Hi Reader,

I hope you had a restful Labor Day. For me, it’s always a reminder of the power of organizing and the hard-won protections laborers fought for, like the 8-hour workday. It’s no surprise that I’m deeply invested in how we organize at work and design systems that support people rather than exploit them.

Over the holiday weekend, I visited my brother and finished Your Leadership Moment by Eric Martin. Reading it during Labor Day felt especially poignant because it challenges so many of the assumptions we make about work. Every time we hand decisions over to authority, we give up part of our own capacity—and our freedom—to lead.

That struck me because it connects to the same fight labor organizers waged decades ago: the right for everyday people to have power over their own lives and work. The systems we talk about changing aren’t separate from us—the system is us. That can feel daunting, but it’s also liberating. Because if the system is us, then we can change it.

That belief sits at the heart of my work: helping people and organizations find their own capacity to lead and make progress on the challenges in front of them.

There are currently three spaces I have to join me in this work:

• ​Reserve Your Seat → for When Everyone Leads on Tuesday, September 23.
• ​Book a Coaching Session → I’m offering a limited number of discounted single coaching sessions, recorded as part of my certification.
• ​Book a Discovery Call for Organizational Work → I’m booking Winter 2025 and early 2026 projects, especially with teams navigating transitions like a new strategic plan, an organizational redesign, or a recommitment to team development.

Finally, I want to share a tool we’ll practice in the When Everyone Leads workshop—leveraging heat. Early labor organizers knew a lot about managing heat. Heat is the friction that comes from disturbing the status quo, challenging assumptions, or naming the elephant in the room. Managing it is a balancing act: push too hard and people shut down but avoid it and nothing changes.

The goal is to name the reality in a way that keeps people engaged and willing to take the risks that lead to change.

Here are four ways to balance the heat right now:

1. Name the tension in the room. This raises the heat and gets people paying attention.
2. Break the work into smaller steps. This can lower the heat and keep people engaged instead of overwhelmed.
3. Invite multiple perspectives. Making it safe to share dissenting opinions raises the heat in productive ways.
4. Pause to let people process. Pacing change and new information keeps the heat from bubbling over.

We’ll go deeper into this tool in the When Everyone Leads workshop on Tuesday, September 23, but you can start practicing today. Registration is still open, and I’d love for you to grab your seat. I’m partnering with United Way of Acadiana and Beacon Community Connections because together we believe this: when Acadiana leads, our toughest challenges get seen and solved.

Thanks for being part of my community on this journey to change how we work. My hope is that after reading this, you’ll try experimenting with heat at work. One way to start is by naming the tension that everyone’s avoiding—I’m sure you know one. If you were your boldest self, what would you name?

Onward, Ashley Mudd Leadership Coach & Facilitator 🌐 ashleymudd.com 📧 ashley@ashleymudd.com 🔗 LinkedIn​