What is emotional stamina? How will leaders sustain their executive energy in 2026 and beyond? Thank you Jennifer (Jay) Palumbo for including my thoughts in your Forbes article as we prepare for a high-performing year!
Full article here on Forbes.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jenniferpalumbo/2025/12/31/the-emotional-stamina-women-in-executives-roles-will-need-in-2026/
There is a quiet shift happening among women preparing for executive leadership. It is not about ambition. Or readiness. Or even confidence. It is about stamina.
By 2026, executive roles will ask more of leaders than sheer intellect or experience. The pressure lasts longer. The scrutiny is louder. The margin for error feels thinner. And for many women, the real question is no longer whether they can step into senior leadership, but whether they can remain steady once they get there.
Stamina, Likability, and the Hidden Drain of Approval-Seeking
Lee Broekman, author of Elevate Conversations, Deepen Connections, and principal of Organic Communication, compared emotional stamina to endurance sports. “It’s not bursts of energy. It’s sustained emotional stability over time. Executives manage relationships and results over long stretches, not moments.”
Broekman emphasized intention-setting, daily reflection, and boundaries as ways women can preserve stamina before the role demands it.
Those practices become anchors when expectations multiply.
