I’ve been very intentional about sticking to a timeline, with the exception of the overlap between how global disruptions forced us to adapt through unforeseeable situations and how we had to take a firm stand in defending the vulnerable during that stretch. My goal in following that step-by-step pr...

To be sure I’m pounding the drum as hard as I can, here it is again: “Every adversity, every failure, every heartache carries with it the seed of an equal or greater benefit.” That statement only becomes true when someone finds the seed and does the work. The eleven attributes we’ve worked through a...

If you pressed me to nail down one specific moral to this story, it would be to expect the best while preparing for the worst. I don’t say to be negative, we can find plenty of doom and gloom by simply tuning into anything calling itself news. The reality is that there will never be a perfect time f...

For those of us who are fast-paced and task-oriented, those high D’s if you’re familiar with the DISC Model of Human Behavior, slowing down long enough to truly reflect on an adversity is tough enough. Sitting still to search for every possible seed to equal or greater benefit hidden within it can b...

Seeds from each adversity grow strongest when we keep sowing after the dramatic chapter ends. Leadership attributes do not mature in a single crisis; they compound when we refuse to treat the latest setback as the last word. As we hone each attribute through individual, and often smaller adversities...

I need to be completely transparent here: sharing each individual adversity through this process of challenging you to make the best of your bad situations has been one of the  most awkward things I’ve ever done. I’ve said repeatedly that I know mine pale in comparison to what I’ve seen so many othe...

Any time you get kicked in the pants, especially in a case like we experienced in late ‘24 where it comes from behind but connects up front, there’s a temptation to decide “we’ve paid enough,” rather than make the harder choice to continue reflecting, keep serving, and keep your door open for everyo...

In late 2015 or early 2016, just weeks after accepting a new role as a Safety and Human Resources manager for a mid-sized construction company, I was invited to lunch by one of the vendors who provided a specific service to that organization. He picked me and the CFO up at our office and drove us a ...

For years in our Emerging Leader Development course, Cindy has emphasized that one of the toughest things about defining moments isn’t just the adversity involved but the fact that we don’t get to choose when we have to deal with them. With more road now behind me than I have left in front of me, I ...

Each adversity Cindy and I worked through from early 2020 through late 2021, professionally and personally, brought its own degree of strain. And so did every single one that followed. Looking back on those, the common thread the hardest ones shared was the relationship we had with the people involv...

After eighteen months with very limited opportunities to earn a living and far too many challenges we’d have been happy to do without, a few quiet years of wide-open work to re-establish the momentum we had lost and rebuild our bank accounts would have been wonderful. Before I share what actually ha...