Strategic Thinking & Prioritization

The Shift From Urgency to Intentional Leadership

There comes a point in every executive's journey when working harder stops producing better results. The calendar is full, the inbox is overflowing, the pace is relentless — yet the impact doesn't scale with the effort. Analysis of more than 50 executive coaching engagements revealed this pattern across industries: leaders remain trapped in operational urgency long after their roles require strategic elevation.

Strategic Thinking & Prioritization accounted for 16% of all development focus, making it the third-largest leadership gap in the dataset. The consequences are significant. When leaders stay in execution mode, organizations miss opportunities, fail to anticipate disruption, and optimize for activity instead of outcomes. The cost is strategic drift — slow, quiet, and expensive.

This matters because strategy is not a document; it is a discipline. It requires the ability to distinguish what is urgent from what is truly important, to allocate time toward enterprise-level priorities, and to create clarity for teams who depend on direction. Leaders lose their way not from lack of effort, but from lack of alignment. Strategic thinking is the antidote to that drift.

The Pattern That Repeats

The data shows predictable warning signs: calendars dominated by reactive meetings, leaders pulled back into doing rather than leading, an absence of clear vision or direction, and measuring activity instead of outcomes. These are not capability gaps — they are identity shifts. The transition requires moving from personal output to organizational impact. That shift is the essence of strategic leadership.

One leader overseeing a $180M operation described it plainly when reflecting on what held him back most:

"I think he tries to help everybody so much that he gets bogged down and loses track of the big picture."— Stakeholder feedback, Construction Executive

What made him exceptional at a smaller scale — high warmth, relational flexibility, everyone pitching in — had become friction at scale. His team needed decisiveness and structural clarity more than availability. The coaching insight was not that he needed to become someone different, but that he needed to grow a new capability set that matched the size of what he was building.

In another engagement, a technology division leader preparing for a high-stakes pitch to his CFO and CEO arrived to the session still tangled in tactical details. Within the conversation, a strategic shift clicked: the real opportunity was positioning his division not as a cost center but as the enabling arm that drives product sales toward a $1.5B trajectory. The clarity around bottom-line profitability — rather than top-line volume — became the organizing frame for everything that followed.

And perhaps the most candid self-assessment came from a CEO one year post-acquisition, still wrestling with where to direct his energy:

"How much do I give? Where do I draw the line? Why am I here?"— CEO, Post-Acquisition Leader

These aren't signs of weakness. They are the honest questions of a leader standing at the threshold of a new role — one that requires letting go of the work that made him successful in order to lead at the level the organization now needs.

A Practical Framework for the Shift

From the patterns across engagements, five consistent disciplines emerge for leaders making this transition:

One stakeholder said it directly when describing what his leader needed most:

"I want feedback on my ideas but sometimes I need his clarity and decisions. I need his leadership. i need him to say, here's what we're gonna do."—

Strategic clarity is not born from speed — it is born from space. Slowing down long enough to think, reflect, and recalibrate becomes essential to leading at scale.

The Question That Opens the Door

The leaders who make this shift share a common denominator: they give themselves permission to step back from the work they've always done in order to do the work only they can do. They stop measuring themselves by their output and start measuring themselves by their team's clarity, their organization's direction, and the quality of decisions made at the highest level.

As the week begins, consider this:

"What's one responsibility that needs to be stepped back from so focus can shift toward the work that truly moves the business forward?"

That question — answered honestly and acted on consistently — is where strategic leadership begins.

Next week, we’ll explore the third domain: we're focusing on your people, how executive leaders empower, develop, and delegate effectively.

For more on the 5 Domains and leading effectively, download the full 2025 Executive Coaching Summary to explore the complete research today.

The path forward is clearer than it feels. Let's map it together.

When Leading Others Starts With Leading Yourself - 5 Shifts for Burnout Prevention

The Self-Leadership Challenge Every Executive Needs to Hear Right Now

Something rarely talked about openly in executive circles: the leaders who are struggling most right now are not struggling because they lack talent, intelligence, or drive. They are struggling because their internal reserves have been quietly running on empty while the external demands on them keep growing.

That is not a character flaw. It is a pattern — and it is one we see with striking consistency across industries and leadership levels.

In our 2025 analysis of more than 50 executive coaching engagements, self-leadership and personal effectiveness emerged as the second most significant area of development focus, accounting for 19% of all coaching themes. The findings were consistent regardless of industry, company size, or level of seniority. Across the board, leaders were navigating chronic fatigue, emotional volatility, blurred boundaries, and a slow erosion of their personal health — often without fully recognizing how far they had drifted.

A client shared, "I don't have a time management problem as much as a priority management issue. If I'm honest, my stress gets the better of me. I carry an exceptionally full plate, and the risk of overextension and burnout is real. It’s worth my effort to guard against."

If that sentence lands with any weight at all, keep reading. This article is for you.

This Is Not a Private Problem — It Is an Organizational One

There is a tendency to frame self-leadership as a personal matter — something leaders should handle quietly, on their own time. But the data tells a different story. When a leader operates in chronic stress, the quality of their decisions declines. When boundaries collapse, strategic priorities blur. When energy is depleted, teams inherit the instability. The ripple effects are real: organizational drift, increased turnover, and fractured leadership pipelines.

The cost of leaders not leading themselves well is never contained to the leader alone.

Another client shared, "The self-awareness, drive, and care for people that you bring to your role are not just professional assets — they are the marks of my leadership whose work carries real significance. I know this to be true, the problem is me, and the hard work is living it out"

That significance is precisely what is at risk when the internal foundation begins to crack.

What Self-Leadership Actually Means

At its core, self-leadership is the discipline of keeping your internal capacity aligned with your external responsibility. It is the ongoing, often unglamorous work of managing your energy, protecting your priority time, maintaining emotional resilience, and ensuring that how you spend your days actually reflects what you say you value.

Self-leadership is well beyond time management, its energy, emotional, and relational management that starts with me. The beginning of Self-leadership is self-awareness.

The leaders in our research who struggled most were not lacking commitment or capability. They were simply out of alignment. Their calendars, habits, and recovery patterns no longer matched the scale of the roles they were carrying.

One COO shared, "How I see myself is how I will represent myself. Do my people see my values, beliefs, and my best, or only my fatigue and stress."

Self-perception shapes presence. And presence, as one leader put it with disarming simplicity, is everything:

"Presence is your most powerful leadership tool right now. Before the decisions, before the strategy, before the next chapter fully opens — be present for your people, for your family, and for yourself. Trust that the rest will follow."

The Patterns We Keep Seeing

Across our dataset, several predictable warning signs appeared again and again. None of them are signs of weakness. All of them are signals that the internal system needs recalibration:

• Sacrificing sleep, fitness, and nutrition — despite knowing better

• Emotional recovery taking longer after setbacks or difficult conversations

• Work consuming personal life until the line disappears entirely

• Difficulty protecting strategic time or maintaining meaningful boundaries

• A quiet, hard-to-name sense of drift — motivational, spiritual, or existential

That last one deserves particular attention. Many high-performing leaders carry it in silence, unsure how to name what they are feeling or whether naming it is even appropriate. It is appropriate. It is important. And it is far more common than most executive conversations let on.

Structure Is Not the Enemy of Freedom — It Is the Source of It

One of the most persistent misconceptions about self-leadership is that structure and discipline somehow diminish a leader's flexibility or creativity. The leaders who have done this work well know the opposite is true.

One entrepreneur commented, “Structure is my friend, not my enemy. When I create the right structure around my yeses and nos, I am not limiting myself — I'm focusing on what matters most."

This includes deliberately protecting what restores you — not just what produces results. One leader described it as leaning into what is life-giving: a long walk, a good burn at the gym, a 3 -day weekend away, a meal shared with people who matter. These are not indulgences. They are strategic investments in the leader you are becoming.

A Practical Framework for Getting Back Into Alignment

The good news: you may not need a 3- month sabbatical or a dramatic life overhaul to reclaim your footing. Small, intentional shifts — made consistently — compound quickly. Here is a framework that has emerged from this research:

Leaders who make these shifts do not just feel better — they regain clarity, presence, and strategic capacity long before major burnout symptoms appear.

Simply stated by one leader, "I need to lead myself as boldly as I lead others.

A Note on Adversity and Formation

For those reading this in a particularly hard season — one defined by difficult relationships, unrecognized effort, or a role that is taking more than it is giving — this is worth holding onto:

One client reflected after our session, "The pain I'm experiencing today is forming the leader I will become tomorrow. I want to be a leader, leading myself well today, so I can influence others better tomorrow."

Self-leadership, in the end, is not about optimization. It is about stewardship — of the energy, capacity, and influence you have been given, and of the leader you are still in the process of becoming.

One Question to Carry Into the Week Ahead

Where are you currently out of alignment with the leader you are becoming — and what is the smallest meaningful step you can take to close that gap?

You already know the answer. The invitation is simply to act on it.

Next week, we’ll explore the third domain: Strategic Thinking and Prioritization.

For more on the 5 Domains and Communicating Effectively, download the full 2025 Executive Coaching Summary to explore the complete research today.

The path forward is clearer than it feels. Let's map it together.

Russell Verhey, PhD, MCC — Executive Coach, The Advance | russell@leadersadvance.net

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All client quotes have been anonymized and are drawn from executive coaching engagements.

5 Domains - Communication & Directness

WEEK 2: Communication & Directness — The Leadership Multiplier Hiding in Plain Sight

Across more than 50 executive coaching sessions analyzed through 2025, one theme eclipsed every other leadership challenge: communication and directness remain the most requested and most transformative development area for senior leaders. In our meta‑study, this domain accounted for 21% of all coaching focus, making it the single largest leadership gap across industries, geographies, and organizational sizes.

Executives often assume communication issues are situational — a difficult stakeholder, a fast‑moving environment, a team that “just isn’t getting it.” But our research shows the opposite. Whether in construction, technology, healthcare, financial services, or nonprofit leadership, the same patterns surface: avoiding crucial conversations, softening messages until they lose meaning, relying on indirect channels, and failing to adapt communication to different audiences. These aren’t isolated behaviors; they are predictable fault lines of modern leadership.

Why Communication Breaks Down at the Executive Level

Clarity is a leadership responsibility, not a personality trait. In The Critical Shift from Building Projects to Building People, leaders often underestimate how much their teams rely on clear expectations, direct feedback, and consistent communication rhythms. When leaders hesitate, soften, or delay, teams fill the gaps with assumptions — and alignment fractures.

In Battling Confidence: Finding Your Voice as an Introverted Leader, another dimension arises: communication challenges are not always about volume or charisma. Often, they stem from uncertainty, overthinking, or the fear of being misunderstood. Leaders “lose their voice” not because they lack insight, but because they lack a framework for expressing it with confidence and clarity.

In the article: Worldview: The Language of Leadership, communication is not proven to not be transactional. It is the primary mechanism through which leaders shape meaning, direction, and culture. When leaders communicate with intentionality, they create alignment. When they communicate reactively, they create drift.

The Cost of Indirectness

Executive coaching data makes the consequences unmistakable. Communication failures lead to:

• Misalignment and rework

• Confusion around expectations

• Erosion of trust

• Avoidable conflict

• Slower decision cycles

In The ROI of Leadership Development, these breakdowns are not “soft‑skill issues” — they are enterprise risks. Poor communication costs organizations in productivity, engagement, and retention. Conversely, leaders who communicate directly and consistently create psychological safety, accelerate execution, and strengthen culture.

What Effective Executive Communication Looks Like

Five practices consistently emerge:

• Say the real thing sooner. Avoiding difficult conversations only compounds the cost.

• Match the message to the moment. Not every conversation requires the same level of candor, detail, or emotional tone.

• Use communication to build people, not just move work. Leaders must balance guidance with empowerment.

• Anchor communication in values. Clarity of mission and values sharpens clarity of message.

• Lead with vulnerability when appropriate. “Not knowing” can open the door to trust and honest dialogue.

The Leadership Multiplier

Communication is not just one competency among many — it is the multiplier that determines whether every other competency works. Strategy, delegation, accountability, and team development all rise or fall on a leader’s ability to communicate with clarity, candor, and consistency.

Next week, we’ll explore the second domain: Self‑Leadership & Personal Effectiveness, and why leaders cannot sustainably lead others until they learn to lead themselves.

For more on the 5 Domains and Communicating Effectively, download the full 2025 Executive Coaching Summary to explore the complete research today.

The path forward is clearer than it feels. Let's map it together.

Russell Verhey, PhD, MCC — Executive Coach, The Advance | russell@leadersadvance.net

5 Domains of Executive Leadership - 2025 Meta Study of 50 Leaders

WHAT 50+ EXECUTIVE COACHING SESSIONS REVEAL ABOUT COMMUNICATION, STRATEGY, AND SELF-LEADERSHIP

A Moment to Look Back Before We Sprint Forward

2026 has launched at full speed. In just the first two months, I've personally been in 7 states for coaching and trainings, working virtually across 5 countries, and our collective team has supported more than 30 leaders. When I look ahead, I'm genuinely honored to partner with more leaders, teams, and organizations — and excited about the impact that advancing leaders creates far beyond the coaching room. But before we sprint further into the year, we're taking a moment to pause. As my mentor coach called it, a time for evaluated experience. What are we actually learning about leadership?

Setting aside coaching instincts, we needed an empirical approach — a way to measure the real trends, recurring issues, and growth opportunities showing up for leaders today. So we did the work. And here's what we're learning that we want to share with you as a resource as you consider your own leadership challenges and development opportunities.

There's something uniquely isolating about executive leadership. The problems land on your desk already escalated. The decisions are yours to make — often with incomplete information, competing priorities, and real consequences for real people. You're not just professionally invested; you're personally vested in a way that's hard to explain to anyone who hasn't stood in that seat. You wake up thinking about the team dynamic that's quietly fracturing, the strategic pivot that needs to happen faster, the high performer you can't afford to lose. You're committed, all-in, and genuinely trying to move the organization forward — which is exactly why it stings when the same problems keep resurfacing. It feels singular. It feels like your challenge, in your organization, with your particular cast of people and pressures. But here's what the data reveals: the patterns underneath your unique circumstances are remarkably consistent. After analyzing more than 50 executive coaching sessions across industries, geographies, and organizational sizes, the same five leadership breakdowns show up everywhere — from $150M companies to $10B enterprises. Your context is yours. The fault lines are universal. And that's actually good news, because it means the path forward is clearer than it might feel right now.

The Data Behind the Patterns

This isn't a collection of anecdotes. It's a data-backed look at how leadership actually functions inside real organizations. The dataset spans Senior VPs to C-suite executives across construction, technology, healthcare, financial services, nonprofit, and government — with global reach across the United States, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America. Communication failures, burnout, weak delegation, and inconsistent accountability aren't soft-skill issues. They are enterprise risks that directly affect performance, retention, and organizational capacity. When leaders address them, teams move faster. When they don't, the organization pays in time, talent, and momentum.

The Five Domains That Define Leadership Effectiveness

Across all engagements, five structural pressure points emerged where leaders consistently stalled:

Communication & Directness (21%) — Clarity, candor, and addressing issues before they become crises.

Self-Leadership & Personal Effectiveness (19%) — Energy, boundaries, resilience, and sustainability as strategic assets, not personal luxuries.

Strategic Thinking & Prioritization (16%) — Shifting from tactical execution to enterprise-level focus, and from measuring activity to measuring outcomes.

Team Development & Delegation (15%) — Scaling impact through others and dismantling the hero leadership patterns that quietly become bottlenecks.

Accountability & Performance Management (12%) — Consistent, developmental accountability that doesn't swing between too soft and suddenly too hard.

Three Observations That Cut Across Every Domain

Beyond the five domains, three deeper truths emerged consistently across the full body of work — and they matter regardless of your industry, title, or organizational context.

First, leadership effectiveness is the product of internal capacity, external behavior, and organizational alignment working together. Developing one without the others produces incomplete and temporary results. The leader who gains self-awareness but doesn't change behavior stalls. The leader who changes behavior without internal alignment reverts. Sustainable growth requires all three dimensions moving in concert.

Second, promotions require identity shifts, not just new skills. The strengths that drove success at one level frequently become liabilities at the next. The technical expert rewarded for having all the answers must become the strategic leader who asks better questions. The high-performer who succeeded through individual excellence must become the developer of talent who succeeds through others. This transition is rarely instinctive and almost always requires deliberate, supported development.

Third, evidence-based coaching works — but only under the right conditions. The engagements that produced the most measurable change shared five characteristics: a concrete behavioral focus, stakeholder integration, deep organizational context, sustained engagement over six to twelve months, and a whole-person approach that addressed personal effectiveness alongside professional competence. Awareness alone doesn't move the needle. Accountability and application do.

What This Means for You

The executives who made the most meaningful progress in 2025 didn't reinvent themselves. They became more fully and effectively who they already were — clearer, more focused, more sustainable, and better aligned with the leaders their organizations needed them to be. That shift is concrete, observable, and achievable within a focused year of intentional development.

Over the next five weeks, we'll break down each domain with data, anonymized case examples, and practical frameworks you can apply now. Download the full 2025 Executive Coaching Summary to explore the complete research today.

The path forward is clearer than it feels. Let's map it together.

Russell Verhey, PhD, MCC — Executive Coach, The Advance | russell@leadersadvance.net

The Guide and the Glider

Standing at the Air Force Academy watching a glider get cut loose — it hit me.

That moment when the cable releases? It's coming whether the pilot is ready or not.

Over 20 years of watching leaders, I've seen it happen time and again. One day you're in the glider seat, being guided, being shaped. The next — you're flying on your own.

Today I want to pause and ask you two things:

Look back. Who was your guide? Who held the cable steady while you found your wings? Take a moment and give them a shout out. Tag them. Send the text. Make the call. They deserve to know the difference they made.

Look forward. Someone behind you is sitting exactly where you once sat — unsure, hopeful, maybe a little nervous. Before that cable cuts loose for them, they need patience. They need grace. They need you.

As my friend and fighter pilot Dan Daetz puts it from his own flying experience:

"Ready or not, you're disconnecting from the cable at the planned altitude — clear expectations. But you're doing so within gliding distance of a landing, and with that instructor still with you all the way — set up to succeed. Because the landing itself is the tricky bit. Expect bounces early on — room to fail."

Clear expectations. Set up to succeed. Room to fail.

That's not just great aviation wisdom. That's great leadership.

Happy flying. ✈️

Focus in My Fifties - 3 Keys Towards Convergence

Sitting in sobriety this week — considering the needs of aging loved ones, my brother-in-law turning 59, looking around the table of my men's group at a few men in their 50s and 60s — and we're heading to Michigan for a funeral, to honor the memory of a man who passed at 70.

Yeah. All the strategy in the world comes to a halt when life happens.

Today, I have my grandfather's timeless words reverberating in my soul from Psalm 90: “Teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.” I’m not quite in the full Ecclesiastical mindset, calling out “Vanity, vanity” — but in my sobriety, I am pausing long and hard in my fifties to ask some significant questions.

Traveling to Tulsa, I spent time with my longtime friend and mentor, Dr. Nathan Baxter, who has taught me a thing or two about coaching leaders. As our conversation unfolded over salads in 70-degree weather under his back patio, we turned to that old yet familiar concept popularized by Dr. Bobby Clinton in his landmark study The Making of a Leader — Convergence.

Nathan brilliantly affirmed and vision-casted what a focused fifties could look like — and how it sets the stage for thriving in your sixties and finishing well. He named three keys: Margin, Influence, and Intentionality.

1. Margin: The Freedom to Actually Live

Margin is the white space of your life — the unhurried room to breathe, to give, to pivot, to show up. Nathan’s peer group is men in their early sixties, and many are running hard with no end in sight: 45-plus hours a week, no passive income built, still trading time for every dollar. They’ve arrived at a new chapter with no bandwidth to enjoy it.

The danger of living without margin is subtle but devastating. It’s not just exhaustion — it’s the missed grandchild, the friend who needed you present, the inner voice you never had time to hear. The fifties, Nathan reminded me, are your premium earning decade. Your health is still strong, your kids are mostly launched, and you finally know who you are and who you are not. This is the decade to structure well, build passive income, and protect the space that lets generosity actually flow.

Without margin in your sixties, the freedom you worked toward becomes the very thing that eludes you.

2. Influence: Someone Has to Want to Sit With You

Nathan put it plainly: some men have plenty of margin but no influence. Nobody wants to sit down with them. They’ve spent decades distracted, self-absorbed, or hardened by the world’s grinding demands — and now, in the second half of life when wisdom should be most potent, no one is leaning in to receive it.

Influence is built over decades of showing up, being curious, staying humble, and staying invested in other people’s growth. The older you get, the more you want people to listen to you — but that audience is earned, not assumed. The fifties are the season to examine your relational posture: Are you someone people want more of? Do people leave conversations with you more alive, more hopeful, more equipped?

The man with margin but no influence has freedom with nowhere meaningful to point it.

3. Intentionality: Don’t Just Check Out

Nathan gestured toward a recurring image in his week: the same faces at the golf club, every single day. Men who have decided they’ve earned the right to disengage. And in one sense, they have. But in another, they’ve confused the reward of the journey with the end of the journey itself.

Bobby Clinton’s research on why men don’t finish well identifies this checking-out as one of the central reasons for an unfinished life. Men plateau not because they run out of capacity, but because they stop investing in the kingdom, stop leveraging the gifts and experience God spent decades building in them. Intentionality in your fifties means refusing to coast. It means asking hard, holy questions: What am I still being called to? Who am I being called to pour into? What does faithful stewardship of my remaining decades actually look like?

Without intentionality, margin becomes leisure and influence becomes nostalgia.

Every Day Is a Gift

My grandfather’s charge keeps returning to me. Psalm 90 is Moses’ prayer — the oldest in the Psalter — and it is breathtaking in its sobriety. Seventy years, maybe eighty. A watch in the night. Grass that flourishes in the morning and fades by evening. And then the pivot: “So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.”

Not to count our days in dread, but to number them — to treat each one as the non-renewable, unrepeatable gift that it is. Moses understood what so many of us learn too late: awareness of limits is not defeat. It is the very thing that sharpens our aim, deepens our gratitude, and produces the kind of wisdom that only comes when we stop pretending time is infinite.

Nathan reminded me: the fifties are not a holding pattern. They are the premium decade for output — the decade where everything you’ve learned, suffered, built, and become can now converge into its most focused, fruitful expression. Build the margin. Cultivate the influence. Live with fierce intentionality.

The sixties are coming. The question is not whether you’ll arrive — it’s what you’ll bring with you when you do.

So yes, today is a gift. Number it. Use it to Love and Live Well! Thank God for the gift of today!

A Decade of Conversations: From Conversationalist to Aptly

Communication Confidence - Week 1 - Conversation Starters!

It was 2015, and I was facilitating a CEO forum with fourteen leaders who had gathered for what they thought would be another typical session. Instead, I gave them something unexpected: 30 minutes, a walk-and-talk 1:1 with a partner, and one question to explore together.

I offered them seven life-defining questions to choose from:

When those leaders returned from their walk-n-talks, something had shifted. The insights, the energy, the encouragement—it was electric. In thirty minutes, something profound had happened that rarely occurs in boardrooms: a genuine human connection. That moment birthed my first book, originally titled "Catalytic Conversations:," later published in 2016 as "The Conversationalist! Building Life-Defining Relationships One Conversation at a Time!

Here's what I didn't expect: my publisher and hundreds of readers told me the most valuable section was the 50 Questions of Conversationalist—simple prompts to spur discussion beyond news, weather, and sports. Teams used them for meeting kick-offs. Leaders for better one-on-ones. Families at the dinner table.

But over a decade of coaching, mentoring, and training leaders, I noticed something troubling. People weren't struggling because they lacked good questions. What they lacked was Communication Confidence—the ability to respond with clarity, presence, and conviction when it mattered most.

That realization changed my focus helping leaders communicate more effectively!

During my doctoral studies, I took an empirical approach to understand the social and psychological barriers keeping people from connecting authentically. Why do capable leaders freeze in crucial conversations?

What's happening beneath the surface when communication breaks down?

The answers I discovered in research and while working in the leadership lab training over 1,000 leaders across 100+ sessions, form the foundation of Aptly—a one-day intensive designed to help you respond with confidence in your leadership. We're bringing this program privately to organizations team and offering several open programs in 2026. Dates and details coming soon.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be sharing six insights from this decade-long journey—from executives' walk-n-talks to doctoral research that revealed what's really holding us back. You'll discover why trust is the hidden foundation of every conversation, how to listen at a level most people never reach, and what it takes to move from knowing what good communication looks like to actually embodying it in real time.

But here's what I want you to know today: you don't have to wait for a training program to start making a difference. Right now, wherever you are, you can choose to be intentional with the people you meet.

• Pause for a moment

• Be present

• Listen deeply

• Ask a few timely questions.

You never know the impact it will have on your relationships at work or at home.

Next week, I'll share why even the best communication skills fail without one critical foundation that most leaders overlook. Until then, I challenge you to lean into one of the 7 Life Questions or one of the 50 that might be worth exploring in your next conversation?

Finding Your True North - Prayer and Perspective for 2026!

Unsplash @nitishm

I love coaching and mentoring! The discovery, the breakthroughs, the transformation that unfolds when someone commits to change over time—these are the moments that fuel my joy. While inspiration and epiphanies are wonderful to witness, what truly moves me is watching courage and dedication translate into lasting change. And then, celebrating together when someone reaches their destination? That’s pure joy.

What motivates us to pursue change remains something of a beautiful mystery. We’re holistic beings driven by survival, connection, meaning, purpose, and spiritual grounding—all while seeking the joy of progress along the way. Each sunrise offers hope for something new, fresh, and fulfilling.

Yet we’re also bound by realities that hold us back: limiting beliefs, clouded thinking, tangled emotions, and battles with our past. We’re complex, messy people carrying failings, weaknesses, and regrets. But here’s what amazes me: we possess unbelievable capacity, resilience, and reserves to press forward anyway.

For over fifteen years, my mornings have begun with prayer, reading, and reflection—pursuing perspective, wisdom, and courage for the day ahead. My longtime prayer is simple: “Father, give me the wisdom to work, courage to lead, and faith to believe.” This prayer reveals who I hope to become. More than any achievement, I want to be known as a man of faith, wisdom, and courage.

Now in my fifties, I’m more focused on the person I’m becoming than what I hope to accomplish. Yes, I have goals and places to go, but character matters most.

As you pursue your goals this year, I’m one of your biggest cheerleaders! But I encourage you to reflect: Why do these pursuits matter? How will they shape who you’re becoming?

Last year, I created the True North resource to help you reflect on your focus for the year. As we step into 2026, may it guide your journey toward authentic growth.

Happy New Year!

Download the TrueNorth Guide. Go to www.theadvance.net/truenorth

Paradigm Shift in Defining Success Starts With Building People

Standing in Kansas City after wrapping up an executive coaching session, I'm struck by a powerful pattern I've observed throughout my travels—from Houston to Phoenix to Michigan. Working extensively with construction industry leaders, I've witnessed a fascinating phenomenon that defines the difference between operational excellence and true executive leadership.

Unsplash @markpot123

In construction, success is tangible. You can see the buildings rise, touch the materials, and measure the impact of projects that leave a global legacy. Executives in this industry oversee billions of dollars in scope, making decisions that affect communities and stakeholders worldwide. The competency that got them to this level is clear: an exceptional ability to deliver projects on time, on budget, and with lasting impact.

Yet here's the paradox: the very skills that earned these leaders their executive seats can become obstacles to their success at that level.

The fundamental shift required at the executive level isn't about building bigger projects or managing larger P&Ls—it's about reimagining what success means entirely. Instead of being the person who gets the work done, executives must become the person who builds the people who get the work done. This transformation represents a complete mindset revolution.

Too often, leaders remain trapped in their previous definition of success. They focus on the immediate work, the tactical decisions, the daily firefighting. But executive leadership demands something different: championing vision, communicating strategy, and most critically, developing and empowering teams.

Unsplash @judmackrill

This isn't just semantic wordplay. It's the difference between being a highly skilled doer and being a multiplier of talent. When an executive truly embraces their role as a people-builder, their impact exponentially increases. Instead of being limited by their own capacity, they unlock the potential of dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people across their organization.

3 Paradigm Shifts to Make the Transition

1. Measure Development, Not Just Delivery Stop tracking only projects completed. Start measuring how many people you've promoted, decisions you've delegated, and capabilities you've built in others.

2. Coach, Don't Solve When problems arise, resist providing immediate answers. Ask: "What options have you considered?" "What would you recommend?" Build their thinking, not just results.

3. Protect Development Time Block recurring weekly time exclusively for coaching and mentoring. Treat it as non-negotiable as any billion-dollar meeting—because developing future leaders delivers exponential value.

The question every aspiring executive must ask themselves is profound yet simple: What does success look like at the next level of leadership? True executive success is measured by the capability, confidence, and competence of the people you develop.

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At The Advance, we work alongside leaders like you to turn vision into reality—whether that's redesigning your organization, elevating your leadership impact, or achieving the goals that matter most.

Ready to make 2026 your breakthrough year by building yourself and your people? We can help from executive coaching, team building, to leadership design for your entire organization. Let’s start a no-pressure conversation: russell@leadersadvance.net

Finding Your Executive Edge: Lessons from the Mountain

Standing at the top of Black Diamond Edge at Keystone, Colorado, I paused before my descent. The irony wasn't lost on me—here I was, literally on the edge of a challenging run, reflecting on what I've been calling the "Executive Edge" for nearly a decade. Sometimes the universe hands you the perfect metaphor.

It's Friday afternoon. You're likely staring at a daunting to-do list, year-end deadlines bearing down, and Christmas shopping that hasn't even started. You're running thin, reactive, in pure get-it-done mode. But here's the problem: when your head's down, how can you possibly see where you're going, how you'll get there, or guide your team along the way?

After more than a decade as a thought partner to executive leaders, I've observed something critical: the most effective leaders are ruthlessly shrewd with their time and commitments, keeping first things first. They understand their Executive Edge.

The Three Priorities That Define Your Leadership Edge

Your executive effectiveness comes down to three core priorities:

1. Champion a Vision. Great leaders don't just have a destination in mind—they paint it so vividly that others can see it too. They create clarity about where the organization is headed and why it matters.

2. Communicate the Strategy. Vision without strategy is just dreaming. Effective leaders translate that vision into a clear roadmap, ensuring everyone understands not just the destination, but the route.

3. Develop a Team to Execute. The best strategy means nothing without the right people executing it. Elite leaders invest heavily in building and developing teams that can turn plans into reality.

The 60-80% Rule

Here's my proposition: your Executive Edge is defined by spending 60-80% of your time in your sweet spot—those activities that have the most significant impact on you, your team, and your organization. Everything else? That's not your edge. That's erosion.

Your Challenge This Week

Take a hard look at your calendar from the last week or month. Where did your time actually go? How much was spent championing vision, communicating strategy, and developing your team? How much was consumed by urgent but less important tasks, meetings that didn't need you, or decisions that could have been delegated?

This exercise isn't about judgment—it's about recalibration. It's Friday afternoon, and yes, the pressure is real. But sometimes the most productive thing you can do is stop, step back, and recalibrate your focus. Find some space to realign your time, energy, and perhaps even how you define success for this season.

Standing at the edge of that Black Diamond run, I had to assess the terrain, trust my preparation, and commit to the path ahead. Your leadership requires the same courage.

Your leadership confidence for the mountain you’re facing maybe at the Green or Blue level. Yet, if you have a sense of what’s before you, project, goal, and your next role for 2026, then you maybe heading towards your next level, Black or Double Black. It can be overwhelming facing new terrain!

If you're looking for a thought partner to help you find and sharpen your Executive Edge, let's explore how coaching might serve you in this next season. After all, every leader deserves someone in their corner helping them see clearly and lead boldly. If that’s you, let’s explore a free no hassle conversation. We have a team of 10 ICF executive/leadership coaches ready to support you and your team. Feel free to reach out directly to me! russell@leadersadvance.net

Now if you'll excuse me, I have a mountain to conquer.

The ROI of Leadership Development: Beyond the Numbers

Standing in Phoenix after working with 80 leaders who hadn't received leadership development in over a decade, one truth became crystal clear: organizations who invest in their leaders are better than those who don't.

The Hard Evidence

The research is compelling. Companies that invest in leadership development see a 25% increase in employee engagement and up to 50% reduction in turnover according to studies by Gallup and the Center for Creative Leadership. Deloitte research shows that organizations with strong leadership pipelines are 2.4 times more likely to hit performance targets and see 34% higher employee retention rates.

The ROI is undeniable: for every dollar invested in leadership development, organizations see an average return of $7 in productivity gains.

The Soft Evidence That Matters Most

But what you can't fully measure in spreadsheets is equally powerful. Today, we witnessed the transformation—faces that entered with skepticism left with genuine smiles. Laughter filled the room. Leaders who had worked together for years experienced breakthrough conversations for the first time.

High-trust environments emerged through facilitated vulnerability. Conflicts that had lingered for months found resolution in hours. The question shifted from "How do we not know this?" to "How do we pay this forward?"

These are the force multipliers that cascade through organizations: faster decision-making, stronger collaboration, and psychological safety that drives innovation.

Your Next Step

Whether you're a board looking to align vision, an executive team needing strategic cohesion, or a department requiring an infusion of people capital horsepower—2026 is your year.

The commitment doesn't require perfection. It requires starting.

Consider a discovery conversation to explore what's possible when you invest in your leaders. Because organizations that develop their people don't just perform better—they become places where breakthrough happens daily.

Ready to move your team to the next level of performance? Let's talk.

russell@leadersadvance.net

Wisdom on the Way - Career Transition Backstory

Exciting news! Wisdom on the Way is now available on Audible!

For nearly 15 years, I sold office furniture from a warehouse, wondering what actually happened in the meetings around those conference tables I'd never personally sat at. In my late thirties, I had my "oh God moment" in the back of that warehouse—a solid midlife crisis and a defining turning point that launched my career transition in 2010.

That season of uncertainty and searching became the soil for something beautiful. —I began to dream again imagining a different future, one where I could actually be part of those transformational moments.

By 2012, I began writing what would become Wisdom on the Way—a collection of devotionals inspired by the book of Proverbs and my own milestone moments. Each reflection captures lessons learned during that transition and the journey that followed.

Today, nearly 15 years later, I facilitate leadership training at places like the Center for Creative Leadership. I guide leaders through their own defining moments at those conference tables and on mountain walks I once only imagined experiencing. The transformation has been profound.

This book is my invitation to you—wherever you are in your life or leadership journey, whether you're in your own warehouse moment or walking mountain paths, I hope you'll find encouragement, wisdom, and hope in these pages.

Get your copy of Wisdom on the Way here!

Stress or Distress: A Leader's Choice

Unsplash @ @jeshoots

Insights from a Cohort of Master Facilitators

It's a privilege to be part of a cohort of master facilitators dedicated to developing leaders who can thrive in high-pressure environments. Our recent conversation centered on a critical distinction: stress is inevitable, but distress is a choice. The question isn't whether leaders face stress—they always do—but how they respond to it.

The Foundation: Two Kinds of Stress

Hans Selye, the pioneering endocrinologist who introduced the concept of biological stress in 1936, distinguished between "distress" (negative, destructive stress) and "eustress" (positive, growth-producing stress). As one facilitator noted, "Stress is a fact of life. You are going to be in stressful environments nearly all the time." The critical variable is whether we choose to be distressed in the midst of it.

Our group explored this through a striking case study: a field operations supervisor who, when facing any stressful situation, would retreat to a hotel for days to recover. "I didn't know how he even survived being a manager," one facilitator reflected. The contrast? Leaders who emerge energized from stress—those who view challenges as opportunities to make better decisions, engage more people, and become more observant.

The Neuroscience of Attention

Dr. Amishi Jha's research with military personnel reveals how stress hijacks our attention systems. She describes three attention modes: the flashlight (focused concentration), the floodlight (broad awareness), and the juggler (executive function). Under stress, especially when we're constantly in hypervigilant "floodlight" mode, our cognitive resources become depleted, making clear thinking nearly impossible.

The encouraging news? Jha's studies show that just 12 minutes of daily mindfulness practice can stabilize attention even under intense stress. For military personnel preparing for deployment, this practice made the difference between degraded performance and maintained—even improved—focus.

Practical Tools for the Tactical Pause

Our cohort discussed two powerful techniques leaders can use immediately:

Box Breathing (The Navy SEAL Technique)

• Inhale through your nose for 4 counts

• Hold your breath for 4 counts

• Exhale through your mouth for 4 counts

• Hold empty for 4 counts

• Repeat for at least 5 minutes

This four-by-four pattern shifts the body from "fight or flight" to "rest and digest," creating an alert, grounded state. As one facilitator noted, "I tie it to Navy SEALs using it when they're breaching a building, so why can't you use it?"

The Personal Tactical Pause

One participant shared a framework they teach regularly:

1. Begin with one minute of box breathing

2. Ask four questions:

   • What am I feeling right now? (physically and emotionally)

   • What am I believing that's causing these feelings? (about myself, others, and the situation)

   • What's the truth? (from the perspective of someone wise)

   • What's the most important thing to do right now, based on the truth?

This process works because, as the facilitator explained, "What I'm believing in the moment isn't the truth, especially when I give voice from a different perspective."

The Work of Transformation

Our conversation acknowledged that neural pathways formed in chronically stressful environments create default distress patterns. Yet neuroplasticity research shows these patterns can change. One colleague's testimony was powerful: "I used to be an extremely stressful person... I talk to myself when I find myself in a difficult situation. I don't need to be this way. And it's really helped out a great deal."

The key is identifying trigger points—those situations where stress most readily becomes distress. We help leaders ask: "What was it about that situation? What were you trying to protect? What value was being threatened?" Often, overwhelming stress signals a threat to something we hold dear: competence, justice, control, or safety.

Building Capacity Over Time

Leadership development requires patience. As our group agreed, we plant seeds through workshops, reinforce them in one-on-one sessions, and trust that "those seeds will continue to be watered." The goal isn't to eliminate stress, but to build the capacity to choose our response.

As Selye wrote, "Stress is the spice of life." Our work as facilitators helps leaders experience that spice without being overwhelmed—to use stress as fuel for growth rather than allowing it to become a poison. That's the privilege of serving leaders in an increasingly complex world.

For Leaders: A Simple Daily Practice

• 5 minutes of box breathing

• 5 minutes of breath-focused meditation

• 2 minutes reflecting: "Where did my attention go today?"

When stress rises, deploy the Personal Tactical Pause. With consistent practice, what once triggered distress can become an opportunity for growth.

Wisdom on the Way - A Decade in the Waiting

I'm beyond excited to finally share Wisdom on the Way with you—a book that's been fifteen years in the making. Honestly, I never imagined it would take this long, but maybe that's exactly the point.

Back in 2010, I was in one of the darkest seasons of my life. My business was struggling through a financial crisis, and I found myself at a career crossroads, desperately searching for direction. I was that guy sitting in the back of my warehouse, crying out to God for wisdom because I had run completely out of my own answers. During those difficult months, I started writing daily devotionals from Proverbs—not as an author with a grand plan, but as a desperate man clinging to God's promises.

What began as my personal lifeline became this manuscript. But then life happened. The crisis passed, and new opportunities emerged; the manuscript sat in a drawer for nearly a decade. I thought that season was just for me, that those writings had served their purpose.

Then came 2020 and another crisis—this time a global pandemic that shut down my coaching business overnight. In that season of uncertainty, God whispered that it was time to finish what I'd started. Completing this book became a personal milestone of faithfulness for me.

Wisdom on the Way guides you through 83 devotionals rooted in Proverbs, interwoven with eight milestone moments from my journey—from transformative love at fourteen to entrepreneurship, fatherhood, significant life changes, and career transitions. Each devotional offers biblical insight, personal stories, and practical application for wherever you find yourself today.

My hope? That no matter your season—whether you're in crisis or celebration, confusion or clarity, starting out or finishing strong—you'll find wisdom waiting for you on the way. Because here's what I've learned: wisdom isn't just for when we arrive at our destination. It's found in the pursuit, one step at a time, trusting that God directs our paths even when we can't see where we're going.

That's the journey I'm inviting you into. Let's walk this path together.

Transforming One-on-Ones: The E3 Framework for Meeting Excellence

Unsplash @wocintechchat

Rate the quality of your last one-on-one meeting on a scale of 1-10.

If you're honest, many leaders would score their meetings somewhere between 4 and 6—adequate but uninspiring. If you're unsure of the score, ask your direct reports the same question. It might level-set your awareness of their experience with your 1-1. There's always a drift towards ineffective 1-1, not necessarily from intention, but from the realities of your time and energy. Your relentless work environment has led to one-on-ones devolving into rushed status updates, squeezed between back-to-back meetings, leaving both managers and direct reports feeling drained rather than energized.

The pace of work demands has created a "check the box" mentality where these critical conversations become administrative tasks rather than transformational opportunities. Meeting fatigue is real, and many leaders find themselves mentally preparing for their next crisis while sitting across from team members who need genuine attention and support.

Yet recent coaching conversations with experienced managers reveal a path forward. The E3 Framework—Energy, Engagement, and Effectiveness—can transform your most dreaded meeting into the highlight of your team's month with minimal additional time investment.

Energy: How Do You Both Feel After the Meeting?

Aleks, a pharmaceutical team leader, noticed she left one-on-ones feeling frustrated while her team members seemed withdrawn. The problem wasn't effort—it was energy management. She was bringing stress and impatience into conversations, creating a dynamic where introverted team members shut down.

The solution involved intentional energy preparation. Before each meeting, ask yourself: "What stress am I carrying into this conversation?" Take three minutes to reset mentally. Consider your team member's energy style—do they need time to process, or do they feed off quick exchanges?

One manager began blocking 15 minutes before each one-on-one specifically for mental preparation, transforming his scattered mindset into focused presence. The energy shift was immediately noticeable to his team.

Engagement: Creating Mutual Balance

Traditional one-on-ones suffer from information dumps where managers talk 80% of the time while team members provide minimal responses. Aleks discovered that her 80-20 talking ratio was hindering engagement with her introverted team members, who required more processing time.

Higher engagement requires becoming comfortable with silence and shifting from interrogation to exploration. Instead of "Where are the numbers?" try "What would make you excited about our next one-on-one?" or "What support do you need to feel confident in your current projects?"

Jon, a manufacturing manager, revolutionized engagement by sharing his expectations in writing beforehand, then using meeting time for collaborative problem-solving rather than one-way information transfer.

Effectiveness: Measurable Impact Beyond Status Updates

The most common one-on-one trap is confusing activity with progress. Effective meetings create measurable impact through three elements: clarity, growth, and accountability.

Jon established four core themes for effective 1-1 project management, collaboration, feedback, and strategic thinking, which guided every conversation. This framework moved discussions from transactional ("What did you do?") to transformational ("How are we growing together?").

Effectiveness requires following through consistently. The worst mistake leaders make is declaring new meeting intentions without sustaining them. Your team will quickly revert to minimal engagement if they sense another management fad.

Implementation: Small Changes, Big Impact

Start with one element: Energy preparation before your next three one-on-ones. Notice the difference in conversation quality. Then experiment with engagement techniques like asking what success looks like from your team member's perspective.

The goal isn't perfect meetings immediately—it's incremental improvement that compounds over time. A team member recently told their manager, "This was the first one-on-one where I felt truly heard." That's the difference between checking boxes and creating transformation.

Your team members crave meaningful connection and growth opportunities. The E3 Framework provides a practical path to deliver both while actually reducing your stress and increasing impact. The question isn't whether you have time for better one-on-ones—it's whether you can afford to keep having ineffective ones.

Sojourning to the Summit: Completing Colorado's 58 Fourteeners

After 14 years of steady pursuit, the moment finally arrived—standing atop Colorado's Uncompahgre 14,318’ peak, overwhelmed by what can only be described as pure euphoria. Euphoric—a feeling of intense excitement and happiness—captures part of it. Still, my interpretation runs deeper: a sense of being "full-hearted," where gratitude, accomplishment, and profound connection converge into something that transcends mere joy. The completion of all 58 of Colorado's fourteeners wasn't just a personal milestone; it was a testament to answered prayers, perseverance, family bond, lifetime friendships, and the awe and beauty of the mountains.

After completing six summits this summer, my last five peaks were before me, starting with a train ride into Chicago Basin from Durango. The trek wasn't a spontaneous adventure—the train tickets were purchased back in February, a leap of faith that everything would align: weather, health, and timing. The final push unfolded as a carefully orchestrated two-part excursion. First came four extraordinary days in the backcountry, riding the historic 140-year-old Durango to Silverton steam train into the wilderness, then summiting four peaks while experiencing every form of weather imaginable—from bone-chilling 30-degree mornings after a nighttime hail storm to a pleasant 65-degree sunny afternoons. The 3 day backcountry venture was followed by driving around to Lake City to meet family and friends for one final, gentler summit that would include our Golden retriever, Winston.

The most magical moment came on the third of four peaks, when threatening weather surrounded us on all sides. Within a 30-mile radius, every visible mountaintop was being hammered by rain, thunder, and lightning—except for our summit, Mt Eolus. We stood in brilliant sunshine with the sun warming our shoulders, feeling divinely protected while nature's fury raged around us. It was a moment that demanded gratitude and left us saying, "Thank you, Lord."

The fourth peak brought its threat as "dipping dots"—that unique high-altitude hail that resembles candy store treats—pelted us during our final ascent. After an exhausting 11.5-hour hiking day, my 27-year-old hiking companion, whom I'd been mentoring for a year, had the inspired idea of a cold plunge in the ice-cold mountain river. It had rained on us the entire descent, but remarkably, the sun broke through just 20 minutes before we reached camp. We both dropped into that frigid water for five minutes, then sat warming ourselves on the sun-heated rocks—a complete total refresh.

The train journey itself added nostalgic layers to the adventure, skirting 500-foot cliffs and hugging the water's edge along the same route I'd traveled with my brother 32 years earlier. Those memory-filled moments on the rails deepened the emotional significance of an already profound expedition.

Standing on that final peak, I was surrounded by the people who matter most: my wife Cari, my 25-year-old daughter Bethany—a living miracle after spending three days in a hospital bed just months earlier battling lupus—my oldest daughter Ellie, my son-in-law, and a dear young couple, with him celebrating his first 14er summit. Watching my daughter conquer that mountain after her phenomenal recovery over six to seven months brought tears of joy during our tender Sunday ascent. Remembering hiking with my oldest daughter, Ellie, on Mt. Elbert in 2011 brought more joyful tears. Looking across the endless sea of Colorado's high country, I was overwhelmed with gratitude, joy, satisfaction, and praise to God for His grace along the way. This pursuit, which began 14 years ago when my children were younger, had become a thread woven through the fabric of our family's story—marking milestones, creating memories, and now celebrating the summit finish together.

The joy of the summit comes whether it's your first or your 58th.

What's your summit?

Your pursuit of a goal may not always feel euphoric. Yet, in the pursuit of your peak, you can enjoy the journey, the conversations with your companions, the gratitude for the ability to pursue your next peak, and the faith-filled moments that nourish your soul along the way.

Happy sojourning to your summit!

Pursuit of Success in Your Season

Unsplash @foxxmd

Those who aspire but never attain—midlife questions in the seasons of achievement

Have you ever been told you're going to do "great things" but left wondering what exactly someone saw in you that you can't see in yourself? Perhaps teachers, coaches, or mentors were early champions of your potential, speaking words of destiny over your future. Yet decades later, despite external success, you carry an elusive sense that you've never quite met the mark of that potential, never fully measured up to what others believed you could become.

As an act of vulnerability, I'll share my own story of chasing success in pursuit of someone else's expectations, only to feel as if I fell short, disappointing them and myself. For years, I hid behind the regret of not completing what I set out to do, holding onto the shame of not finishing what I started.

My years as a Boy Scout were filled with summer camps, weekend adventures, and multiple 50-mile treks. I earned dozens of merit badges, filling my sash, moving through the ranks to Senior Patrol Leader. Ironically, I arrived at the rank of Life—one step before Eagle Scout—with only the service project requirement remaining. Then our family moved to a new area. I rejoined another troop, yet never took that final step to Eagle Scout.

This became a mark of regret that has, at times, created an unhealthy drive toward my goals, as if achieving other things could somehow compensate for that unfinished chapter. Yet in hindsight, to say I "failed" as a Boy Scout isn't true. Those experiences shaped countless characteristics during my coming of age, influencing my love and lifestyle of the outdoors that continues today.

This pursuit of success to satisfy internal questions reveals something profound about how we measure achievement. Our criteria for success evolve dramatically with each decade and season of life. Reflecting on this evolution can be a transformative and empowering experience. Let me propose some thematic observations I see from my life and walking alongside those in pursuit of success.

Markers of Success by Decade:

• Twenties: Landing the right job, hitting income targets, establishing independence, proving competence

• Thirties: Career advancement, recognition, building something significant, accumulating achievements

• Forties: Making a meaningful difference, leaving a mark, questioning legacy, deeper relationship connections

• Fifties: Wisdom over achievement, mentoring others, authenticity over image, enjoying the fruits of earlier labor

• Sixties and Beyond: Relationships over accomplishments, leaving something valuable behind, peace with the journey

What remains constant is the human tendency to place our sense of worth in external validation rather than internal clarity about what matters to us. The Boy Scout trail taught preparation and perseverance. Still, life teaches us that our deepest satisfaction comes not from completing every badge, but from how the journey shapes our character and values.

The executive who measures success only by revenue growth misses the satisfaction of developing team members. The leader focused solely on the next promotion, overlooking the daily opportunities to solve problems, build relationships, and create positive change. The parent obsessed with their children's achievements might miss the simple joy of being present in ordinary moments.

Reflective Questions for Your Season:

Before rushing toward the next goal, consider these questions:

• What were you told you'd accomplish that still haunts you today?

• How has your definition of success evolved over the past decade?

• What external achievements are you pursuing to answer internal questions?

• When did you last feel genuinely satisfied with your daily work, regardless of outcomes?

Next Steps to Define Success for Your Season:

Start with Values: Identify your top five core values. Not what you think they should be, but what actually drives your sense of meaning and satisfaction. These become your TrueNorth when external pressures try to redefine success for you.

Find Joy in Small Wins: Begin noticing and celebrating micro-achievements daily. The difficult conversation handled well, the moment of genuine connection with a colleague, the problem solved creatively—these matter.

Practice Gratitude: Dedicate five minutes each morning to a gratitude journal. Write down what brought you satisfaction the previous day, what you enjoyed, and what felt meaningful. This isn't toxic positivity; it's emotional fitness.

Look for Themes: After a few weeks or months, review your entries. What patterns emerge? What consistently brings you joy or satisfaction? These themes reveal your authentic criteria for success in this season.

Find a Guide: After your reflection, seek out a trusted friend or mentor to walk with you. Share your discoveries and invite accountability. Success in any season is rarely a solo journey. Having a mentor can provide you with the support and guidance you need to navigate your personal journey.

The Challenge and Encouragement:

Where you've faced regrets from the past, I challenge you to reframe success. Disappointments can lead to life's most significant appointments. Consider how those 'incomplete' experiences shaped who you've become. Define success for today based on your current values and season, not yesterday's unfinished business. This is not about compensating for past regrets, but about honoring what matters most in this chapter of your life.

A Lifetime of Running Redline- Timeless Wisdom for Leaders Running on Empty

Fishing at our family reunion - St John Kansas

"There you go again, Russell, burning the candle at both ends." Those words from my stepdad echoed through my twenties like a persistent alarm I kept hitting snooze on. As a young man with dreams of conquering the world, I dismissed his caution as the voice of someone who didn't understand my ambition. Thirty-five years later, I still feel that familiar tension between my capacity and the diminishing returns of my efforts.

The warnings continued throughout my journey. My father-in-law, a modern-day Jethro modeling the wisdom of Exodus 18:17, would look at my frenetic business pace in my thirties and candidly tell me, "What you're doing is not good." Like Moses trying to judge every dispute himself, I was spread impossibly thin, taking on too much and delegating too little. Later, in my forties, my dad would offer his gentle reminder with the care only a father can: "Russell, you're a limited commodity."

These weren't criticisms—they were life preservers thrown to a man drowning in his success. Their sage caution protected me from running myself into the ground more times than I can count.

You can’t give out of an empty cup. If you’re poured out then it’s time to let it fill up once again with life giving activities starting with what you enjoy doing!

Watch for the Whirlwind

Today, in my coaching practice, I see the same tendency in leaders everywhere. They're running at full throttle, fulfilling every commitment without considering the cost to themselves and those they love. Just this week, I sat across from Clint, a construction project executive whose story mirrors that of my younger self.

Unsplash @jazmi530i

Clint is juggling six new projects, navigating endless challenging tasks, conducting mid-year reviews for his twelve direct reports, and preparing updates for his C-suite meetings. He's caught in what his old mentor called "working in the whirlwind"—construction's constant state of reactive urgency where you grab hold of whatever you can and work on what's immediately in front of you.

Our coaching session centered on a fundamental truth: being stretched thin isn't a badge of honor—it's a warning sign. We explored critical questions that every leader running redline should ask themselves:

• What are you doing to take care of yourself?

• How are you recharging your energy?

• What do you need to let go of?

Clint met with his direct report, learning one of the guys was running redline. Clint rallied with support, giving him critical time off from work. He later realized his guy spent 3 days in silence fishing. Sometimes, the best thing to recharge is next to nothing to restore your reserves. Clint is a generous, supportive leader. He's got the back of his team. The irony for Clint is that he struggles to extend the same kindness to himself as he does to others.

The challenge isn't just personal—it's organizational. When leaders operate in a state of perpetual overwhelm, they miss opportunities to leverage the resources around them. Sometimes, the solution isn't working harder; it's working smarter by accepting help and knowing your limits. This shift can bring a sense of relief and empowerment, knowing that you're not alone.

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Unsplash @parthnatani147

The fathers in my life taught me that burning the candle at both ends doesn't make you twice as bright—it just burns you out twice as fast.

Their wisdom passed down through generations, offers timeless guidance: pause, consider your energy, and remember that sometimes the most productive thing you can do is to stop trying to do everything.

In the whirlwind of life and leadership, the question isn't whether you can handle it all—it's whether you should.

You have only one life to live! Make the most of it even it means saying no and letting a few things go!

The Philosophy That Informs Your Practice: From Blueprint to Reality

Unsplash @honza_kahanek

The Foundation: Theory Meets Reality

As a workplace psychologist, I navigate the delicate balance between academic theory and practical application. Like the builders I grew up around in construction, every great project begins with a blank sheet—a canvas of possibility that will transform into something meaningful. Yet anyone who's spent time in the field knows that the engineer's best intentions don't always match the reality of building on-site.

Currently commissioned to design a leadership development program for a fast-growing organization, I'm both excited by the possibilities and sobered by the reality that even the best-laid plans may not meet the complex needs of front-line leaders.

Alice's Transformation: From Insight to Action

This tension became clear during a coaching conversation with Alice, a leader struggling with turnover, retention, and engagement. Her willingness to examine her leadership philosophy and implement immediate changes offered profound insights bridging academic concepts and practical applications.

Alice discovered that transformation begins with examining her patterns. She made several key changes:

• Meeting restructuring - Removed detailed agendas, requiring team members to come prepared with their priorities and challenges, moving from task dictation to facilitating ownership

• Eliminated unnecessary touchpoints - Canceled redundant check-in meetings, freeing time while empowering greater accountability

• Delegated key responsibilities - Handed off monthly budget meetings to her vice president, recognizing her expressed need for control conflicted with her desire to develop autonomous leaders

These weren't random tweaks—they emerged from Alice's growing self-awareness about the gap between what she was expressing and what she truly wanted from her leadership role.

The Philosophy Challenge: Know Yourself First

Alice's journey revealed a critical insight: authentic leadership requires understanding not just what motivates our team members but also what drives us as leaders. Her willingness to share her experiences—navigated risks and hard-earned wisdom—created deeper connections with her team, particularly younger colleagues who hadn't experienced similar trials.

This led to my coaching challenge for Alice and all leaders: Write a one-page philosophy of your leadership and socialize it with trusted colleagues. This isn't academic busywork—it's foundational to authentic leadership.

Your leadership philosophy should reflect:

• Personal foundation - What experiences shaped your approach to leadership and core values

• Hard-earned wisdom - What failures taught resilience and what successes revealed strengths

• Guiding principles - How these insights inform your daily work and decision-making approach

• Authentic motivation - What genuinely drives you beyond surface-level goals

We benefit from answering the same question for ourselves before we ask our team members what drives them.

From Philosophy to Practice: Building Authentic Connection

Philosophy without practice remains an intellectual exercise. Alice committed to building a culture of meaningful feedback, moving beyond surface-level recognition to create regular touchpoints for genuine connection and development. She recognized that balancing her natural drive to "get things done" with authentic care for her people required intentional practices—checking how team members feel, asking how she can support them, and explicitly communicating that she values them as individuals.

The Blueprint for Lasting Change

Just as builders must understand the foundation before constructing the frame, leaders must understand their philosophical foundation before attempting to influence others. The most effective leadership development programs begin not with external techniques but with internal clarity.

Alice's transformation from identifying challenges to articulating philosophy and implementing structural changes represents the bridge between knowing what should work and making it work in reality. Her commitment to authentic self-examination, transparent communication, and systematic practice demonstrates that sustainable organizational change isn't about implementing the right program but about leaders willing to do their foundational work first.

The most enduring structures are built on solid foundations in both construction and leadership. Your leadership philosophy is that foundation, but only when translated into consistent practices that align your expressed leadership with genuine intentions. The blueprint matters, but the daily work of building—meeting by meeting, conversation by conversation—is where transformation happens.

The Cost of Inconsistency in Leadership

Unsplash @picture_scape

Leadership inconsistency isn't just a minor workplace grievance—it's a silent productivity killer with real costs to organizations, teams, and individual well-being.

Think about that manager who was attentive and supportive one week but completely disappeared the next. Remember how the uncertainty affected your motivation and confidence? As leaders, we often focus on strategic decisions and driving results, but consistency in our leadership approach can be the difference between a thriving team and one that merely survives.

Where to Focus Your Consistency Efforts

The most impactful areas to establish consistency begin with regular, meaningful one-on-one interactions with direct reports. Consider the supervisor who always canceled your meetings at the last minute—how valued did that make you feel? These touchpoints shouldn't be mere calendar obligations but opportunities to set direction, create alignment, and secure commitment. Come prepared with specific discussion points rather than vague check-ins.

Strong leaders recognize that consistency in communication extends beyond frequency—it's about quality. Recall the leader who praised generic work yet criticized your best efforts without explanation. Intentionally giving genuine feedback using frameworks creates clarity and builds trust. Even if feedback doesn't come naturally, practicing this discipline transforms casual conversations into developmental opportunities.

What Threatens Consistency

Time constraints pose the most significant threat to leadership consistency. Remember the otherwise excellent manager who was always "putting out fires" and never had time for your questions? When juggling multiple projects and responsibilities, one-on-ones are often the first casualty. The tyranny of the urgent frequently overshadows important relationship-building activities that don't provide immediate payoff.

Our personality tendencies can also undermine consistency efforts. However, self-awareness about how your natural tendencies impact others is crucial for consistent leadership. This self-awareness empowers you to understand and manage your leadership style, ensuring that your team feels secure and confident in your leadership.

The Power of Self-Awareness

A pause for self-awareness goes a long way toward evaluating consistency. Consider how personality preferences shape leadership approaches, especially in industries like construction. Based on my work for the last decade using assessments like Hogan, Birkman, Workplace Big5, and MBTI, the results of personality and job-fit have consistent predictive patterns where individuals tend to thrive. Using MBTI in coaching, construction leaders predominantly identify as ISTJs—thoughtful, concrete, clear individuals who work best with a plan. They get stuff done like a train on tracks; their world operates on time, on schedule, and on budget. To practice self-awareness, an ISTJ leader could regularly reflect on how their structured approach impacts their team's morale and adaptability.

Yet even for the most diligent personality, competing priorities emerge. People's challenges are the norm, and the rest of the world doesn't operate on their schedule. Thus, progress suffers, with high execution but low agility.

Conversely, a personality profile like an ENTP—socially engaged, intuitive, critical thinker, and spontaneous—allows for in-the-moment decision-making, seizing the day, and entrepreneurial thinking. Commitment runs high in these types, but consistency can be at risk; they tend to operate on high inspiration, while execution can become a grind.

Self-awareness of your natural tendencies gives you another pause to consider who in your life can help prioritize your commitments. The ISTJ construction superintendent may need team members with flexibility and people skills to balance their drive for completion. The ENTP leader might need detail-oriented team members who ensure follow-through and implementation.

Consistency is essential for any leadership style to succeed. We need others on our team to balance our strengths so they don't threaten our work and relationships. Recognizing and appreciating the role of team members in this balance fosters a sense of inclusivity and appreciation within the team.

The Impact of Consistency

Consistent leadership creates psychological safety, where team members know what to expect. This predictability builds trust, which drives engagement and retention, especially in high-stress fields. It also instills a sense of security and confidence in your team members, allowing them to perform at their best.

Leaders who prioritize consistent touchpoints find their teams more aligned and self-directed. Projects run more smoothly because expectations are clear, and team members develop confidence in their decision-making. Think about how differently you performed for the leader who consistently invested in your growth versus the one who engaged only when problems arose.

Your Consistency Challenge

Here's my challenge: For the next 30 days, identify one consistent behavior you'll make non-negotiable. It could be weekly one-on-ones that never get canceled or delivering one piece of specific feedback to each team member monthly. Whatever you choose, protect this commitment fiercely.

Then, take it a step further—identify a trusted colleague with complementary strengths who can help hold you accountable to this commitment. Suppose you're an ISTJ who excels at execution but struggles with adaptability. Partner with someone who brings flexibility to the table. If you're an ENTP bursting with ideas but challenged by follow-through, find someone detail-oriented to help you stay on track.

Create accountability by sharing your intention not just with this partner, but with your team. Remember—consistency isn't about perfection. It's about establishing patterns your team can count on, even when—especially when—everything else feels uncertain. Your team doesn't need a superhero; they need a leader who shows up consistently and authentically. Will you be that leader?

Reflection:

• When have you felt most unsettled at work, and was a leader's inconsistency contributing to that feeling?

• What consistency pattern would your team members say you're known for—and what pattern might they wish you would establish?

• What factors most often derail your best intentions for leadership consistency?

• How does your personality type influence your consistency challenges, and who on your team complements those tendencies?

• What tangible benefits have you witnessed in environments where leadership consistency was the norm?