coach

Did the Navy mess up when they selected me to be a commanding officer? That was a real question for me before I took command. I’m hearing a version of it from leaders I work with stepping into bigger roles. They earned the promotion, and they know it. Then they’re in meetings with new peers…

Effective leadership isn’t about managing every step of the process: it’s about setting clear expectations and trusting your team to execute. When leaders establish clear boundaries, provide the necessary guidance, training, and mentorship, and then step back, it creates space for real ownership and growth. Step-by-step hand-holding limits your team’s capability and quickly becomes an…

I keep coming back to this idea. That if my purpose is only the next win, then I’m basically signing myself up to need another one as soon as this one is done. Another deal. Another project. Another client. Another thing to chase. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to win. I just think it gets…

How a leader handles things not going to plan is mostly set before anything goes wrong. It’s the mindset they walked in with. “𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵” is one mindset. When it goes off-plan, that’s a tough blow to recover from. Here’s a different mindset. “𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦…

As long as things are working, it is easy to stay in “if it ain’t broken don’t fix it” mode. And sometimes that makes sense. What happens when the environment changes faster than your current way of operating can keep up? AI is an obvious example right now. A lot has changed in the last…

One of the hard parts of stepping into something new is how quickly it can start to feel like it all rests on you. Like you’re supposed to have all the answers. Like you’re supposed to get it right the first time. Like needing help somehow means you’re not ready. I don’t think that’s true.…

You can be doing everything right and still feel restless. Successful by every measure other people can see, good at what you do, trusted with more of it. And underneath that, something feels off. The learning and the challenge that used to pull you in just aren’t there the same way. The tricky part is…

In the places where I watched people really keep growing, learning wasn’t a separate thing they left the job to go do. It was built into the work itself. That’s the difference I keep coming back to. We tend to treat learning like an errand. Go take the course. Get the certification. Step away for…

I had the honor of connecting with over 200 transitioning service members through 7 Eagle Group. Many thanks to 7 Eagle Group and the service members and veterans on the call for the warm welcome! I shared the perspective that transitioning members can have the “Same Purpose, New Mission.” What an amazing program for any…

You’ve already made the call. You just haven’t said it out loud yet. Not because you’re still deciding. You know the course. It’s because you know what saying it will set in motion. Once it’s out, the changes start. The people you’re responsible for get uncomfortable. They have to be brought along, motivated, helped to…

The bigger the decision, the less certain you feel making it. That caught me off guard the higher I moved in leadership. You keep waiting to feel sure. To have all the consequences resolved before you commit. On the decisions that carry the most weight, that feeling doesn’t really come. So the real edge becomes…

Out walking yesterday, listening to a podcast. When we hit something hard, most of us treat it as a problem to solve. Get through it, get back to normal. COVID was the version most of us lived. When will this be over? When do things go back to the way they were? But what if…