Joining us for today's episode is Meg Hinkley, a volunteer leader with Texas Search and Rescue who has served on more than 130 deployments over the last 13 years. From leading teams during devastating Texas Hill Country floods to helping families navigate the unimaginable pain of missing loved ones, Meg shares what it means to lead with empathy, trust, and integrity. She reminds us that leadership must be flexible, rather than ego-driven sometimes you are leading the mission, and sometimes you are following the person with the right expertise in the moment.

Her stories about working overnight in floodwaters, supporting grieving families, and managing the emotional toll of search and rescue show the power of staying grounded in purpose while remaining adaptable under pressure. In the episode, we also explore how Meg's strengths Empathy, Adaptability, Communication, Positivity, and Woo shape her leadership style both in the field and in life. Beyond search and rescue, Meg has spent decades teaching women's self-defense through her company Athena Strategies, helping others understand preparedness, confidence, and personal safety. She believes that preparation reduces fear. Her perspective on service, teamwork, and using your unique strengths to help others is something every leader can learn from.

Top 3 Takeaways:

1. Leadership requires flexibility, not ego. Great leaders focus on outcomes over titles and are willing to let others lead when they have the right expertise. Teams perform better when leadership is flexible, collaborative, and built on trust.

2. Mission-driven teams build trust and resilience. People stay engaged and committed when they clearly understand the mission behind their work. Leaders who connect daily tasks to a larger purpose create stronger, more resilient teams.

3. Soft sills are essential leadership skills. Empathy, communication, and emotional intelligence are critical in high-pressure environments. Leaders who manage emotions well and build strong relationships create safer, more effective teams.

Episode Minutes:

Minute 3: The mission of Texar and what motivates Meg in volunteer rescue work

Minute 11: The balance of empathy, communication, and trust in leadership

Minute 22: Meg's core values: faith, family, and service

Minute 36: Balancing family, faith, and professional service

Links + Resources from This Episode:

Learn more about the work of Texas Search and Rescue at www.texsar.org

Take the free 3-minute Authentic Imprint™ Assessment

Get a copy of Dana's book, The Internal Revolution: Lead Authentically and Build Your Personal Brand from Within

Learn more about The Strengths Journal

What if the problem isn't your schedule but your energy? In this episode of Dominate Your Day, I challenge the traditional focus on time management. Many leaders spend their days optimizing calendars and workflows, yet still end up drained.

Why? Because time is neutral it's alignment that determines whether an activity energizes or depletes you. When your work taps into your strengths, values, and mission, it creates energy. When it doesn't, even a short task can leave you exhausted. The key to managing energy is emotional recognition your ability to read how different activities impact you in real time. Treat your emotions as performance data, using them to identify what fuels or drains you. Listen in to learn simple practices to help you shift from operating on empty to leading with sustainable energy.

Top 3 Takeaways:

1. Time management won't fix burnout alignment will. It's not about how long you spend on tasks, but whether those tasks align with your strengths, values, and mission.

2. Your emotions are your most accurate energy data. Paying attention to what energizes or drains you provides real-time insight into how to adjust your leadership for better performance.

3. Sustainable leadership requires intentional energy design. Simple actions like tracking energy patterns, protecting your peak hours, and building in recovery help you lead with consistency, clarity, and endurance.

Episode Minutes:

Minute 4:00 - Developing emotional awareness as a leadership skill

Minute 6:00 - Patterns in energy drainers: misalignment, value compromise, mission disconnect

Minute 9:00 - Action item recap: energy audit, prime window, authentic assessment

Links + Resources from This Episode:

Take the free 3-minute Authentic Imprint™ Assessment

Get a copy of Dana's book, The Internal Revolution: Lead Authentically and Build Your Personal Brand from Within

Learn more about The Strengths Journal

In this episode, I discuss a critical but often overlooked leadership skill: emotional recognition. High-performing leaders often fall into the trap of suppressing emotions in the name of productivity, but those buried feelings don't disappear they resurface in subtle, costly ways. This disconnect can even lead to a sense of burnout and loss of purpose, not from overwork, but from operating out of alignment with one's true self. The solution isn't becoming more emotional—it's becoming more aware.

Emotional recognition, the ability to notice, name, and understand what you're feeling in real time, acts as a multiplier for effective leadership. I offer three practical ways to build this skill. Listen in to learn how to add these practices to your daily rhythms.

Top 3 Takeaways:

1. Unrecognized emotions are already shaping your leadership. When you don't consciously identify what you're feeling, those emotions still influence your decisions, reactions, and communication often in ways that undermine your effectiveness. Emotions are data, not distractions.

2. Instead of suppressing feelings, strong leaders treat them like an internal dashboard. Emotional recognition simply naming and understanding what you feel helps you make clearer, more aligned decisions.

3. Small daily practices create powerful leadership shifts. Simple habits can dramatically improve how you show up, helping you lead with more intention, clarity, and authenticity.

Episode Minutes:

Minute 2: The misconception of emotions as noise in leadership

Minute 4: Developing emotional recognition with simple daily practices Minute 6: Recognizing and understanding your emotional pattern

Minute 9: Using emotional awareness to build authentic leadership presence

Links + Resources from This Episode:

Take the free 3-minute Authentic Imprint™ Assessment

Get a copy of Dana's book, The Internal Revolution: Lead Authentically and Build Your Personal Brand from Within

Learn more about The Strengths Journal