Member since April 2022
Melissa Rider Carson is a leadership strategist for fast-growing companies, an advisor to senior leaders, and the creator of Decide Better. Lead Longer., a speaking platform connecting Leadership Endurance to the decisions that matter most.
Across more than 30 years in leadership, people management, organizational effectiveness, and business strategy, Melissa has worked inside large organizations and alongside smaller companies and nonprofits facing growth, change, leadership transitions, and consequential people decisions. She spent nearly nineteen years at Accenture and later served as Vice President, Head of People, Americas at EPAM. In independent practice, she has advised founders, CEOs, executive directors, boards, technology executives, and leadership teams across business strategy, leadership, people, structure, and organizational effectiveness.
Melissa is an ICF Professional Certified Coach and holds SHRM-SCP and SPHR credentials. Her perspective on Leadership Endurance is also shaped by years of endurance training, including marathons, half marathons, Ragnar relays, and triathlons.
The impact of leaders on creating an organization where people want to build their careers, running, and good red wine.
Looking back, one of the early managers I worked with gave me a solid lesson on imperfect leaders.
This manager gave me a piece of feedback on how I was being perceived by others on the team. He had good intentions. However, what I took away from the experience was that no one liked working with me. I resigned. Even when asked why I was leaving, I couldn't admit that this was the real reason, and that manager didn't acknowledge that my leaving was likely as a result of his feedback.
It wasn't what he said or how he said or why he said it. It just didn't have the impact that he was assuming it would have.
My lesson about imperfect leaders from this experience is that it takes more than good intentions to have the desired outcome.
I believe in taking career leaps of faith. My biggest one so far came in 2019 when I decided to leave my corporate HR leadership role to start my own business. I had realized a few months earlier that I loved my job most when traveling...not because of the opportunity to see new places, but in how I spent my time - advising, coaching, strategizing.
I took this career leap of faith to go out on my own because I wanted to spend most of my time doing those things, not all of the things that come with being in an HR leadership position.
The decisions that matter most don't always get your best thinking. They get what's left.
The hardest calls arrive after months of competing priorities and accumulated pressure, often on a day that has already taken everything. Sustained pressure does more than change how a leader feels. It can narrow perspective, distort urgency, and make familiar options look more certain than they are.
In The Calls No One Else Can Make, Melissa Rider Carson examines the connection between Leadership Endurance and decision quality, and why sound judgment depends partly on what a leader builds before the difficult moment arrives. She draws on more than 30 years across leadership, organizational, and people work, along with her own years training for marathons and triathlons.
Participants leave with a practical check for whether they are Clear, Calm, and Confident enough to make the call in front of them, and with a clearer read on which of the three may be running low on a decision they are carrying now.
Running a business (or organization) is like running a race with no finish line. While experts agree that building a business is more like a marathon than a sprint, no one can tell you exactly how long the run will be because the finish line only comes when we leave the role. And that’s the challenge.
The leader’s ability to go the distance for themselves and their teams is key to business success. According to Gallup's 2024 State of the Global Workplace report, organizations with high levels of employee engagement see a 51% reduction in turnover, productivity increases by 23%, and employee well-being improves by 68%. The leader plays a critical role in employee engagement, and when they aren’t at their best, they risk negative impacts on these metrics.
So what can we do to prevent this? As organizational leaders, the critical questions we need to answer are: how hard do we run, how long before our performance suffers, and what can we do to prevent “hitting the wall?”
Endurance training strategies can help leaders prepare themselves and their teams to achieve at high levels and sustain that performance over the long haul.
As a former HR executive (and experienced marathon runner), Melissa Carson understands the leader’s daily challenges. She has walked (and run) in those shoes. She knows that leaders play two roles, both athlete and coach.
- Athletes determine how to perform at their best and then do it
- Coaches make sure the right people are on the team, ensure everyone is in the best position, and focus on getting the best from each person.
This session focuses on practical strategies for helping leaders show up how they want to, stay in the race without burning out or dropping out, and inspire their teams to do the same.
The role of a leader has evolved over the past two decades and significantly over the past 3-5 years. The old playbook doesn't work anymore.
It's critical for leaders to own their imperfections and become more intentional leaders.
This session can focus on:
- what it means to accept your imperfections
- how to move toward a more intentional leadership approach
- how leading has become more of an art than a science
This topic can be covered in organizations, with community groups, in higher education forums, or a conference event and can be tailored to the group.
Many of the topics I discuss on LinkedIn or my article/blog posts touch on this topic of imperfect leadership. You can see blog content here: https://www.melissaridercarson.com/imperfect-leadership
I have also published two guides on Amazon that reflect that there are no perfect jobs and that a perfect life is not the goal. They're available here: https://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Rider-Carson/e/B09RW2BFRP/ref=aufs_dp_fta_dsk
There are no perfect people. There are no perfect leaders. Leading is a "messy" job to lead effectively - different motivations, different ways of thinking, different experiences. It's time to rethink what leadership development means.
Check out my session on the Elite Edge podcast to hear our discussion on leadership: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/intentional-leadership-with-melissa-carson/id1678325961?i=1000613509994
I host bi-weekly LinkedIn audio events and periodic webinars/fireside chats.
You can hear many of my sessions here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1A7JfkVtopgAhI9WDUTsXJ?si=e5QH7jLMT0mLptIM6Q9F0A
I shared 3 key ideas on a recent episode of Ask Jeremy Jones - the Ideas and Impact podcast.
https://askjeremyjones.com/289-how-to-orient-yourself-and-your-business/
📌All organizations rely on people to sell, deliver, and operate. To maximize performance and impact, you need a people strategy that aligns with your business strategy.
📌Recognizing when your people strategy is not working requires regular focus, attention, and action.
📌Developing leaders is often the most important tenet of your people strategy but it’s often overlooked as a nice-to-have.
I had the great pleasure to join Brad W. Minton and Cassie Spencer on their podcast, Your Career GPS, to talk about the themes in my book, 📙There is No Such Thing as a Perfect Job: A Practical Guide to Loving Your Work Life.
You can listen here: https://anchor.fm/yourcareergps/episodes/Ep--67-Twists--Turns-Finding-Fulfillment-Without-Waiting-For-Perfect-Special-Guest-Melissa-Carson-e1iiro9
Are you starting your own business or running one now? You will need more than a great idea or product to enjoy the roller coaster ride of small business ownership. We all need to do the mindset work upfront and day-to-day to be prepared for what might come, both the high points and low points and days when we ask why am I doing this? The past two years have changed the game when it comes to leading organizations. To be a successful leader of yourself and your teams, it's time to rethink what leadership means and how you want to show up.
I've shared this talk several times with Delaware SCORE.
Looking back, one of the early managers I worked with gave me a solid lesson on imperfect leaders.
This manager gave me a piece of feedback on how I was being perceived by others on the team. He had good intentions. However, what I took away from the experience was that no one liked working with me. I resigned. Even when asked why I was leaving, I couldn't admit that this was the real reason, and that manager didn't acknowledge that my leaving was likely as a result of his feedback.
It wasn't what he said or how he said or why he said it. It just didn't have the impact that he was assuming it would have.
My lesson about imperfect leaders from this experience is that it takes more than good intentions to have the desired outcome.
I believe in taking career leaps of faith. My biggest one so far came in 2019 when I decided to leave my corporate HR leadership role to start my own business. I had realized a few months earlier that I loved my job most when traveling...not because of the opportunity to see new places, but in how I spent my time - advising, coaching, strategizing.
I took this career leap of faith to go out on my own because I wanted to spend most of my time doing those things, not all of the things that come with being in an HR leadership position.
The decisions that matter most don't always get your best thinking. They get what's left.
The hardest calls arrive after months of competing priorities and accumulated pressure, often on a day that has already taken everything. Sustained pressure does more than change how a leader feels. It can narrow perspective, distort urgency, and make familiar options look more certain than they are.
In The Calls No One Else Can Make, Melissa Rider Carson examines the connection between Leadership Endurance and decision quality, and why sound judgment depends partly on what a leader builds before the difficult moment arrives. She draws on more than 30 years across leadership, organizational, and people work, along with her own years training for marathons and triathlons.
Participants leave with a practical check for whether they are Clear, Calm, and Confident enough to make the call in front of them, and with a clearer read on which of the three may be running low on a decision they are carrying now.
Running a business (or organization) is like running a race with no finish line. While experts agree that building a business is more like a marathon than a sprint, no one can tell you exactly how long the run will be because the finish line only comes when we leave the role. And that’s the challenge.
The leader’s ability to go the distance for themselves and their teams is key to business success. According to Gallup's 2024 State of the Global Workplace report, organizations with high levels of employee engagement see a 51% reduction in turnover, productivity increases by 23%, and employee well-being improves by 68%. The leader plays a critical role in employee engagement, and when they aren’t at their best, they risk negative impacts on these metrics.
So what can we do to prevent this? As organizational leaders, the critical questions we need to answer are: how hard do we run, how long before our performance suffers, and what can we do to prevent “hitting the wall?”
Endurance training strategies can help leaders prepare themselves and their teams to achieve at high levels and sustain that performance over the long haul.
As a former HR executive (and experienced marathon runner), Melissa Carson understands the leader’s daily challenges. She has walked (and run) in those shoes. She knows that leaders play two roles, both athlete and coach.
- Athletes determine how to perform at their best and then do it
- Coaches make sure the right people are on the team, ensure everyone is in the best position, and focus on getting the best from each person.
This session focuses on practical strategies for helping leaders show up how they want to, stay in the race without burning out or dropping out, and inspire their teams to do the same.
The role of a leader has evolved over the past two decades and significantly over the past 3-5 years. The old playbook doesn't work anymore.
It's critical for leaders to own their imperfections and become more intentional leaders.
This session can focus on:
- what it means to accept your imperfections
- how to move toward a more intentional leadership approach
- how leading has become more of an art than a science
This topic can be covered in organizations, with community groups, in higher education forums, or a conference event and can be tailored to the group.
Many of the topics I discuss on LinkedIn or my article/blog posts touch on this topic of imperfect leadership. You can see blog content here: https://www.melissaridercarson.com/imperfect-leadership
I have also published two guides on Amazon that reflect that there are no perfect jobs and that a perfect life is not the goal. They're available here: https://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Rider-Carson/e/B09RW2BFRP/ref=aufs_dp_fta_dsk
There are no perfect people. There are no perfect leaders. Leading is a "messy" job to lead effectively - different motivations, different ways of thinking, different experiences. It's time to rethink what leadership development means.
Check out my session on the Elite Edge podcast to hear our discussion on leadership: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/intentional-leadership-with-melissa-carson/id1678325961?i=1000613509994
I host bi-weekly LinkedIn audio events and periodic webinars/fireside chats.
You can hear many of my sessions here: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1A7JfkVtopgAhI9WDUTsXJ?si=e5QH7jLMT0mLptIM6Q9F0A
I shared 3 key ideas on a recent episode of Ask Jeremy Jones - the Ideas and Impact podcast.
https://askjeremyjones.com/289-how-to-orient-yourself-and-your-business/
📌All organizations rely on people to sell, deliver, and operate. To maximize performance and impact, you need a people strategy that aligns with your business strategy.
📌Recognizing when your people strategy is not working requires regular focus, attention, and action.
📌Developing leaders is often the most important tenet of your people strategy but it’s often overlooked as a nice-to-have.
I had the great pleasure to join Brad W. Minton and Cassie Spencer on their podcast, Your Career GPS, to talk about the themes in my book, 📙There is No Such Thing as a Perfect Job: A Practical Guide to Loving Your Work Life.
You can listen here: https://anchor.fm/yourcareergps/episodes/Ep--67-Twists--Turns-Finding-Fulfillment-Without-Waiting-For-Perfect-Special-Guest-Melissa-Carson-e1iiro9
Are you starting your own business or running one now? You will need more than a great idea or product to enjoy the roller coaster ride of small business ownership. We all need to do the mindset work upfront and day-to-day to be prepared for what might come, both the high points and low points and days when we ask why am I doing this? The past two years have changed the game when it comes to leading organizations. To be a successful leader of yourself and your teams, it's time to rethink what leadership means and how you want to show up.
I've shared this talk several times with Delaware SCORE.
