That contradiction has opened a much larger inquiry:

We can’t separate ourselves from the systems we’re trying to change.

In this conversation with my friend Mindy, we explore some of the questions underneath The Regenerative Edge—regenerative leadership, creating conditions for change, why awareness isn’t enough, and what becomes possible when we begin learning from our own lives, relationships, and the systems we’re part of.

Regenerative systems inquiry:What changes when we stop measuring recovery by our ability to return to what was?

For years, I thought recovery had a destination: get my strength back, trust my body again, run again—get back to normal.

After multiple injuries, five surgeries, and years of rehabilitation, I’m beginning to question the premise underneath that goal.

What exactly am I trying to get back to?

In this companion audio reflection to my essay, What If Regeneration Isn’t About Getting Back to Normal?, I explore what my physical recovery is teaching me about regenerative leadership and living systems.

What if recovery isn’t simply the restoration of a previous state? What if it’s also a developmental process—one that asks us to build new capacities to sense, respond, choose, and flourish within the conditions that exist now?

I explore what changed when I stopped treating my knee as an isolated problem to fix and began asking what my whole system needed. I reflect on pain and compensation as feedback, the difference between adaptation and regeneration, and why a system’s ability to keep functioning doesn’t necessarily mean it’s healthy.

And I explore a question that has become increasingly important in both my recovery and my work with leaders:

How do we bring different forms of knowing into relationship without surrendering our own agency?

My surgeon has knowledge I don’t have. My physical therapist has knowledge I don’t have. My body is providing information they don’t have. And I hold knowledge of my history, goals, fears, values, and lived experience.

No one holds the whole picture.

Perhaps that’s true of the systems we lead, too.

I’m not sharing this because I’ve figured out regenerative recovery. I’m sharing it because I’m practicing it—and because regenerative leadership is giving me new language and new questions for understanding an experience I’ve been living for decades.

I leave you with the question I’m asking myself:

Given what is true now, what does this system need in order to flourish from here?

Workshops.

Coaching.

Facilitation.

Writing.

Looking back, I realize I was doing something much deeper.

I thought I was testing offers and services. I was actually discovering my philosophy.

In this reflection, I share what the first fifteen months of business have taught me about experimentation, courage, cultivating conditions for change, and why I believe meaningful development cannot be forced—it can only be cultivated.

In this episode

* Why I’ve been rethinking what “scale” really means

* What planting seeds taught me about building a business

* The difference between growing bigger and growing deeper

* Why individual work still matters, and why I’m now feeling called toward more systemic work

* The conviction that has quietly become the foundation of everything I do:

Development cannot be forced.

It can only be cultivated by creating the right conditions.

Reflection

Where are you feeling called to expand, not because you should, but because something larger is asking for your attention?

I’d love to hear what comes up for you.

A reflection on why this space exists—and an invitation to see differently.

This reflection is an introduction to The Regenerative Edge—not simply as a publication or podcast, but as an evolving body of work.

For a long time, I thought this space would be where I published articles and shared ideas.

Over time, it became something much more personal.

Today, I think of The Regenerative Edge as a place to see differently.

In this first episode, I share:

• Why this work exists

• The four ongoing inquiries shaping my writing and practice

• Why I believe meaningful change begins with seeing

• What I hope you'll experience here

Whether you're joining for the first time or have been part of this journey for years, welcome.

I'm grateful you're here.

Inquiries explored

• Human Development

• Leadership

• Meaningful Work

• Regenerative Systems

Reflection

As you listen, I invite you to consider:

What conditions have helped you become more fully yourself?

And...

What conditions are you creating for the people around you?

Continue the conversation

📖 Read the accompanying Welcome article

✍️ Subscribe to future reflections:

In the meantime...stay curious.

In this reflection, I share how a simple question—"What dream would you like to share?"—helped me recognize how my vision has evolved, who I'm truly here to serve, and why speaking our dreams aloud matters. A story about leadership, self-trust, mortality, and becoming more fully ourselves.

In this piece, I explore the hidden dynamics that slow teams down, why more analysis and collaboration can actually create more hesitation, and what begins to shift when teams clarify ownership, distribute responsibility, and rethink how decisions are being made.

Because the way decisions are being made is revealing how leadership is actually functioning.

If you prefer to listen, the full video is above.

If you want to listen, check out Edge of Change Leadership Podcast.If you prefer to read (or want the distilled version), keep scrolling.

Every Earth Day, we talk about what needs to change out there…from policy, to systems, to behavior, to industry.

But we don’t talk enough about the thing shaping all of it: how we lead.

Because if we’re honest, many of us are trying to create a radically different future using the same leadership patterns that created the current one.

And nowhere is that more visible than in the sustainability and social change space.

We are doing incredibly important work.And we are leading it in ways that are not actually sustainable.

Over-responsibility.Urgency as the default.Burnout as normalized.Pressure to perform….the list goes on.

We say we want long-term, more sustainable outcomes, but we are making decisions from short-term, depleted states.

And that doesn’t just impact us.

It shapes the systems we are building.

The Leadership Problem We’re Not Naming

If we aren’t doing the inner work leadership requires, it shows up in our leadership and in the systems we create.

Because how you lead under pressure isn’t strategy, it’s pattern.

And most of us have been conditioned into patterns that prioritize:

* speed over discernment

* control over trust

* individual performance over collective capacity

* comfort over innovation and growth

So even as we try to build more collaborative, equitable, and innovative systems, we unintentionally recreate the very dynamics we’re trying to change.

What’s Being Asked of Us Now

What’s required right now isn’t just better strategy.

It’s a different way of leading.

Not just sustainability in what we build, but sustainability in how we think, decide, relate, and lead under pressure.

This is where regenerative leadership begins.

It asks a different question:

Can the way we lead actually sustain the future we’re trying to create?

We Are at a Leadership Threshold

Right now, we are in a moment of disruption.

Industries are shifting.Structures are being challenged.Certainty is dissolving.

Most leaders respond to this by trying to move faster, to fix, control, or stabilize what’s happening.

But what if this moment isn’t something to manage?

What if it’s something to listen to?

Because these moments are not breakdowns.

They are thresholds.

And most leaders don’t fail at thresholds, they exit them too early.

The Shift: From Reaction to Recalibration

When we stay in a threshold long enough, something different becomes possible.

We begin to see more clearly what is actually needed.

This is where leadership evolves.

Not through urgency but through discernment.

Not through doing more, but through recalibrating how we lead.

Because if we don’t pause long enough to recalibrate, we end up recreating the same patterns in new situations.

So the real question is no longer:

How do I respond faster?

It becomes:

What is actually being asked of me as a leader right now?

Why This Is Bigger Than the Individual

This isn’t just about individual leadership.

It’s a systems issue.

Because we cannot build regenerative systems with extractive leadership patterns.

Right now, many organizations are in a transition:

Moving from centralized, top-down leadership into something that looks more collaborative.

But here’s the tension:

Even as we invite more voices, more collaboration, and more shared thinking…we are often still operating inside the same underlying structures.

Decision-making remains permission-based.Power remains concentrated.Responsibility remains unevenly held.

So what we get is a model that feels better, but doesn’t actually function differently.

The Real Work of Leadership Evolution

Real change isn’t just about adding more voices.

It’s about changing how we relate to:

* power

* responsibility

* decision-making

It’s relational.It’s structural.It’s internal.

And it requires us to lead in ways most of us were never taught.

Because there is a kind of wisdom we’ve moved away from: in how we understand systems,in how we work with rhythm instead of urgency,and in how we build in relationship, not just in structure.

These aren’t new ideas.

But they are new to how most of us have been taught to lead.

An Invitation

This moment we’re in is not just disruption.

It’s an opportunity.

Not to react to what’s changing, but to lead differently because of it.

To build differently.To decide differently.To stop recreating the same systems in new language.

This is the work I’m exploring in real time—the future of leadership, regenerative leadership, and what it actually looks like in practice.

If you’re in this work, I’d love to have you in the conversation.

What got us here won’t sustain what’s next.And that includes how we lead.

There’s a moment in leadership where everything works, but something feels off.Most leaders try to fix it. This episode explores why that doesn’t work, and what to do instead.

For some of us, maybe nothing is clearly wrong, and some of us may already know we’re in a life and leadership transition.

You’re still capable. Still showing up.And yet… something isn’t landing the way it used to.

In this first live conversation, I explore what I call leadership thresholds, those subtle, often disorienting moments where what used to work no longer fits, and what’s next isn’t clear yet.

These are not breakdowns.They’re transitions.

If you’ve been trying to figure something out, fix something, or force clarity, and it’s not working, this may help you see the moment you’re in differently.

“Most leaders don’t fail at thresholds, they exit them too early.”

If something came into focus for you while listening, don’t rush to solve it.Stay with it.

If this resonates, I’m opening a small Leadership Threshold Intensive starting May 11

These are intentionally smaller, live spaces designed to help you not just think about what’s shifting, but actually stay with it, understand it, and begin to lead differently because of it.

Each Intensive is an immersive experience where you bring what you’re navigating, and we work with it together.

In this short, real-time reflection, I want to share what I shifted this morning when I found myself in that exact place. I needed to recalibrate!

It wasn’t about pushing through or forcing productivity; it was about changing my rhythm.

Here’s what I did:

Breaking My Routine

I decided to break out of my usual patterns. This morning, I didn’t set an alarm and allowed myself to sleep in a bit longer. That simple act of a little more rest made a world of difference.

Nourishment

I took a moment to think about how I could nourish my body. Feeling dehydrated, I focused on hydrating and boosting my energy. I whipped up a warming lemon, ginger, and turmeric tonic, paired with hot oatmeal sprinkled with spices and nuts.

Movement

I dedicated time to gentle movement, exploring lymphatic drainage, and Qigong to help release tension and move lymph and fascia. This felt incredibly rejuvenating. I could literally feel the lymph moving.

Spring Cleaning

I also tackled a few items on my spring cleaning list. The act of decluttering not only cleared physical space but also provided mental clarity. As I worked, I found it easier to contemplate and process my feelings.

Because sometimes, what feels like being “stuck” isn’t something to fix; it’s an invitation for a different kind of attention.

If you’ve been feeling blocked, tired, or out of sync, I hope this resonates with you.

I’d love to hear: what helps you shift when you find yourself in a moment like this?

This image made me chuckle…sometimes my head feels quite puffy and blocked…

And that’s exactly why it’s so hard to question.

Nothing is wrong.Nothing is broken.

And yet… something doesn’t feel like yours anymore.

This is a moment most leaders don’t talk about.

Maybe because we don’t have the language for it.Maybe because it feels easier to assume we’re the only ones experiencing it.

But it’s more common than we think.

I remember preparing for a big meeting I was leading.

The kind of moment I should have felt proud of, accomplished. Confident in what I had built.

But instead, I felt… hollow.

A little disconnected.

And then something became very clear:

I was fighting to belong in a room I didn’t even want to be in.

That realization stayed with me.

Because once you see something like that, it’s hard to go back to how things were before.

From the outside, everything made sense.

I had built a successful career.I was hitting milestones.Earning respect. Leading teams. Creating impact.

It worked.

And for a long time, I told myself: Just keep going.

But underneath that…I didn’t recognize myself anymore.

I couldn’t answer a simple question: What do I actually want?

And that created a kind of resistance I couldn’t ignore.

Not because I didn’t know what to do, but because I no longer wanted to do it.

At the time, I didn’t think I was in a transition.

I thought I needed to fix something.

Take a break. Optimize. Figure it out.

But nothing was broken; there was nothing to fix.

I was simply no longer aligned with what I had built.

And that’s a very different kind of moment.

Because when everything is working, it’s easy to assume the path is still right.

We keep going. We stay the course.

But sometimes…success becomes the very thing that keeps us from seeing what’s changing.

It becomes a kind of mask.

An older definition of success, one we’ve grown into, been rewarded for, or inherited, that no longer reflects who we are becoming.

And when that happens, it doesn’t create a clear problem.

It creates a threshold.

A moment that isn’t asking to be solved, but recognized.

If you’re reading this, just notice:

Where in your leadership does everything look right…but feel slightly off?

Where are you continuing because it works…not because it’s yours anymore?

You don’t need to have an answer.

Just notice what comes up.

Because if this resonates, you’re likely in a leadership threshold.

Join Me Live

This week, I’m hosting a live session:

Leadership Thresholds 101Why what used to work no longer does

This is a space to:

* recognize what you’re in

* understand why it feels the way it does

* and begin to respond differently

If you’re reading this later, you can find the next session or upcoming Leadership Labs.

And if you already know you’re in a moment like this where something deeper is shifting beneath the surface, the Leadership Labs are where we work with that in real time.

You don’t need a new strategy.

You need to recognize the threshold you’re in.

If something here resonated, don’t rush to figure it out.

Just notice it.

Because that’s where this work begins.

The way we’re working (and living) has become increasingly demanding. The lines between professional and personal life are blurred. And many leaders are carrying more than ever, often without the space or support to process it.

We explored what’s happening inside the leader before anything changes outside.

For me, there was a point when I realized:

I had achieved success in the conventional sense, but didn’t feel whole or confident in what I was doing. “ Be the change you wish to see in the world” has always been an anchor for me. And still, I reached a point where I could feel the gap.

I was talking about doing great work, but I wasn’t living my great work.

From there, we explored a few threads that kept resurfacing:

The difference between ease and easy.

Creating more ease in how we lead and live doesn’t mean things become simple.

It means that we begin to relate to them differently.

We also talked about something many people are experiencing, but not always naming:

The moment where you’re still showing up, still delivering…but feel like you’ve somehow left yourself behind.

Where leadership starts to feel more like performance than presence.

And what often follows is the instinct to push harder, to find better strategies,to keep up with expectations, instead of pausing long enough to ask what’s actually happening.

A big part of our conversation centered on rhythm.

Not routine. Not structure for the sake of control. But a more natural, personal way of moving through work and life. This isn’t about doing; it’s bigger than that. Rhythm is a way of being. It’s something that accounts for:

* energy and rest

* movement and pause

* outward action and inward reflection

Because when we don’t understand or honor our own rhythm, there’s a cost.

Burnout.Resentment.Disconnection.Repeating patterns that don’t actually change anything.

We also explored how much of what leaders struggle with isn’t just individual but shaped by systems that prioritize output over sustainability. Which means many people are internalizing pressure that was never theirs to carry alone.

And underneath all of this was a quieter, but important thread:

This kind of work isn’t about performing better.

It’s about understanding yourself more deeply and learning to lead from that place.

There was a point when I realized that I was talking about it, but I wasn’t living it.

If something in this conversation resonated, we’d love to hear from you…

A question to sit with:

Where in your work or leadership have you started to feel like you’re going through the motions, and what might it look like to reconnect with your own rhythm there?

To learn more about Meghan and Fiona:

Subscribe to Fiona Grant Leydier, Founder of The Inflection Method, and book an Inflection Session with her here.

Join Meghan’s The First Edge - to understand what’s happening in your leadership when something feels off, before you try to fix it or move past it. Or book a Threshold Session to name what you’re navigating and understand what it’s asking of you.

What once worked may no longer fit.Something may feel unclear, unfinished, or ready to change even if you don’t have language for it yet.

In this short introduction, I share what this space is, who it’s for, and why these moments matter more than we often realize.

This isn’t about fixing or rushing to clarity.It’s about beginning to understand what’s actually happening and seeing your leadership differently.

As you listen, consider: What feels like it’s shifting for you right now?

If this resonates, subscribe for Free to continue exploring Edge of Change Leadership.

And if you’re recognizing that you’re in a deeper moment of transition, a leadership threshold, you’re invited to step inside The Threshold Room, where we go deeper to explore and navigate these moments in real time, together.

This episode explores topics, offers reflection prompts for us to gain awareness of some of our patterns, and a few recalibration practices to implement our new awareness of how our nervous system shapes our leadership, why many systems reinfo…

As complexity increases across climate, social impact, and governance spaces, many leaders are asking: What’s next? How do I lead through this?But the instinct to look outward for answers often keeps us disconnected from what matters most.

This episode explores why leadership begins within.

Meghan shares how leaders are being invited to turn disruption inward, examining their patterns, conditioning, decision-making, and relationship to leadership itself. She introduces the idea of leadership as an inner and outer ecosystem, and why tending to the internal landscape is essential for sustainable impact.

You’ll also hear how her work supports leaders navigating thresholds of change and expansion, and why self-leadership is not a one-time insight, but an ongoing practice.

This episode is an invitation to pause, reflect, and begin leading from a different place.

There comes a point in leadership where what once worked no longer holds.

Not because we’ve lost our capability. But because the way we’ve been leading is no longer sufficient for the level of complexity, responsibility, and expansion we’re stepping into.

I see this often in women leaders working in climate, social impact, and systems change. We are skilled at challenging systems. We know how to question assumptions, disrupt outdated models, and push for change externally.

But we rarely turn that same level of disruption inward.

And that’s where leadership begins to stall.

Because leadership is not only about what we build, influence, or change externally. It is shaped by how we relate to ourselves internally - our decision-making, our energy, our patterns, conditioning, our capacity to hold complexity. This is where regenerative leadership comes in.

Regenerative leadership is not simply a new model. It is a shift in how we lead from the inside out. It asks us to examine and tend to our inner being:

* how we make decisions

* how we hold responsibility

* how we relate to power, pressure, and pace

* how we sustain ourselves while leading complex systems

It requires us to disrupt not just outer systems, but our own internal ecosystems.

In my work, I support women leaders navigating these thresholds of change and expansion. Through advising, workshops, and leadership development experiences, we focus on three core phases:

* Reconnect: returning to intuition, inner authority, and the body

* Realign: redesigning how you lead to reflect what is true

* Rise: stepping into visible, whole-self leadership

This is not surface-level work.

It requires honesty, courage, and a willingness to question inherited ways of leading. It’s about holding up a mirror to learn and unlearn. But it is also what allows leadership to become more sustainable, more grounded, and more impactful over time. It moves us toward what we want, not what we’ve been conditioned to believe.

I use a range of reflective tools in this work, including the New Human Design, to help leaders see themselves more clearly and build deeper self-trust. But the tool is not the transformation.

The transformation comes from how leaders choose to see, relate, and lead differently.

Because at a certain point, leadership is no longer about learning more. It’s about leading differently, from our whole and authentic selves. And that shift begins within - not with a new role, title, or problem to solve.

Regenerative leadership is not something we apply once. It is a way of living and leading that develops over time as we learn to relate differently to ourselves, our work, the systems we are part of, and our vision for what’s possible.

If you’re navigating your own edge of change, I invite you to explore this work further through my writing, workshops, or private advisory spaces.

What are you sensing is shifting in your leadership?

Edge of Change Leadership is a reader-supported experience. Join the conversation as we explore leadership thresholds and what it means to turn disruption inward to recalibrate how we lead, hold power, and shape what comes next.