🐲 Not every moment needs to be about growth or performance.

So often, leadership gets framed as serious business, deadlines, deliverables, strategy, results.

And while those things matter, here’s a truth we often forget:

📖 Breath of the Dragon, Lesson 13:

“Make space for playfulness and warmth — they fuel trust, spark creativity, and create belonging that endures beyond the moment.”

🐉 “Even fire needs joy to stay bright — play fuels the flame.”

In The Leadership Leap, Chapter 12: Fuel for Impact, I write about how joy isn’t just a “nice to have” — it’s a core ingredient of impact. Teams that laugh together, celebrate small wins, and share warmth are the ones that can hold steady in the storms.

💚 Play creates safety.

❤️‍🔥 Warmth builds trust.

✨ Joy sparks energy that spreadsheets can’t measure.

Sometimes, that means simply taking a walk.

Or having a one-on-one that feels more like friendship than feedback.

Not every moment needs to be about growth or performance.

Don’t take yourself too seriously.

Learn to laugh, to giggle.

Step out of the mind and into heart, soul, aura, feeling, as a great Greek friend often reminds me. 😉

And by the way, love and relationships need this too. Playfulness and warmth aren’t just professional skills; they’re the heartbeat of connection at home, with friends, and in partnership. Without them, even the strongest bonds burn out.

💬 What small moments of play or warmth have you seen transform a team, or a relationship?

🐲 On September 25 in Utrecht, sponsored by iO, I’ll be reading live from The Leadership Leap, signing books, and hosting a live coaching evening together with Pascal and Maria where we’ll explore the practices that fuel trust, creativity, and sustainable impact.

🎟️ Register here

📖 Order books