Lead with Intention is changing.

We're all evolving. And it's time.

Welcome back to Lead with Intention! But not for our usual weekly dose of leadership advice.

There’s something that’s been on my mind this year. I turn 50 in November and this has provided a hugely valuable focusing point for me in all areas of my life and career.

Changes have been made. And will continue to be made.

That’s a good thing. (If you also read my personal substack Women on the Verge, you’ll know I talk about evolution and letting go of patterns and habits that no longer serve your identity.)

One of those decisions is that Lead with Intention is evolving.

Here’s what’s driving it.

After years of coaching, facilitating and working with senior leaders across sectors, two very distinct patterns have emerged in my practice. The challenges facing senior communications leaders (my prior profession), including invisibility, the late seat at the table (or non-existent seat!), the trap of being the trusted executor rather than the trusted adviser, are specific, structural and deserve dedicated, serious attention.

And separately, the patterns I’m seeing in ambitious professional women navigating midlife, seniority and visibility are just as distinct and need their own space entirely.

Lead with Intention has been serving a broad leadership audience.

What I know now is that broad isn’t where I do my best work.

So from this point, Lead with Intention is becoming a Substack specifically for senior communications leaders. Directors of Comms, Heads of Communications, and those on the cusp of that level who are navigating the shift from trusted executor to genuine strategic adviser.

That’s the work I know most deeply. It’s where I have the most to say. And it’s where I want to put my energy. This will be about quality thought leadership, structure and systems thinking and challenging coaching reflections for those on that journey.

We’ll be going deep. Not broad. And I’m excited.

For the senior women in my audience, feeling lost, invisible and at a structural disadvantage in a corporate world that was never built for us, something is coming that’s built specifically for you. I’m not abandoning that work. I’m giving it the dedicated space it deserves and I’ll share more about this on my TikTok and Instagram channels, on LinkedIn and on my personal substack.

If comms leadership is your world, I’m glad you’re here and I think what’s coming will be worth your time. (This Substack will provide deeper work, in addition to my weekly email newsletter for comms professionals.)

If it isn’t, no hard feelings at all. This probably isn’t your publication anymore and I’d rather you knew that than kept receiving content that doesn’t speak to your situation.

On the paid subscription: I’m moving Lead with Intention to free for the foreseeable future. If you’re a current paid subscriber, I’ll be in touch separately about a refund.

It may become a paid Substack again in the future, but that decision can wait.

The first repositioned edition will land in the next few weeks, after a well deserved break at Easter. Less frequent, longer form.

Thanks for being here and thanks for over 3 years of Lead with Intention v1.0!

Here’s to the next,

Louise