THE VIOLET VIEW

FEBRUARY 2026 | ISSUE NO. 18

Here's your latest Violet View—bringing you actionable leadership insights that cut through the noise.

Hi there, it's Stefanie (Founder of TVG)—back with your monthly dose of leadership insight.

As we get further into 2026, I want to take a moment to say thank you: To our clients, partners, and the broader community of leaders, HR professionals, and people leaders we’re lucky to support and learn from.

My brother recently shared a quote that has stuck with me:

“In life you can never be too kind or too fair; everyone you meet is carrying a heavy load… When you go through your day expressing kindness and courtesy to all you meet, you leave behind a feeling of warmth and good cheer, and you help alleviate the burdens everyone is struggling with.” – Brian Tracy

The past year brought significant change across organizations, ours included. Leadership transitions. Evolving strategies. Pressure to deliver more with leaner teams. Layer in the acceleration of AI, political instability, and a constant stream of digital noise, and it’s clear: work—and life—aren’t getting simpler.

What stood out to me was how many leaders chose to lean in—investing in themselves, their teams, and the systems that support long-term performance. Choosing to lead with clarity, fairness, and kindness, even when meeting the edge of their own capacity.

The complexity isn’t going away, but neither is the commitment we see from our clients. And that includes the commitment we hold inside our own firm.

This month, my team spent a half-day with Dr. Joan Ball, a continuation of the work she began with us in late 2025. It was time to do what we often help our clients do: pause, reflect, and align on a path forward.

Together, we clarified what we want to preserve, envisioned where we’re headed, and identified where greater structure and alignment will help us scale our impact.

In other words—we took our own medicine.

Because we don’t just coach and teach the work. We live it, inside our firm.

For me, that commitment shows up in every room I enter. 

Just in the past few weeks, I’ve had the privilege of facilitating two powerful experiences:

• At a Leadership Forum with over 80 Directors and VPs, I moderated a panel with the executive team and led a workshop on Leading with Curiosity—setting the tone for two days of strategy, collaboration, and planning.

• Then, with a hospitality leadership team, we used the Individual Directions Inventory (IDI) to spark deeper insight into personal drivers, align on team motives, and identify the behaviors that will support high performance over time.

Across both sessions, I left feeling energized and deeply grounded in why we do this work: to bring people together, create real learning moments, and help leaders and teams grow stronger in the face of complexity.

And with that, let’s get into this month’s edition of The Violet View—featuring updates from our firm, new ways we’re supporting clients, and the tools, frameworks, and insights we’re bringing into 2026.

Thanks for reading, TVG community!

Stefanie

Inside TVG: New Methods, Fresh Tools, More Impact 🗣️

Our revised website is live! 🌐

We’ve refreshed our look and sharpened our message to better reflect who we are, how we work, and what we do best: Science-based leadership development, executive coaching, and practical support for organizations navigating real business challenges.

You’ll also find a deeper look at our proprietary methods:

How we're supporting clients in 2026 📈

We'll continue to partner with senior leaders and HR teams on what matters most:

• Executive coaching to build self-awareness, navigate complexity, and accelerate performance

• Leadership assessment & succession planning to identify and prepare future-ready leaders

• Team effectiveness work to strengthen trust, decision-making, and accountability

• Offsites & workshops to align teams on strategy, culture, and ways of working

• Custom leadership programs to build core capabilities and cross-functional cohesion

Whether it’s a one-time engagement or a long-term leadership strategy—we tailor the work to your context and goals.

A new tool to drive top team performance 🚀

We’ve added The Rocket Model™ to our team effectiveness toolkit!

The Rocket Model is a research-backed framework for diagnosing and improving team performance.

It helps teams assess whether the critical building blocks—shared context, clear mission, buy-in, norms, execution—are truly aligned. From there, we work with teams to close gaps, clarify expectations, and take targeted action.

As organizational psychologists, we believe in rooting team development in real science, not vibes. This tool does exactly that.

What We’re Reading: On the Perception of Time ⌛

Why does time feel like it speeds up as we age?

Research suggests it’s not because life moves faster but because it becomes more familiar.

As Dr. Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic explains, our perception of time is shaped less by the ticking of the clock and more by the density of novel or meaningful experiences. When we’re young, everything is new—school, friends, first jobs—so time feels expansive. But as we age, routines take over, fewer moments stand out, and memory lays down fewer markers.

The result? Time feels like it’s accelerating.

In short: when life feels repetitive, time compresses. When life is differentiated—with learning, curiosity, and novelty—time slows down.

If you’re a leader or HR professional, here’s how to apply this:

• Help people see their growth. Self-awareness tools, reflection prompts, and milestone reviews create “time markers” that make progress feel more tangible and lasting.
• Make space for curiosity. Whether it’s a new project, cross-functional work, or facilitated learning—differentiated experiences fuel engagement and slow the blur of time.

In a world that moves fast, meaningful experiences don’t just matter for development, they shape how people remember and value their careers.

What We’re Teaching: Giving Feedback That Actually Helps ⇣

This simple (and sharp) visual helps us check our feedback habits. A quick gut-check that asks:

• Are you giving feedback regularly?
• Is it specific and behavior-based?
• Does it invite dialogue, not just direction?
• Are you following up to support growth?

Depending on how you flow through the questions, you may need a feedback reset. Effective feedback isn’t just about calling out what went wrong, it’s about developing people.

Staying at the Forefront of Leadership Science

Staying at the forefront of leadership science is core to how we operate, and we’re committed to keeping our expertise fresh—engaging with the latest research, exchanging ideas with peers, and maintaining our academic roots. Presenting at and attending conferences is one way we do that.

Until then...happy listening, learning, and leading, TVG community!

Have feedback for us or want us to feature a specific topic in an upcoming edition of The Violet View? Simply respond directly to this email – we’d love to chat and hear your insights.

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