offer the right kind of support, not just the quickest fix.
That one-degree shift didn't just make me a better communicator; it also made me a more effective leader. It made me a more emotionally intelligent leader. And that's the point: this isn't just a metaphor. It's a strategy for amplifying your leadership impact without burning out. It's easy to believe that success means doing more, fixing things, solving problems, pushing harder, or powering through. But what if sustainable leadership came not from doing more, but from doing things just one degree differently?
I call it Amplifying Your Impact. And it starts with emotional intelligence, not the overwhelming kind full of personality tests and psych jargon. This is about three powerful principles rooted in Emotional Intelligence: Integrity, Intentionality, and Certainty.
Integrity: Lead from Alignment
Integrity isn't only about honesty; it's about aligning your values, words, and actions.
The word "values," in my opinion, has lost its luster, buried under more exciting buzzwords like authenticity, alignment, and purpose. We know we have values, but we don't often actively practice them. Values are like background noise in that they are familiar, present, but not in the forefront. Most of us could probably rattle off a few values, such as honesty, kindness, family, and commitment, but couldn't articulate our own and how they manifest in our daily decisions.
If you've ever felt burned out, hurt, or resentful about something you've said yes to, there's a good chance you've walked away from one (or more) of your values without even realizing it.
Suppose you have values around artistic expression or nature but are stuck in a grey cubicle working on Excel spreadsheets all day. Then your evenings are spent rushing through obligations and errands. In that case, it's no wonder you might feel resentful. Let's be real, walking in nature isn't going to pay your electric bill. Most of us can't quit our jobs to go water coloring by the beach. However, when we don't carve out any space to honor those values outside of work, even in small ways, burnout can build. Resentment doesn't always come from the job; however, it's easy to blame our jobs. It can also stem from abandoning the parts of ourselves that make life feel meaningful.
No one wakes up and says, "I think I'm going to compromise my values today." However, we often do, because we don't know what our actual values. When we don't know our actual values, we fall into integrity traps.
Integrity traps sneak in quietly:
- Saying yes when your gut says no, to avoid rocking the boat (peer pressure).
- Shrinking your vision because that inner voice whispers, "Who am I to do this?" (self-doubt).
- Feeling unsettled because your actions no longer align with your values, yet pushing through anyway (cognitive dissonance).
- Telling yourself "just this once" to justify what you'd never recommend someone else do (justification).
The danger isn't that these traps exist; it's how easily they can be ignored. And when we stop noticing them, we start drifting away from who we are.
Life becomes simpler, and let's be clear, simpler doesn't mean easier, when your values, words, and actions are in alignment. You feel a sense of relief and empowerment when you're no longer feeling resentment, spinning in circles, or wondering how others will react. Instead, you anchor yourself in what's right for you, and people trust you more. More importantly, you trust yourself. Your decisions feel more grounded, and you stop second-guessing yourself.
One-degree shift: Uncover your actual values, not the ones you think you “should” have, but the ones that truly anchor you. Once you know what truly matters to you, you gain a sense of direction and confidence. It becomes easier to make aligned decisions, set clear boundaries, and lead with a sense of self-assuredness and clarity.
Intentionality: Activity Doesn't Equal Achievement
So many leaders confuse busyness with effectiveness. My most demanding boss told me, when I sat down for my performance review, "Activity doesn't equal achievement." That stopped me in my tracks.
I was raised in a household where it was always better to look busy. Doing more and staying busy got you the "good" kind of attention. So, when I entered the working world, I showed up early, stayed late, and said yes to everything. And yes, I got noticed but not in the way I hoped. I became the dependable, burned out "gopher," the one everyone turned to for extra projects, not the one tapped for promotions or raises.
What I hadn't realized yet was this: doing more doesn't equal doing what matters.
The key is intentional effort, not scattered busyness. When you focus your time and energy on the one or two projects that will deliver the most significant return, you feel more focused and purposeful. It’s the same in our personal lives, when we focus on carving out intentional time to do what matters such as going for a walk, making a phone call to catch up with a friend, reading, dropping your donations at the donation center, making the doctor’s appointment you’ve been putting off, you feel more focused and purposeful. The rest of the work and stuff that needs to get done still moves forward, but with a proportionate level of effort.
At work, I stopped letting every new and shiny idea derail my focus. Great ideas are everywhere, and people love to rally behind them initially. However, they often fizzle out or get replaced by the next new thing. That start-stop energy creates confusion, burnout, and a backlog of half-finished priorities.
So, we created systems. We slowed down one-off requests from other departments, built intake processes, grouped similar needs into shared solutions, and limited over-customization. Most importantly, we stopped treating everything like a five-alarm fire.
I realized I had been putting pressure on myself to deliver faster, do more, respond immediately, when no one else was asking for that. It wasn't sustainable, and it wasn't a smart move.
Intentionality means we stop reacting and start discerning. Not every idea deserves immediate action. Not every project needs to be priority one. And if everything is a priority? Then nothing truly is.
Intentionality is about choosing what matters before the chaos decides for you.
One-degree shift: This one is deceptively simple yet powerful. Instead of defaulting to an immediate "yes" every time someone asks for your help, input, or involvement, give yourself space to evaluate. A simple "Let me think about that and get back to you" or “Let me take a look at what I have on my plate already and get back to you” is a one-degree shift that protects your time and energy and forces intentionality into the conversation.
Certainty: Stop Self-Sidelining
When leaders act with certainty - not arrogance, but grounded confidence - they create stability for themselves and their teams. But let's not confuse certainty with having all the answers. It's not about being right. It's about trusting yourself to figure it out.
Too often, we quietly doubt our awesomeness.
I didn't transition well from being an individual contributor to a leader. One Monday morning, I walked into work as the boss of the team I'd been part of just three days before. I had worked hard for the promotion and earned it with time, effort, and results. Yet, the moment I stepped into that leadership role, I got caught up in my head. Surely, they didn't intend to give me this role. The confidence and certainty that got me promoted were replaced with impostor syndrome. Slowly, I started to self-sideline.
I felt like a kid at the adult table. I was having grown-up discussions about grown-up matters with grown-up money. I second-guessed my decisions. I felt inferior for not having all the answers. I kept my office door shut and prayed no one would notice how completely unqualified I felt.
But the truth? I wasn't unqualified, I was unsettled. I had started self-sidelining out of fear, instead of leaning into the very strengths, values, and leadership presence that got me there in the first place.
New level, new devil. Every time we level up, make a change, or stretch ourselves, we will face new challenges that shake our confidence. That's normal, but it's also where certainty becomes a superpower.
It reminds me of when I moved from California to New Jersey and had to learn how to take the train into Brooklyn. I was white knuckling the whole experience. It was loud, crowded, overwhelming and there was a solid chance I was standing on the wrong side of the platform.
But here's where certainty showed up: I didn't know exactly what I was doing, but I trusted myself to figure it out one stop at a time. Playing worst-case scenarios in my head or finding an excuse to back out might have felt comforting in the moment. Still, certainty doesn't live in comfort zones.
Eventually, what felt intimidating became second nature. After a few trips, I was just another commuter with my headphones on, avoiding eye contact, and wearing practical shoes on until I got where I was going.
That's what certainty looks like in real life: not having it all figured out, but backing yourself to navigate the unknown, one stop (or one step) at a time.
One-degree shift: When uncertainty hits, don't plan the entire route just commit to the next stop. Certainty is built one decision, one step, one stop at a time.
Conclusion
Leadership isn't about giant leaps. Leadership is built on micro-decisions, targeted effort, and one-degree shifts that compound over time. The good news? You already have what it takes; you need to trust it enough to take action.
Small shifts in the right direction lead to extraordinary destinations. It doesn't matter whether you're behind the wheel, managing a fleet, or leading a team; emotional intelligence doesn't require perfection —it requires presence.
Want to explore this more? Join me at the Women in Trucking Accelerate! Conference & Expo for my keynote "Amplify Your Impact." Let's shift one degree at a time.
Related Articles:
- The Trucking Life of April Crysel: “Be in Control of Your Career and Life”
- Ditching the Impostor Syndrome: Rewriting Your Inner Story
- "Finding Her Why" in Trucking
- Building a Thriving Workplace Culture
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