In most organizations, attention aligns in layers. Frontline staff solve today’s problems. Managers handle the month. Directors own the year. But there is only one role in the company designed to look over the horizon. To identify where the market is going and how we will win there. That is the role of the Architect….
When I was a young leader, our company followed a rhythm you could set your watch by. We would hold a strategic planning meeting in the spring to review our core purpose and values, progress on our BHAG, and update the five-year plan. Over the summer, we turned that plan into a budget that we’d…
I was heads down developing workshop content for a client’s team meeting. I had the outline open, the cursor was blinking, and I was stuck. I knew what I wanted to do, but the structure wasn’t coming together. The longer I stared at it, the more my mind started to wander, and before I knew…
After a 5-hour flight, we were finally taxiing into the gate. There was a lot of excitement around me. I was headed to LA for training, but a large group of people nearby was headed to Hawaii. They had a tight connection to make the flight to their dream vacation, and they were gathering their…
I spent two hours the other morning struggling to write a single email. I made two different starts. Neither of them felt right. As the deadline for sending it loomed, my frustration and anger rose, further clouding my thinking. My natural instinct in those moments is to bear down. To push harder, forcing the words…
January’s bleak. It’s cold outside. My news feed is depressing. There are no real holidays until Easter, and no days off until Memorial Day. It makes me want to hibernate. But I have some big goals that I want to accomplish this year. I’m creating, growing, and refining my business. I have a kid who…
I am guessing you have some big plans for 2026. You may be aiming to grow your business, launch a new service, or finally land that next-level role. I have been there. In the past, when I wanted to reach a big milestone, I would set aggressive goals—deadlines, targets, the whole bit. And when I…
You’ve reached a new level. Maybe you just landed the COO role, took over the family business, or finally pushed your own venture past the survival stage. You put in the late nights, mastered the details, and proved you could deliver. You have the title, the team, and the reputation. By all accounts, you’ve arrived….
Every December, we sit down with our spreadsheets and fresh notebooks, feeling a mix of exhaustion and hope. “Next year will be different,” we tell ourselves. Next year we’ll be aligned. No more weekends. The team will step up. We map out revenue targets and key initiatives. It feels good. It feels like control. But here…
My friend Dany and I recently rented one of those big, barrel saunas for a weekend at his cottage. They’re incredibly relaxing, and after a couple of days sweating out all my stress, I felt fantastic. The owner was scheduled to pick it up, but he called instead. “You know what? You guys can keep…