You don’t need a grocery list of goals or the perfect plan for the year ahead. You need honesty. This reflection offers a calm, deliberate way to choose one goal worth protecting, and to build the clarity and focus needed to follow through.

As I close the year, I find myself returning to a few simple questions, not to optimize the future, but to honor what unfolded. Before rushing ahead, this is an invitation to pause, reflect, and take a deliberate look back.

A reflective look at the pressure we feel this time of year, closing out commitments, creating meaningful moments, and trying to get it right for the people who matter most.

A reminder that not all pressure is bad, and that sometimes, pressure is a privilege.

Performance reviews aren’t supposed to be uncomfortable. When leaders provide clear expectations and consistent feedback throughout the year, reviews become a confirmation, not a confrontation. If a performance review comes as a surprise, it’s not a people issue. It’s a leadership one.

Most rising leaders feel unheard, not because their ideas lack value, but because they overlook the one skill that builds real influence: listening. This article breaks down why leadership isn’t responding, what you may be missing, and how understanding others’ priorities is the fastest path to having your voice matter.

Most people talk about being an eagle, not a turkey, but the real question is who’s in your flock. Are the people around you helping you rise into who you’re becoming, or quietly clipping your wings because they fear you might fly?

We’re quick to give thanks on the holiday, but what about in March, when life feels heavy and the grind takes over? Here’s how to stay grounded in gratitude and remember how far you’ve come.

Trust isn’t one thing, it’s layers. From the people who offer small favors to the rare few you’d call at 3 a.m. with a shovel, life has a way of revealing who’s truly in your corner.

A string of frustrating moments, a leak, a fire scare, a broken tooth, turned into one of the most grounding lessons I’ve had in a while. Sometimes the things we wish away are actually protecting or preparing us for what’s next.

“We should follow up… we should make a plan…” You’ve heard it, or said it. The problem is, “we should” feels collaborative but assigns responsibility to no one. In trying to be polite, we trade clarity for confusion.

You’re doing everything right, yet somehow, it’s not enough. Maybe the problem isn’t effort, but visibility. Here’s the quiet truth about being seen.

We all say we have non-negotiables, values or boundaries that define who we are and how we lead. But under pressure, many of those lines start to blur. This piece challenges you to examine what truly stands firm in your leadership and where your standards may have quietly drifted.

Feedback rarely feels like a gift. It’s uncomfortable, inconvenient, and easy to delay. But the moments we avoid are the ones that define our leadership. Feedback isn’t just for others. It’s a mirror, testing our courage, clarity, and willingness to lead with truth.

Ambiguity hides in plain sight, in phrases like “take charge” or “own it.” We think we’re being clear, but those words often mean something entirely different to the person hearing them. This post explores why well-intentioned labels create confusion and how clarity of expectation builds stronger leadership and trust.

We’re taught to chase more, more projects, more goals, more success. But what if the real breakthrough comes from less? Less stress. Less complexity. Less noise. By subtracting, we create space for clarity, focus, and true significance.

When my six-year-old asked, “Why isn’t kindness an Olympic sport?” it stopped me in my tracks. In a world driven by KPIs and dashboards, maybe the real test of success is learning to value what can’t be measured.

Most organizations drown in metrics. Dashboards light up with data, but without clarity on the one number that drives results, teams spin in circles. Confusion creates motion, but clarity creates momentum.

We measure wins in baseball with WAR - Wins Above Replacement. But how do we measure our true value in business and leadership? This piece challenges you to rethink impact, contribution, and what would truly be missed if you weren’t in the game.

Too often, we confuse tactics for goals. A new system or process feels like progress, but those are just tools. Not the destination. True success comes from clarity: knowing what bigger mission those tactics are meant to serve. Before you get lost in the mechanics, ask yourself - What’s the real goal?

Three different leaders told me the exact same thing: “My people won’t make decisions.” The real issue isn’t the people. It’s the system they’re operating in.