Building Your Leader Brand · 8th June, 2026
WTF do I do now? ( It's not what you think ), with Danielle Sprouls
45:52 · Episode 343
Episode 343 · 2026-06-08
WTF do I do now? ( It's not what you think ), with Danielle Sprouls
Most leaders I speak with aren't struggling because they lack skill or experience. They're struggling because when things shift - when the market moves, the strategy stalls, or something just stops feeling right - they don't have a reliable process for navigating that moment well. They wing it. Or they freeze. Or they fall back on what worked last time, even when last time no longer applies.
This conversation with Danielle Sprouls cuts right to that gap.
Danielle spent over 25 years in commercial real estate, has a background in law, and has been involved in over $20 billion in transactions. Today she's the founder of Unscripted Pivots, an executive coaching and advisory firm, and the author of WTF: Women That Flourish. Her second book, The PIVOT Advantage, is out soon - and in this episode, she walks us through the framework that sits at the heart of it.
Three areas we explored...
✳️ Reframing disruption before you respond to it - Danielle's WTF framework redefines what's happening before you act on it: Where to Focus, Wake That Flame, Wisdom Through Failure. When you change the language, you change the experience.
✳️ The PIVOT Advantage framework - a five-step decision sequence (Pause, Identify, Vet, Outreach, Test) that takes a leader from chaos to clarity without skipping the steps that most people rush past.
✳️ The identity work behind operational change - Danielle's observation that most pivots get hired as operational problems but are almost always rooted in identity. You have to treat the person moving through the shift, not just the shift itself.
Danielle's amplifiers...
✳️ Reframe what's happening - when something disrupts your autopilot, stop and ask whether this is happening to you or for you. The opportunity is often buried in the disruption itself.
✳️ Run a 24-hour self-audit - when you're being indecisive, take time to assess what not making a change is costing you - energy, relationships, confidence - not just money.
✳️ Use the PIVOT sequence - Pause, Identify, Vet, Outreach, Test. Apply it to any decision under pressure. The steps are simple. The discipline to follow them is where the real work lives.
Danielle's website and her book WTF: Women That Flourish.
When The PIVOT Advantage lands, she'll be back. Keep an eye out for that one.
If this episode gave you something useful, the best thing you can do is follow or subscribe so you don't miss what's coming next.
Timestamps
00:00 - Introduction
00:32 - Welcome and show overview
01:47 - Danielle Sproles - background and introduction
03:04 - Unscripted Pivots, the WTF book, and what Danielle does today
04:03 - Pivoting from commercial real estate - what makes it work
05:43 - Selective restraint - why saying yes means saying no
07:12 - Moments of impact and why most pivots go badly
08:49 - Reframing disruption before you act on it
09:58 - The PIVOT Advantage framework introduced
13:07 - Why pause leads to paralysis without a deadline
15:05 - Pause as strategy, not stillness
16:55 - Types of pivots - operational, identity, and existential
17:55 - Why the identity work is always at the heart of it
20:04 - The competitive advantage of a decision process
21:01 - Applying PIVOT to solo businesses and personal decisions
22:58 - Outreach as perspective, not weakness
25:12 - Asking for help is a gift, not a burden
28:02 - Asking better questions - the I in PIVOT
29:51 - Full walkthrough of the PIVOT framework
33:18 - Strategy as a series of decisions, not a fixed plan
35:34 - Fear as a signal, not an obstacle
38:21 - Overcoming fear of public speaking - Danielle's own story
40:25 - Skydiving, saying yes, and being willing to be a beginner
42:00 - Danielle's three amplifiers
43:39 - Closing and where to find Danielle
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