Artwork for podcast Superheroes in Heels with Kimberley Borgens
Staying Calm Under Pressure: Crisis Leadership Lessons for Powerful Women
Episode 6614th July 2026 • Superheroes in Heels with Kimberley Borgens • Kimberley Borgens
00:00:00 00:34:57

Share Episode

Shownotes

Welcome to another empowering episode of Superheroes in Heels—the podcast devoted to helping extraordinary women like you rise, lead, and own the room. I’m your host, Kimberley Borgens. With over 30 years building success in the male-dominated world of security, I know firsthand what it means to be a powerful woman in leadership, especially under pressure.

In today’s episode, we’re diving deep into the art of crisis leadership—a must-have skill for female leaders, entrepreneurs, business owners, and trailblazers navigating today’s unpredictable world. Have you ever wondered how powerful women manage to stay calm, composed, and effective when everything seems to be falling apart? I’m here to tell you, calm isn't just a personality trait, it's a practiced skill that you can master with the right mindset, framework, and preparation.

Drawing from my decades of real-world experience—not just theories from the boardroom—I’m sharing stories and insights about decision-making under pressure, rapid problem-solving frameworks, and why emotional discipline is a leader’s secret weapon. We’ll talk about why indecision is the most dangerous choice in a crisis, how clear communication is the bedrock of trust, and why post-crisis reviews make you—and your business—stronger over time.

Whether you’re leading a company, managing a team, juggling family chaos, or striving to break barriers in your professional life, this episode will give you practical strategies to build your confidence and resilience. You’ll discover how to create your own crisis response playbook, stay grounded when pressure mounts, and turn every setback into an opportunity for growth.

If you’re ready to boost your crisis management skills, unleash your inner superhero, and lead with integrity even in the toughest times, this conversation is for you. Subscribe, share, and join me as we break down the real-life challenges of female leadership—because the world needs more women who can lead through chaos with clarity, strength, and a little bit of grace.

Let’s get started—and together, let’s change the face of leadership for women everywhere.

Thanks for Tuning In to Superheroes in Heels with Kimberley Borgens

If today’s episode sparked something in you then this show is doing exactly what it’s meant to do.

Superheroes in Heels is all about fiercely empowering women in business—especially in male-dominated industries. Each episode is a celebration of resilience, competence, and a little sass, and we’re just getting started.

Want more?

Subscribe to the show so you never miss an episode.

Leave a review—it helps more bold, brave women find us.

Follow me on social media for daily inspiration and insights.

And most importantly, come join my community: The Hive Hangout—where empowered women empower each other.

Connect with Kimberley:

🔗 Website: www.kimberleyborgens.com

📘 Facebook: BeALegacyCoach

📸 Instagram: @kimberleyborgens

💼 LinkedIn: Kimberley Borgens

Until next time, keep showing up, standing tall, and wearing those heels like the superhero you are.

Mentioned in this episode:

Superheroes in Heels is part of the eWomenPodcastNetwork

eWomenPodcastNetwork

Transcripts

Kimberley Borgens [:

Welcome to Superheroes in Heels, the podcast where powerful women rise, lead, and own the room. I'm Kimberley Borgens, your host, fellow trailblazer, and unapologetic advocate for women in the world of business. With over 30 years of experience building success in a male dominant industry, I'm here to empower you to do the same. Each week, you'll hear bold conversations with inspiring guests who embody strength, resilience, a little dash of sass, and a little bit of grace. Together, we'll challenge the status quo, break through barriers, unlock your confidence, and unleash your inner superhero. You ready? Let's go.

Kimberley Borgens [:

Hello.

Kimberley Borgens [:

Hello. All right. Today we're going to talk about something fun. Welcome to Superheroes in Heels. You know, leadership isn't tested when things are easy. Have you ever realized that or discovered that? Right. Leadership is not tested when things are easy and simple and ready to, you know, just be calm and all of those things. Right? It's, it's, it's revealed when everything breaks.

Kimberley Borgens [:

And let me tell you, it will break. And after 35 years in the security industry, more than 25 years in leadership, I've seen some things go wrong in real time. Not in theory, not in the boardrooms, but in the moments that seconds matter. And I thought I would share that with you today. I'm Kimberley Porgans, and. And today we're talking about crisis leadership. You know, how powerful women stay calm under pressure because calm isn't a personality. Look, it's a practice skill.

Kimberley Borgens [:

So you have to practice being calm. So, you know, when is leadership really built? When you know, it's not something that you can book when chaos happens. Like, here, let me pencil that chaos in at this time. It doesn't work like that. It's. It's built at 2am when you receive a phone call from your team member because, you know, one of your patrol drivers was in an automobile accident in your automobile while working. Right. It was built when.

Kimberley Borgens [:

When lives and property and reputations and contracts are on the line. I mean, that. That's when it really shows up. You don't rise to the occasion. Right. You kind of fall to the level that you're prepared with. Crisis doesn't create leaders. Right.

Kimberley Borgens [:

It exposes who's been pretending and who's built the skills. I know that's a little powerful there, but I really want you to look at how do you solve things when it's not in crisis? Are you chaotic about it? Does it create problems or drama behind it? Are you yelling, screaming, throwing a fit? You know, whatever that is, what you prepare for is what you end up doing when crisis happens. So one of the greatest things is that I would say is, you know, when decision making under pressure, when crisis hits, indecision is the most dangerous decision that you can make. Did you hear that? The most dangerous decision, indecision. Because what happens when you can't make decisions quickly, when you. When you're not prepared to make decisions quickly, then you end up in chaos. And guess what? You're taking your team into chaos with you, right? What you want to do, what you want to. When a crisis happens, in order to make the best decisions, you have to get the facts.

Kimberley Borgens [:

You might not have all the facts, by the way. Okay, you might. You still might need some facts, but you have to make some decisions quickly. Then you have to identify what's the highest risk thing that you need to take care of first, right? If you're always handling the easy, simple jobs and you're not handling the tough things first, when you get to work in the morning, right, Which I've said many times on podcasts, is when you get to work, you do the hard stuff first, right? What you're doing is you're building skill to handle the hard stuff when chaos arrives. You make decisions based on impact, not on perfection, right? You're going to make a decision based on whatever the highest risk issue is, even if you don't have all the facts, but you have to make the decision. You know, I know early in my career I'll do a little telling on myself, right? Situations, things like that. Look, I wasn't the happiest person. I'd grown up in a very tumultuous upbringing from multi generations of family who just didn't understand the value of loving on their kids.

Kimberley Borgens [:

I had been through some tough things, and I was not always pleasant. I had anger. I had some deep anger in me. I had to do the work to get that anger out. But the reality is, I was angry quite a bit at that time. I didn't have the luxury of the skills that I've learned over 35 years, and I didn't have the luxury of sitting in, in analysis. Paralysis. When situations happened, I had to move.

Kimberley Borgens [:

I had to get up. I had to make the call with incomplete information. I had to act fast. I had to go out and cover a site because somebody didn't show up, put on a uniform, change my clothes in the middle of whatever, leave my kids at home, you know, have the oldest one babysit or bring in a babysitter. Because they were younger, I had to move fast. The situation, you know, warranted that I needed to get paid. At that time, I was struggling with money, right? We. We needed to bring in more money, and I couldn't lose a dime because somebody wasn't willing to show up for work, right? But I, it.

Kimberley Borgens [:

I had these things in me that I was pretty angry, so I would get a little like, oh, you know, frustrated. And it was. It wasn't because I was angry at a person or angry at the situation. I just had anger built up inside of me, right? So I would make decisions based on how I felt, not what was necessarily needed. I didn't have the skill set in place in the very beginning that I do now. But the more practice that I put in, the better it was because I was able to see how I could handle this situation and leave my anger out of it, Keep the emotion out of it. What's the reality? What is it that we need to handle right now? What's the complications? Is this the person first? Right? Like, it's always the person first. You handle that situation, you get them to safety, and then you handle the next piece, right? Somebody gets into a car accident, the first thing you do is, okay, how's the person? Was an ambulance called, get that taken care of.

Kimberley Borgens [:

Okay, where's the car? Right? Like, okay, are we sending you a tow truck? Do we get it there? Like, they bring it back to the office in the morning, we'll deal with it. We'll get it to a shop if we can. Like, I've had cars totaled with employees in it. One employee fell asleep, right? Hit the guardrail and bounced around a bit and then said, I don't know what happened. Right. But the evidence came out, you know, and it was likely that they fell asleep. So you have to handle it based on what the most important things. Crisis is a crisis.

Kimberley Borgens [:

You make crisis so much worse when you let your emotions, you let chaos, and you let drama in. Okay? The. The quicker you can make the decisions efficiently and effectively, the. The. The better it all becomes. Speed with strategy beats slow with certainty, right? You being faster at making those decisions, handling the situation. Oh, just call me in the morning. I gotta think about this.

Kimberley Borgens [:

On what do I want to do with that car that's in the middle of the center divide? No, you get a tow truck out there, you get them, you tow it back to the office, leave it there. We'll take the next steps in the morning. When it's right, the employee is going to the hospital, we Go to the hospital. We do the necessary things to do that. But speed with strategy beats slow with certainty every single time. It's important when you're in crisis that you're handling that with speed. And I talk about my emotions, and getting my emotions caught up is what. Your emotions need to be contained.

Kimberley Borgens [:

Okay? Your team doesn't need you to panic. Hello. They're borrowing your nervous system. Think about it that way. How you handle a situation is how your team is going to handle it, most likely. Okay? You can feel everything, but you can't lead from everything. You know, I remember as a mom, my kids would get injured. I had boys, okay? I had three boys and one one daughter, who I call my tomboy, right? So I have these three boys that are risk takers that would jump on their bikes, they would create these big old jumps, and, you know, then they'd ride their motorcycle.

Kimberley Borgens [:

And then they, you know, they were little daredevils, right? And so, know, the kids would come in, and my. My nervous system would go, oh, crap. Oh, crap. What do you do? What do you do? But my outward system would go, okay, let's handle this. I never let my kids see me panic, right? One. One son jumped off of the back of a pickup truck, the tailgate, and caught the back of his leg on the tailgate. He comes walking in. He's like, oh, mom.

Kimberley Borgens [:

And I go over, look, and his leg is split open, and you see all the fat deposits, and you see all these little fat bubbles and all this stuff, and it's, like, ripped out wide. And I'm like, okay, we got to get you to the hospital. It's okay. I didn't call an ambulance. What I did is I took some duct tape because they're boys. And I tape the back of his thigh right to close so that all the blood and the. The fat was not coming out, and taped that thing up. Took him to the.

Kimberley Borgens [:

To the doctor and urgent care. They untaped it. They. You know, he had stitches. You know, they sewed him up. You know, he was good to go, you know, and then I get him home, and he's hanging out with his brothers, and. And I go up to my room, and I'm like, oh, my God, what just happened? Right? That's when the panic can set in, when it's all done, when it's over and out. My husband and I, one time we were leaving.

Kimberley Borgens [:

It was a Valentine's Day cruise around the delta, around here, the waterway, with some friends, and we were just walking out the door and all of a sudden, one of the kids comes running out and he's like, you know, this person that. He cut himself. So I walk in and my son was messing around with a knife, his little pocket knife thing. And he slit his arm open and the knife had gone in. And now he's my little. You know, he had more red hair. Genet Genetics. He'd pass out at the side of blood.

Kimberley Borgens [:

He'd get a shot. He went to donate blood at school one time and they pricked his finger. He got up to walk and he passed out, right? Like, he. His. His capability of pain was zero. So now he's sitting there on the chair with his cut in his arm, and he's like, almost passed out. He's all white ash color, just like, whatever. And I'm like, look at once, I'm like, get some ice.

Kimberley Borgens [:

We put some ice on it. I like, had a. I don't know, the sense, you know, it's just not coming to me. See what happens when I do these podcasts? I lose my. My words sometimes. But that's life, right? So aromatherapy. So I had some aroma scents. I just put one under him.

Kimberley Borgens [:

He's like, what? I'm like, what are you doing? He's like, I don't know, like, accidental suicide. Like, that's not funny. So I'm like, keep your legs up. You'll be fine. I talked to his older brothers. I'm like, have him keep the ice on it. He's fine. It doesn't look like it needs to be stitched.

Kimberley Borgens [:

I put a butterfly band aid on it. You know, everything was fine. We left five minutes later. And then after we get in the car, I'm like, oh, my gosh, that was so gross. That's when the panic can set in. But I can contain my emotions when I'm dealing with my kids with that kind of crisis. And that's the same kind of crisis that you need to. Or containment that you need to have when you're dealing with crises in your business, right? What it looks like when.

Kimberley Borgens [:

When you're containing yourself is you speak just a little bit slower. You talk so that people can understand you even when they are in shock or they are in crisis. You slow down your talk. You ground your tone. You ground yourself. You control your face and your body language. You don't make them. Don't look like you're in panic or people will know you're in panic, right? Your body language speaks.

Kimberley Borgens [:

If you. If you practice, if you do it with your kids, you can do it in business, right? If you practice staying calm in a situation, then when crisis happens, you'll stay calm in that situation. And like I said, I've had moments where internally it's like, this is no good. This is bad. We are at extreme. I'm, I, I, I don't, I don't know how to handle this. That's what I'm saying internally, but externally, I'm a hundred percent composed. All right, take a deep breath, all right? This is what we need to do.

Kimberley Borgens [:

Here's how we need to handle this. Please call, da, da, da. Do this. And I, I'm handling it. I can handle crisis, and so can you. You just have to practice for it. Look, here's a truth bomb, all right? Leadership is emotional discipline. Like, if people, if nobody has ever told you that about leadership, it's an emotional discipline.

Kimberley Borgens [:

You have to discipline your emotions so well that you handle whatever it is. And then when you leave, you walk out, you go to your car, you want to cry, you get home, and you're like, oh, my gosh, what a day, right? Then, then do that. But don't do it in the moment. Do it in private, okay? I have, I've done it. I've had employees yelling at me, screaming at me in my face, telling me because they don't want to listen. And they think that their way is the only way, but their ways against the law, right? I've had people who have, like, been in my face and told me flat out, I'm a terrible CEO, and I'm like, okay, thank you. And then two days, you know, for two days, I'm like, am I really a terrible CEO? But they don't need to see it. You know, I go home, I'm like, right in my husband, like, am I that bad? He's like, no, why are you listening to him? He's like, they can't even do the job they were hired for.

Kimberley Borgens [:

So how, how can they even determine that you're a terrible CEO when they can't even do their job right? So you can fall apart outside of it all if you want to, if you need to, as a way to release the energy, okay? Not about falling apart and being stuck in bed for weeks and days, you know, because you just can't pull yourself together. You can. You're capable, you're amazing. All you have to do is just remember that you can release that energy, okay? But in the meantime, you have to be emotional, contained when you're handling the crisis at your work, in your business, with Your family. Look, I've had family members who are just down, like downright rotten, okay? And I thank God for those rotten people because handling myself with those rotten people are the skill sets that I needed to handle myself when I'm in business. So, you know, just remember, if there's rotten people, go, okay? This is preparing me for the future. This is preparing me for the future. I'm resilient because they prepared me for the future.

Kimberley Borgens [:

Right? And keep that in mind. The other thing when handling crisis is you have to have rapid problem solving frameworks, okay? When things are breaking, you don't need a 25 page plan. You can't plan for everything, right? What you need is kind of a framework, right? So a great framework could be like, what's the immediate threat? What do we need to handle? Is it a trespasser? Is somebody, you know, hitting somebody? Is somebody, you know, kidnapping somebody? Is, you know, what's the immediate threat? What is the situation? Right? And who's impacted? Define who's impacted by this threat and then what action reduces the damages. Right. Now what can we do right now? You know, just not too long ago, I had an employee who was out, a security guy went out and there was some unhoused people, homeless people, whatever way you want to say it, who was on a piece of property that was trespassing and they'd been asked to leave. And so they asked for security support to help make sure this person got off the property. Not a problem. We do it.

Kimberley Borgens [:

It's something that we've done many times. So the officer went out there and he's not doing anything. He's just telling the person, all right, you just need to get your things off of the property. And she's like, okay. And all of a sudden her dog comes running out of nowhere and then attaches itself to my security officer. So grabs him by the leg, you know, bites him and all of that. So what's the immediate threat? The immediate threat is get the dagum dog off of the person and contain it in such a way that nobody else is injured. Okay, so what was the IM then? Who is impacted? Well, here's my security officer who was impacted by.

Kimberley Borgens [:

We had a manager out there with them and, you know, we could contain, you know, take, take care of him, make sure he's okay. The action to reduce any damages right now is get that dog contained. She called her dog, she said he's not vicious. Police recall, because it was a dog attack and she still had to move her stuff off of the property. Okay, so who, who needs to be deployed? That was the police in that case. So this employee went through workers comp. He's fine, but he did receive a dog bite. He did have his uniform ruined.

Kimberley Borgens [:

There's some things that happen in this situation. The immediate threat was the dog. We had to get the dog taken care of. Nobody killed the dog. All he was was contained. Move back. We used wood to keep him back, partition him off, get him out of the way. Who was impacted? Well, the lady's impacted.

Kimberley Borgens [:

Now she's in tears because, you know, her dog and the police are coming. He's impacted because he's been bit. His body, you know, he's got bite marks, he's got blood, he's got his uniform, you know, and now he gets. He's going to have the rest of the day off, right? I need to find somebody else who has to work that shift. So it's all the things, the actions that need to reduce, you know, the damage. And then who do we need to deploy? What do we need to do next? Get all that in place. So you just have rapid problem solving framework so that there's no script for chaos. Okay, there isn't, but you can have a framework of what are the things that you need to put into place right away.

Kimberley Borgens [:

How do we need to make these decisions and get that done? Look, in my world, this happens constantly, right? We're dispatching resources, we're securing locations, we're managing risk in real time every day. Right? I remember the George Floyd riots, right? I had employees at locations where rioting was happening in my own hometown. And my employees were scared, right? These are employees who were African American, Asian, white, black. It didn't matter what color anybody's skin was. The rioting didn't care either. All that mattered was is they just wanted to create chaos. They wanted to create damage. They wanted to piss people off because they were pissed off.

Kimberley Borgens [:

Understood. Not even like putting any qualification around that. But what do I have to do as the employer to take care of my employees when situations like that happens? My clients want to be taken care of. They don't want their property damaged. But guess what? You don't pay my employees enough to stand there and try to fight people off. I told my employees, if you feel unsafe, back away, get out. Go back as far as you can from a distance. Watch the best you can.

Kimberley Borgens [:

Observe and report. Let us know where you're at. You know, keep us posted. So, you know, we have more things in place where I can do a GPS to find out where my employee is at any given time on the property. Right. That wasn't the case when all of that happened, when that chaos happened, you know, that impacts everybody, and nobody was prepared for that. The business owners, as the CEO, we get stuck trying to figure out what do we need to do next, and sometimes we overthink it instead of deploying. And what I want you to do is I want you to deploy the impact first.

Kimberley Borgens [:

Like, what's going to happen? How are we going to solve it? And then we refine it later, after the chaos has ended. Clarity comes after the movement happens, not before it. Right after the chaos begins. You don't have clarity before. You have clarity after the fact. Right. Like hindsight is 20 20. You hear it all the time.

Kimberley Borgens [:

Well, that's how it shows up in business, is first you have to handle the situation so that you can create clarity on setting up the policies and procedures later. And the most important thing that I would say when it comes to chaos is to communicate. Communicate during the crisis. Like, how do you communicate during crisis? You know, will depend on whether people can trust you or it's going to just destroy your reputation permanently based on what you do in chaos. A lot of people, a lot of business are really great businesses, but they don't handle chaos well, and that can put them out of business. So when it comes to communication, be clear, be direct. Don't over explain. Just like your kids running in the street, you don't go, honey, look, you can't run in the street because you might get hit by a car.

Kimberley Borgens [:

And if you get hit by a car, then I have to take you to the hospital. And I don't even know if you're going to survive that. No, we're like, hey, get out of the road. I'm clear, I'm direct, and I am not overexplaining it. Well, no, get out of the road. Then you can talk to me, right? Don't disappear and go, oh, I hope it turns out okay. I'm going to let them handle it. No, you're the boss.

Kimberley Borgens [:

You're the CEO, you're the owner. You're the person who has the vision. Guess what? You're the one who has to stay there. You have to get into the fight. You have to make sure that the chaos is handled, the crisis is taken care of. I sound a little bit passionate about this. I hope so. Look, insecurity, silence creates fear.

Kimberley Borgens [:

People fill the gap with assumptions. Well, in your business, if you're not communicating, your team, your clients, everybody's creating assumptions because you didn't fill it in. That's real life. It doesn't matter what industry you're in. So you have to make sure that you know what's going on, that you're communicating so that they're not making assumptions. There's no gap there. When something goes wrong, your communication should be like, hey, here's what happened, here's what we're doing. Here's what we're going to do next, right? Everybody goes, oh, okay, good.

Kimberley Borgens [:

Kimberley's got it, right? I know every single time in crisis, my team calls me like, kimberly, what do you want us to do? Like, do this, do this, do this, do this. They're like, okay, got it. They know because I'm not willing to hide in the crisis. I'm like, where's it at? Okay, I'm on my way. Unless, of course, I'm out of town or whatever. Look, it could be simple things. Crisis is 2. 2 office.

Kimberley Borgens [:

2 people in the office start arguing. You gotta handle that, right? You have two clients that are arguing between themselves, even in emails, right? And you got to handle that. Confusion is way more dangerous than the crisis itself. Don't leave people in confusion, right? In the situation of the, the riots, the police, like, contained it. There's no confusion which direction you're going. You can go this way, but you can't go this way, right? So that, that's confusion is much more dangerous. And then after the crisis, one of my mentors, Sandra Yancey with Ewomen Network, she says after every event, you do a plan, do and review, right? You look at the plan, you execute the plan, and then you do a review. That's one of her frameworks.

Kimberley Borgens [:

That's one of her things. She says you plan, do and review. Well, the same thing with crisis. You have to have a post crisis recovery. This is where most leaders fail, is they survive the crisis and they never debrief it, they never talk about it, they never break it down, they never turn it into a system or a process or a conversation for the future. We just like, we wing it. We're like, oh, okay, it's done. Let's move on.

Kimberley Borgens [:

Yeah, we all want to move on, but let's go over it. Hey, what happened? Could this possibly potentially happen again in the future? Yes. Okay, what did we do that worked well? What didn't work so well? What do we want to do next? So I come from the philosophy of what worked, what didn't work, what next, right? So you have to review it without judgment. Right. You're not reviewing it to go. Look, y' all didn't step off, okay? You're making me decide again, like, that's not. That's not how you want to do it. You want to review the decision without having judgment.

Kimberley Borgens [:

Hey, you know what worked? What do you think worked? You know, what was the situation? What worked in this situation? Nothing worked. It went chaotic. Well, something worked. What worked? Well, communication. Okay, great. Communication worked. What didn't work? Well, that. We.

Kimberley Borgens [:

It wasn't fast. We weren't fast enough on it, right? Whatever. Okay, Identify what broke down, right? What are those points? And then how can we strengthen our systems so that in the future something like this shows up? We're already prepared. They don't have to call me. They can already handle that crisis again, right? Because it's no longer a crisis now it's, oh, a repeat offender, right? It's a repeat effect. We can solve it because we've already solved it before. And here's what we're doing differently this time. Look, in 35 years in this security industry, right, every incident has become a learning moment.

Kimberley Borgens [:

And you know, that's made our company stronger throughout the years. It really has, because we haven't taken it lightly. The situations, the circumstances that we've been in, right? I always say inspect what you expect, right? Especially after things go wrong. Inspect it, right? What are we going to expect for the future in that case? Look, like I said, I. I'm not. I haven't always been calm, cool, collected, right? I am way better now. I'm not angry anymore. I gave that up a long time ago for Lent or something.

Kimberley Borgens [:

What I've done instead is I've built my emotional muscle, I've built my skill muscles. You know, I've put it all into place, and that's all that you have to do, is use every setback, every crisis, every piece of chaos that comes through you. Your business, your life, and you go, okay, what can I learn from this for the future? Create it as a skill. It's like building your muscle. Like some people are gym rats and they build all these muscle. I build these muscles in my brain. I build brain muscles, I build skills, skill muscles, right? That, that's. That's where I'm a gym rat in essence, right? I'm a business muscle building rat, but so my husband calls them gym rats from the military.

Kimberley Borgens [:

But, you know, you just have to look at it and there's moments, trust me, that I've doubted myself, right? But my responsibilities were bigger than my fear My responsibilities to taking care of my kids was bigger than my fear of what they did to themselves. Helps. I've had kids crash on motorcycles, fall off the back of the motorcycle while they're trying to do a, a wheelie or something. You know, jumping and landing down on BMX bikes, just, you know, chaotic. I always wear. Made them wear helmets and shoulder and elbow pads, and I thank God for those things. But, you know, the responsibility of being a mom, just like the responsibility of being a business owner, has to outweigh the fear. It has to be bigger than the fear that drives, you know, that comes in.

Kimberley Borgens [:

The fear is real. Don't get me wrong. The fear is your brain going, oh, my gosh, oh my gosh. We don't know how to fix this, right? That's all that it's doing. And you go, I got this. And you push the fear down and you do it anyway. And you step in, you handle it, you solve it, you review it, you set it up for the future to make it better. You do all of those things and if the fear comes back, you go, I got this.

Kimberley Borgens [:

Being a woman in a male dominated industry like security, that was even harder in my leadership in the best ways, because all the people that told me I couldn't do it said I wouldn't last, that, you know, I didn't know what I was doing. Like, who does she think she is? Like, whatever, move on. Those are great people who taught me how I could build my skill better, how I could handle myself, right? So let them see your growth, let them see your humanity. Let them see the confidence that you've earned along the way without bringing your emotions so deeply in it that you get caught up. Ask yourself, when things break, who do I become? I know in my younger years I became the angry woman. Now I become. I'm just the leader. I step in, I solve the problems, I manage the problems.

Kimberley Borgens [:

You might be stuck in anger from whatever situations that you have. Find ways to let that go, right? And find stronger ways to be the leader in your business. Because that version of you, that's your real leadership identity, that person that you really want to become when things break. That's the woman you want to strive for this week. Create your own crisis playbook. Ask yourself, how do you make decisions? How do you make. How do you communicate with people in chaos and crisis? Use your family as an example to get you started. If you can't think of something in your business just yet, how do you stay grounded when you know you're swelling up? On the inside and you want to explode, but you allow yourself to stay grounded.

Kimberley Borgens [:

And if this episode hits, you come over and hang out at the Hive Hangout. Share your best leadership lesson under pressure. Because I really do want to hear it. I'd love to hear it. You know somebody who needs to hear this? Share the podcast, share it on your social. Tag me in it, whatever. I'd love to hear that. I'd love to hear your responses.

Kimberley Borgens [:

So I hope you able to take something from today's podcast, crisis management, especially for the for you ladies, lady leaders, right? We. We got to handle the crisis. It's not. It's not calming down in the world. And if this lesson helps anybody, then that helps me also create a safe community out in the world. Because when we can handle crisis, the world's a lot safer because you're handling your crisis, too. All right, be blessed, y'.

Kimberley Borgens [:

All.

Kimberley Borgens [:

We'll talk to you soon. Bye Bye.

Kimberley Borgens [:

Thanks for tuning in to Superheroes in Heels with Kimberley Borgens. If you're walking away feeling a little braver, a little bolder, and a whole lot more powerful, mission accomplished. Be sure to subscribe to the show and leave a review. It helps us to reach more women who are ready to unleash their power and lead with confidence. And if you do leave a review, you might just hear your name in an upcoming episode. If today's conversation lit a fire in you, share it with your network and join us Inside the hive society at kimberleyborgens.com, where powerful women gather to break barriers and rise together. Until next time, keep showing up, standing strong, and heels or not, keep embracing your inner superhero.

Chapters

Video

More from YouTube

More Episodes
66. Staying Calm Under Pressure: Crisis Leadership Lessons for Powerful Women
00:34:57
65. Busy Isn’t a Business Model: How Systems Create Freedom for Women Entrepreneurs
00:35:11
64. The Real Difference Between Entrepreneurs, Operators, and CEOs: What Women in Business Need to Know
00:34:42
63. In Over Your Head? How to Keep Going and Step Into Your Power
00:29:41
62. Women, AI, and Business: How to Stay Relevant Without Losing Your Edge
00:27:57
61. Command the Room: Networking Confidence for Powerful Women in Business
00:26:47
60. Unlocking Invisible Assets: How Women Build Trust, Reputation, and Lasting Business Power
00:31:17
59. Stop Over-Explaining: The CEO Email Formula Every Powerful Woman Needs
00:24:06
58. Micro Bravery: Small Acts That Build Big Confidence for Women in Business
00:27:45
57. Stop Playing Small: How Women Can Defeat Learned Helplessness and Own Their Power
00:28:04
56. Stop Settling: Raising Your Standards in Business and Life
00:14:37
55. Stop Winging It: Four Steps to Mentally Prepare for Success
00:26:34
54. Stop Overthinking: How Women Can Make and Stand by Their Business Decisions
00:26:51
53. Own Your Power: Why the World Belongs to Those Who Claim It
00:19:41
52. Called, Commissioned, and Crowned: Faith and Fierce Leadership for Women in Business
00:23:50
51. The Power of Letting Go: Strong Women Embracing Emotional Release and Leadership
00:18:24
50. How Powerful Women Face Problems and Lead Boldly
00:21:17
49. Turning Female Rage Into Power: Unleashing Leadership in Business
00:18:02
48. Why Bossiness Isn’t Leadership and Command Presence Isn’t Domination
00:21:26
47. Loneliness at the Top: The Hidden Cost of Female Success and Leadership
00:30:22
46. When Powerful Women Become the Villain: Rising, Leading, and Owning Your Narrative
00:18:41
45. Financial Infidelity: Why Women Keep Money Secrets and How to Move Forward
00:23:39
44. How Power and Success Change Marriages: Navigating Relationship Shifts When Women Become Leaders
00:46:57
43. Stop Getting Ready to Get Ready: Why Ready is the Biggest Lie in Business
00:43:14
42. Own Your Financial Power: Steps for Women to Build Confidence and Break Financial Silence
00:34:16
41. Empowered Money Moves: Using Credit Cards Wisely in Business and Life
00:24:50
40. Stop Playing Small: Show Up and Unleash Your Power as a Woman Entrepreneur
00:18:14
39. Ditching Perfection and Embracing Decisive Action
00:28:49
38. Why 2026 Is Your Year to Shift, Shine, and Sell Like Never Before
00:29:00
37. Stepping Boldly Into Your CEO Mindset
00:35:32
36. Accountability – The Real Superpower for Businesswomen
00:36:49
35. Strategies to Get Unstuck in Business
00:31:36
34. The Superpowers of People with ADD/ADHD
00:37:34
33. The Kryptonite That Holds Women Back in Business
00:43:57
32. The Secret Superpowers of Women
00:35:11
31. Stay Confident and Safe In Business
00:26:31
30. Confessions of a Control Freak CEO: How to Let Go Without Letting It All Fall Apart
00:22:19
29. Stop Micromanaging, Superwoman: Lead with Trust, Not Tight Fists
00:35:09
28. Bridging Generations: What Older Women in Business Can Learn from Younger Leaders
00:20:36
27. Power Moves For Women in Their Forties to Thrive in Business
00:37:55
26. Decades of Wisdom: What Can Women in Their Fifties Learn From Women In Their Sixties
00:22:24
25. Less Really Is More, The Power of the “To-Don’t” and “Ta Done” Lists
00:29:29
24. Are You Using Your Feminine Leadership for Good
00:30:27
23. What Boundary Setting Does For You Ladies
00:21:29
22. Unintended Lessons Make Great Rewards
00:24:58
21. Chief "Whatever" Officer - What Does She Do
00:51:18
20. Can We Talk Titles - Are You Really The CEO
00:38:39
19. Decisions, Decisions, Decisions, Are You Making the Best Decisions for Your Business, Your Life and Family
00:40:56
18. How Are You Selecting Your Dream Team
00:31:40
17. Maybe You Are An Imposter - Or You're Playing Small
00:38:57
16. Stop Losing Money From Being The Nice Person
00:36:00
15. What Level of Networking Are You On
00:29:26
14. What Turned On The Entrepreneur Switch For You
00:33:26
13. Built to Last: How This Power Couple Created a Legacy of Leadership, Love & Leverage
01:22:17
12. The Power of Pause: Thriving in Your Comfort Zone with Kimberley Borgens
00:52:47
11. Change Your Thinking By Leading With Love with Dr. Elizabeth Rosner
00:48:39
10. Sell to Their Ego, Not Your Own with Amy Matthews
00:41:27
9. Why Didn't You Ask - I Didn't Want to Be A Bother with Kimberley Borgens
00:40:55
8. How to Reduce Fear and Build a Community with Misty Kortes
00:34:17
7. How to Easily Make Time Management a Superpower with Sarah Reiff-Hekking
00:32:04
6. Fear is Not a Superpower - Reducing Fear In Business with Kimberley Borgens
00:39:44
5. Leading With Intention with Hawley Woods Gray
00:34:39
4. Is Sales a Four Letter Word for Women with Julie Thomas
00:27:52
3. Own The Room, Boost Productivity and Be The Boss with Kimberley Borgens
00:33:27
2. Owning Your Role as a Woman Leader with Kimberley Borgens
00:53:19
1. Command Your Space with Kimberley Borgens
00:53:17
1. trailer Superheroes in Heels with Kimberley Borgens Trailer
00:01:27