You Know How to Lead
Your Team Trusts You
You've Done the Work
And yet the feedback keeps coming back the same: not quite ready, keep developing. You've made yourself smaller. You've tried harder. Nothing has shifted.
They tell you so. But the words in your reviews, too sensitive, not strategic enough, have you second-guessing the very instincts that made them trust you in the first place.
Years of it. Books. Coaches. Programs. The problem isn't finding the words. It's often that you're not heard. You're spoken over. Or you're not even asked.
Why I Built This
I built Debra Mitchell & Company because I've lived exactly what most of my clients describe. The 3am email. The decision sitting in your head for two weeks. The room you walked out of wondering when you stopped recognizing yourself in how you were leading.
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Thirty years of doing this work, mostly inside other people's organizations. Fortune 500. Prosci-certified. Clients including Capital One, Deloitte, the IRS, and the US Coast Guard.
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One question kept driving me. What would leadership look like if kindness wasn't the thing you sacrificed to get results?
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Turns out it looks like a practice. Not a performance.
Kind isn't nice. Kind is direct. Kind is clear.
Hi, I'm Deb.
Kind isn't nice. Kind is direct. Kind is clear.
For the Leader
The Shift
For the woman leader who's been told she's "too sensitive" or "not strategic enough" and is starting to wonder if it's her. (Spoiler: it isn't.) A six-month cohort.
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For the Team
The Shift for Work
The Shift, brought inside your organization. A sponsor-funded cohort for mid-level managers. Customized to your team's challenges.
Learn more →
For the Organization
The Navigator
For the executive who's tired of change programs that don't stick. People first. Put people at the center.
Learn more →
What people are saying.
"Strategically sound and pragmatic. Her people-centered approach made a meaningful difference."
Kurush Minocher  · Chief Commercial Officer, GTAA
"I learned to pause and look through the eyes of the other person's perspective. It moved the needle on a lot of very sensitive situations this year."
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Michelle Thompkins
Chief People Officer, Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina
"I left more grounded, more intentional, and more committed to leading in a way that truly supports the people I serve."
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Yarden Carroll
Owner, Crown Creative
"I used to push my own boundaries in challenging situations to seek harmony. Now I lead from my center."
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Stephanie Hubka
Managing Partner, Protos Learning