Naming the adversity for what it is, finding whatever seed we can draw from it, and owning the role we played in how it happened starts the process. If we stop there, though, we’ll stand little chance of ever capturing the greater opportunity available from it. And that leaves us with nothing more t...

I kicked all of this off by sharing how close I came in my late teens to tangling with a giant oak tree just a few miles from where we live today. Just after that, I shared the two conversations I had while mulling the idea behind Making the Best of YOUR Bad Situations, and one the men followed up o...

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...

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 ...

Granny passed away on August 3, 2020; not from Covid or from a lack of care. Had it not been for the family who cared for her in their home, I’m not sure either of those could have been said. What I am sure of is that we would not have had the time with her through the final weeks of her life that w...

More than any other adversity I can point to, dealing with the facility being paid to care for Granny through the first six months of 2020 - and being barred from even visiting her through most of that - gave me perspective for sympathy. In complete transparency, I’m developing some of that perspect...

I can’t say I ever enjoyed doing incident investigations through all the years I spent in safety. That said, the investigations were much easier for me to stomach that providing direct care. I’m fine with seeing my own blood, give me a piece of duct tape and we’re good to go, but I might just pass o...

Each adversity I’ve walked through to this point has been sequential. Truth be told, that’s how life works: a series of highs and lows that we each work through. If we’re intentional about identifying and nurturing any possible seed from each adversity, we have a strong shot at making sure each high...

Global disruptions and sudden, system-wide chaos often feel overwhelming or like the complete erasure of hard-won progress, but when rooted in prior lessons of consistency, responsibility, and values-driven service, they forge adaptive resilience and a pleasing personality that earns influence even ...