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Former Chief People Officer Oksana Lukash used to lock her knees in fear before speaking in public. Now she's a TEDx speaker who built her career on one habit: asking the question she was scared to ask.

In this Untamed Leader conversation, Lauri and Oksana trace what happens when curiosity becomes a leadership practice: from a stranger at a summer social, to a keynote in the Caribbean, to the TEDx stage where the story finally left her head and moved into her body.

They talk about why “that’s how we’ve always done it” might be the most dangerous phrase in leadership, what changes when you stop performing for validation, and why the people who love you without needing your dream to make sense are the ones worth keeping close.

Tune in if you’ve ever swallowed a question, a compliment, or a “crazy idea” because it didn’t seem practical.

1. Curiosity is a leadership skill, not a personality quirk. Asking the uncomfortable question, even risking a no, beats walking away wondering “what if.”

2. Fear and calling can live in the same body: Oksana's knees locked before her TEDx talk, and she still walked on stage and delivered it from muscle memory and heart.

3. “That’s how we’ve always done it” is the sound of a system resisting its own growth.

4. When the focus shifts from performing perfectly to reaching the one person who needs the message, the fear loses its grip.

5. Pay attention to who pulls back when you start to grow, and who stays.

6. Small out-loud moments, like a compliment to a stranger or a real answer to “what can I do for you?” can be the doorway to the biggest opportunities.

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