The Leadership Challenge®

On the day that we celebrate our Veterans, I reflect on the people who have served this country; putting aside their own needs and safety for a larger purpose. I grew up learning about service from my father, who served in the Marines during the Korean War. I didn’t learn the stories of sacrifice and…

I have the wonderful opportunity to work with leaders of all stripes and shapes. It is a joy to work with established leaders late in their career who are thinking about the legacy they are leaving within their organizations. It is also a great joy to work with people that are just finding out they…

People want to follow leaders who have a vision. Although team members may respect what Yogi Berra contributed to baseball, they aren’t interested in a leader who leads the way forward using Yogi’s famous quote, “When you come to a fork in the road, take it.” Yet even the best vision for your team’s work is…

The power of gratitude is evident in all aspects of our lives. Maintaining a positive perspective on the things that happen around us goes a long way to being able to manage them and move forward. It can be easy to let the challenges that come up wear us down. Sometimes life can feel unbearable…

Teaching leadership is always a joy for me, and never more so than when I feel that I am providing real value for people engaged in community development efforts. My latest opportunity to do this came in the fall of 2017 when I was able to deliver The Leadership Challenge® to just such a worthy…

In this installment of the Learning from History series, I studied George Washington. George Washington, widely thought of as the “Father of our Country”, was an accomplished leader who helped our fledgling republic earn its independence. He helped launch America through his actions. I found, as with most great leaders, that The Five Practices of…

In this next installment of the Learning Leadership from History series, I cover Florence Nightingale. I became interested in seeing how certain leadership practices came to light throughout history.  As the very proud son of a nurse, I wanted to look at how Florence Nightingale created such change in the nursing profession. I found, as…

We have the pleasure of having a wonderful Jiu-Jitsu school in our community and there are many lessons there that are valuable for everyone. McHugh’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, led by Professor Pete McHugh, is a rapidly growing community of excited, happy people who are learning and developing their skills in this art. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is a…