The (Often) Untapped Power of Honest Feedback

As I wrapped up the final chapter in The Values Advantage, I detailed why Cindy and I rarely do anything resembling a check-the-box survey at the end of the large public events we host. While we work to set very clear expectations for attendees, we know we’ll only have limited interaction with many ...

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The Ripple Effect of Relational Leadership

I’ve benefited from great relationships more than I could have ever imagined. While I’m sure I don’t do it enough, I do make a point of periodically reaching out to several of the folks who have mentored me, thanking them for all that they’ve invested into my life. One that I’ve mentioned several ti...

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Relationships as a Learning Network

Not long ago, I had the opportunity to interview Mark Cole (CEO of Maxwell Leadership) for our Leading At The Next Level podcast and to promote him as the wrap up keynote speaker at our 2025 LeadershipLegacy Experience. Cindy and I have received some amazing mentorship from Mark over the last decade...

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Influence, Not Authority, Defines Leadership

Here’s where I found myself: riding high and feeling mean, one of just four people selected to lead the implementation of an exciting new process throughout a nearly one million square foot facility with close to a thousand employees. What an incredible opportunity for a kid who barely graduated hig...

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Why Feedback Fuels Growth (and Leadership)

Shortly after accepting a spot on the behavior-based safety process steering committee, I had the chance to sit in on and help with a small portion of the training for new observers; the same course I had squirmed through less than a year prior. I can’t pretend that I actually offered anything of va...

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The Role of Mentors in Closing the Gap

If I’m being completely honest, I didn’t like Terry Ward very much when I first met him. The limited interaction I had prior to his portion of the behavior-based safety observer training was adversarial at best and I thought his delivery as a trainer was incredibly annoying. Looking back, I know my ...

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The Hidden Power of Professional Relationships

Just a few months before accepting the position I started immediately after getting married, I interviewed for a role with responsibility for the behavior-based safety process that I had been involved with for a year or so prior on a volunteer basis. In addition to performing the observations that p...

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There’s No Such Thing as a Self-Made Leader

I can’t begin to count how many times I’ve heard folks reference different individuals - in business, in politicks, or any other walk of life - as natural-born leaders. I think the most humorous anecdote I ever heard around that idea was when John Maxwell mentioned being asked if leaders are born or...

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