Your Words Unleashed

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What if becoming more coachable is the most important thing scholars can do to avoid failure?
Drawing on her experience coaching hundreds of academics, Leslie explores what it really means to be coachable—and why this skill can be especially challenging for academics.
She breaks coachability down into three main qualities and also explores the danger of conflating one's personal identity with their scholarly work. 
This episode is for anyone who wants to learn how to receive feedback well and break out of old patterns in order to avoid failure and move toward possibility.
Support the show
Check out Leslie's website at www.YourWordsUnleashed.com!

The three ways Leslie can help you with coaching & developmental editing:

#1: Six-month Your Words Unleashed signature book writing coaching program. Through 8 hour-long sessions tailored to your own needs and goals, we will pinpoint what’s keeping you stuck. We’ll figure out personalized solutions and strategies so you can create direction and lasting momentum with your book writing. I’ll also provide detailed feedback on your writing throughout
#2: Four-month Career Reset Program for Overwhelmed Academics who want to reconnect with purpose. Over the course of 6 hour-long sessions, we’ll clarify your personal career vision, create space for what matters, overcome internal obstacles to change, and define what success means on your own terms so you can work less and live more.
#3: Group Workshops that balance personal well-being with writing productivity. Topics include transforming your dissertation into a book; connecting to the deeper purpose of your work; as well as boundary setting. 
Check everything out! If you're interested, shoot me an email at ...

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AI is changing academic writing in ways that are raising some big questions about academic honesty and what it means to be a scholar.
In this episode, I talk with qualitative researcher and “free range scholar” Dr. Janet Salmons about how academic publishers are responding to generative AI and what their policies mean for researchers and writers. We dig into some of the gray areas around using AI for research and writing, including why documenting your AI use may be more important than you think.
We also talk about something that can get lost in the AI conversation: developing your own scholarly skills and voice. Janet shares her thoughts on building a body of work over time and finding support from other writers so you can take pride in the work you put your name on.
Support the show
Check out Leslie's website at www.YourWordsUnleashed.com!

The three ways Leslie can help you with coaching & developmental editing:

#1: Six-month Your Words Unleashed signature book writing coaching program. Through 8 hour-long sessions tailored to your own needs and goals, we will pinpoint what’s keeping you stuck. We’ll figure out personalized solutions and strategies so you can create direction and lasting momentum with your book writing. I’ll also provide detailed feedback on your writing throughout
#2: Four-month Career Reset Program for Overwhelmed Academics who want to reconnect with purpose. Over the course of 6 hour-long sessions, we’ll clarify your personal career vision, create space for what matters, overcome internal obstacles to change, and define what success means on your own terms so you can work less and live more.
#3: Group Workshops that balance personal well-being with writing productivity. Topics include transforming your dissertation into a book; connecting to the deeper purpose of your work; as well as boundary setting. 
Check everything out! If you're interested, shoot me an email at ...

Send us Fan Mail
What happens when you love teaching but can’t make a sustainable living as an adjunct?
In this episode, I talk with Caitlin Luetger-Schlewitt about her winding career journey through higher education and beyond. After eight years of “full-time adjuncting” at three colleges while juggling multiple other jobs, Caitlin eventually decided it was time for a change.
She shares how she moved into mental health counseling before finding her way to career services and eventually back into a full-time faculty role. We talk about things like professional identity, the importance of setting boundaries, and making career decisions based on your actual needs and values.
We also explore the grief of letting go of an academic identity—and how loosening your attachment to one particular path can open up unexpected possibilities.
If you’re an adjunct considering a career pivot, this conversation is for you!
Support the show
Check out Leslie's website at www.YourWordsUnleashed.com!

The three ways Leslie can help you with coaching & developmental editing:

#1: Six-month Your Words Unleashed signature book writing coaching program. Through 8 hour-long sessions tailored to your own needs and goals, we will pinpoint what’s keeping you stuck. We’ll figure out personalized solutions and strategies so you can create direction and lasting momentum with your book writing. I’ll also provide detailed feedback on your writing throughout
#2: Four-month Career Reset Program for Overwhelmed Academics who want to reconnect with purpose. Over the course of 6 hour-long sessions, we’ll clarify your personal career vision, create space for what matters, overcome internal obstacles to change, and define what success means on your own terms so you can work less and live more.
#3: Group Workshops that balance personal well-being with writing productivity. Topics include transforming your dissertation into a book; connecting to the deeper purpose of your work; as well as boundary setting. 
Check everything out! If you're interested, shoot me an email at ...

Send us Fan Mail
Academic leadership often comes with a job description that says “professor” but a reality that says “manager, mentor, conflict resolver, and people leader.” The problem? Most academics receive very little training for that second job.
In this episode, I talk with Dr. Jen Heemstra, Chair and Professor of Chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis and author of Lab Work to Leadership: A Concise Guide to Thriving in the Science Job You Weren’t Trained For. We discuss what leadership really means in academia, why it’s about more than having a formal title, and how academics can develop the skills they need to lead themselves and others.
Jen shares her journey from doubting she could become a professor to leading a research group and writing a book about academic leadership. She talks about a difficult tenure vote that ultimately freed her from trying to fit into academic culture and helped her focus on her values and the needs of her team.
We explore practical strategies for self-leadership, including time management, meaningful goal-setting, redefining success, and being more intentional about where you direct your energy. Jen also shares advice for navigating difficult conversations and resolving conflict by using the same skills academics use in research.
If you've ever found yourself in a leadership role wondering, “Why didn't anyone train me for this?”, this conversation offers practical strategies and reassurance that you’re not the only one figuring it out as you go.
Support the show
Check out Leslie's website at www.YourWordsUnleashed.com!

The three ways Leslie can help you with coaching & developmental editing:

#1: Six-month Your Words Unleashed signature book writing coaching program. Through 8 hour-long sessions tailored to your own needs and goals, we will pinpoint what’s keeping you stuck. We’ll figure out personalized solutions and strategies so you can create direction and lasting momentum with your book writing. I’ll also provide detailed feedback on your writing throughout
#2: Four-month Career Reset Program for Overwhelmed Academics who want to reconnect with purpose. Over the course of 6 hour-long sessions, we’ll clarify your personal career vision, create space for what matters, overcome internal obstacles to change, and define what success means on your own terms so you can work less and live more.
#3: Group Workshops that balance personal well-being with writing productivity. Topics include transforming your dissertation into a book; connecting to the deeper purpose of your work; as well as boundary setting. 
Check everything out! If you're interested, shoot me an email at ...

Send us Fan Mail
Writing a conclusion can feel surprisingly difficult. By the time you reach the end of a book, you just want to be finished! But a conclusion is more than the final chapter—it's your opportunity to help readers understand what your work adds up to and why it matters.
In this episode, I talk with developmental editor Dr. Katherine Wiley about what makes a strong conclusion and why so many scholars struggle to write one. We discuss the difference between summarizing and synthesizing, how to think about scholarly and real-world implications, and why authors shouldn't leave readers to connect the dots on their own. 
Katherine also shares practical strategies for writing stronger conclusions, common mistakes she sees as an editor, and how developmental editors can help authors see the bigger picture in their work.
Rather than treating the conclusion as the finish line, Katherine encourages us to see it as the place where the larger purpose of a book comes into focus.
Connect with Katherine Wiley
Website: https://goldenrodeditorial.com
LinkedIn: Katherine Wiley
Join Scholarly Writing Groups

Support the show
Check out Leslie's website at www.YourWordsUnleashed.com!

The three ways Leslie can help you with coaching & developmental editing:

#1: Six-month Your Words Unleashed signature book writing coaching program. Through 8 hour-long sessions tailored to your own needs and goals, we will pinpoint what’s keeping you stuck. We’ll figure out personalized solutions and strategies so you can create direction and lasting momentum with your book writing. I’ll also provide detailed feedback on your writing throughout
#2: Four-month Career Reset Program for Overwhelmed Academics who want to reconnect with purpose. Over the course of 6 hour-long sessions, we’ll clarify your personal career vision, create space for what matters, overcome internal obstacles to change, and define what success means on your own terms so you can work less and live more.
#3: Group Workshops that balance personal well-being with writing productivity. Topics include transforming your dissertation into a book; connecting to the deeper purpose of your work; as well as boundary setting. 
Check everything out! If you're interested, shoot me an email at ...