I was recently in session with a client team, and after we had moved through our leadership diagnostic, I asked for something simple: write the C you believe is the team’s greatest strength on one post-it note. On another, write the C you believe represents the team’s most significant gap. It’s independent. No discussion. Just an honest self-assessment of how they see the team.

I love doing these because we are not relying on my observations of the room or on one person's frustration with the culture, so what emerged here is the team's view of itself. Their own language. Their own pattern recognition. Their own sense of where they’re strong and where they’re challenged.

So, we aggregated the notes, and two things surfaced almost unanimously. The vast majority shared that the team’s greatest strength was connection; however, they also said the team’s most significant gap was courage.

Sit with that for a moment.

This is a close, connected team. People who genuinely like each other, t...

I've been having more surreal moments lately.

Some of it is just the season, for this month has been full of facilitation, training, travel, and writing. It has been arduous and rewarding in equal measure. Yet, there's something else underneath it: a recognition I've been sitting with, which leads me to reflect on my current stage of work.

I think I'm moving into what they would call the elder phase. My light-hearted joke is that I started this work when I had a lot more hair and much less gray.

I’m not getting old (obviously), but within the communities I support and the spaces I lead, a quiet acknowledgment is forming. And that comes with a realization for you and me: You may have to keep telling your story. You may have to keep reintroducing yourself. You may need to represent concepts. There's been churn in the field. New people have entered the space, and they may not know where certain ideas came from. They may be practicing what you've taught without knowing who taught it. Th...

I was sitting with a client last year. He is a sharp, accomplished leader working through our goal-setting exercise. We were mapping out what he wanted across his life domains: vocation, relationships, finances, and health. The full landscape. He’d clearly done this kind of work before. The language was polished. The timelines made sense. On paper and as presented, everything was clean.

Yet every time we defined a goal, he’d soften it. There was always a qualifier: “Well, maybe...” or “But I also...” He kept standing in the hallway instead of walking through the doors he opened. I recognized this—not indecision, but a compass set to someone else’s north.

I didn’t call it out immediately. I let him keep going, because sometimes you have to let the pattern reveal itself before you name it.

Then we got to marriage.

Same polished language. Same right words, right cadence, even the right enthusiasm. But now I’d been watching him waver for forty-five minutes, and this one didn’t land any...

So…

I meant to share much of this a few weeks ago, around December 30th, when the year was quiet enough to actually hear your own thinking. Maybe the timing is still right… or even better now.

Over the years, one thing I’ve consistently focused on is preparedness.

Those who know me well—from long-standing partners in the national service ecosystem, to friends who share my passion for service (yet still have no idea what I do for a living)—know that I keep journals. No, they’re not diaries. They’re my working documents—pages filled with questions, scenarios, logic models, and problem-solving.

At times, the writing is sparked by a challenge I’ve witnessed firsthand. Other times, it’s driven by something I sense forming just beyond the horizon. Either way, the practice is the same: slow down, think ahead, and jot it down.

In my last post, I shared a kind of leadership wrapped—a series of questions meant to look back at what shaped the year, what demanded attention, and what quietly m...

For me, and for many leaders, the past year demanded relentless adaptation.   We had to become chameleons and contortionists, constantly adjusting to the ever-changing landscape.  Nimbleness was essential; we had to make swift decisions amid funding uncertainty, shifting expectations, and capacity strains. New partnerships emerged out of necessity and strategy or were born from survival rather than strength.

As we step into 2026, in these early days before rushing into what's next, there's immense value in pausing. An intentional pause allows for meaningful reflection.  Without structure, reflection can devolve into mere venting-an emotional regurgitation when things aren't going well. Optimism without honesty turns into clandestine denial. What we need is a way to make sense of the year without getting stuck in it.

My aim here is to share a leadership framework I've relied on over the years.  It's helped my teams, clients, and organizations transition from contentious environments t...

What got you there will keep you there.

Hopefully, you can hear there are two sides to those words, and depending on where you are in your journey, it can either be words of affirmation or words of warning.

One side is a celebration of our deliberate disciplines: the consistency, courage, and commitment it took to get you to where you are. It's the daily rituals, the mindset, the push. You may have heard me exclaim, "We first make our habits, and then our habits make us." I use this quote from John Dryden in my lectures and workshops and should live rent free ln the minds of many of us who have been in the trenches of self-mastery (and restoration). Habits don't just shape our days; they shape our character, our legacy. They are our rhythms of success.

Go ahead and flip that coin.

What got you there… will keep you there.

Now, the opening becomes something else entirely. A mirror. A caution. An inquiry.

Suddenly, we're faced with a truth that's harder to swallow. The same habits t...

In our daily roles, particularly as leaders, every interaction presents a significant opportunity to shape the community and individuals around us. I have a foundational belief, a presupposition even, that is powerful and yet simple: "We will leave a legacy with every person whom we encounter at every encounter."

In this edition of Braving Life, I want to reiterate a few points from one of my most recent keynote conversations while exploring strategies to enhance your connections, build trust and intentional impressions, and effectively motivate those we lead and love.

Everyone deserves a great leader. Everyone deserves a great person, and I hope you have had an opportunity to experience their efficacy in your life. I have been blessed to have several mentors and caring individuals who have molded and guided my work and life. Their effective leadership was multifaceted. When aggregated and distilled, I discovered a robust blend of distinct and complementary traits. 

Before we go any...

Okay, so I was listening to GMA this morning and reflected on a piece of advice given on the show. On my way to the office, I was reminded of the complexities embedded within mindfulness, wellness, self-care, self-love, and creative self-nurturing (as I like to call it). The advice, while insightful, sparked in me thoughts on how it could be further enhanced to truly empower us in our daily lives. As this is Mental Health Awareness Month, I wanted to offer something for your mind to nibble on.

As the GMA dialogue ensued, it touched on the topic of boundaries, emphasizing that "no" is a complete sentence. Although I resonate with the simplicity and firmness of the sentiment, I must quibble just a tad, for I also believe it's imperative to acknowledge the intricacies that prevent some from embracing a "Just Say No" approach to boundary setting.

It is crucial to remember that some people struggle with saying 'no' due to a hidden habit or private pattern of constantly saying 'yes.'  They...

In our relentless pursuit of perfection, we often find ourselves chasing shadows, don't we?  Just me?

This elusive ideal of everything falling precisely into place, where life hums in perfect harmony can be quite a tantalizing mirage. But, as I've delved deeper into this quest, I've begun to question my own and our collective understanding of what it means to be perfect.

In today's fast-paced world, a prevailing notion equates perfection with excellence and unblemished positivity.

It is as if to be perfect is to be devoid of any flaw and a state of pure goodness. However, a closer look at the word's etymology – tracing back to the Latin 'perfectus' and 'per fasare' – reveals a different story.  Perfection, in its essence, isn't about being flawlessly positive; it's about completion and reaching a state of wholeness.

Isn't this a game-changer? It shifts the paradigm from seeking an unattainable state of perpetual positivity to embracing the beauty of completion.

Perfection, then, i...