Here's what this year has taught me: you learn by doing. By setting goals. By having dreams and actually sticking to them. By living it. A year ago, I set a goal to share my leadership experiences through this blog. I didn't know if anyone would read it. I didn't know if I'd have enough to say. I didn't know how it would fit into my already busy life. I had doubts. I had fears. I had a million reasons why it might not work. But I set a plan. I created a path. And I dove in.

If you're reading this and wondering how self-aware you actually are, that's a good sign. People who completely lack self-awareness don't ask that question. Here's how to develop it: Pay attention to the cringe. When you look back at an interaction and something doesn't sit right, don't dismiss it. Explore it. What about it bothers you? What would you do differently? Notice the patterns. If you keep having the same problem with different people, the problem isn't them. It'

The pace of change isn't slowing down. Technology like AI is transforming how we work. Generational dynamics are shifting as new generations enter the workforce and older ones retire. Best practices evolve. Leaders who stay curious adapt to these changes. They learn new tools. They understand new perspectives. They adjust their approaches based on new information. Leaders who think they already know everything become increasingly irrelevant. They keep doing things the way t

Here's the thing. Procrastinating having a difficult conversation doesn't make it easier. It actually makes it harder. Most of the time, the conversations aren't those that I didn't have, because I am not afraid to have a difficult conversation. It's that I waited too long to have it. Let's use a performance matter as the example. Then let's put ourselves in the shoes of being the person with the performance issue. How would you feel if your boss came to you and told yo

When you're decisive, even when you're wrong sometimes, people trust you more than when you're perpetually uncertain. Because they know you'll move things forward. They know projects won't languish. They know you'll take responsibility for the direction you're setting. And when you do make the wrong call, when you realize your hiring decision was a mistake or your strategic direction needs to change, your decisiveness shows up there too. You acknowledge it. You adjust. You m

I worked with someone who wouldn't take accountability for anything. Well, unless it was taking credit for something. For that, credit would be taken. If they made a mistake however, the finger was pointed. The idea they were presenting suddenly became someone else's. The decision they had made became a decision they were overturning. Often this person did all of this behind the backs of others. We watched relationships crumble and trust fail and had no idea why.

Adaptability isn't about being a pushover. It's not about abandoning your values or flip-flopping on important decisions. It's not about saying yes to every change that comes along. Adaptability is your ability to adjust your approach when circumstances change. To stay effective when the plan falls apart. To lead through uncertainty without pretending you have it all figured out. It's recognizing when the path you're on isn't working anymore and being willing to find a diff

I'm very imperfect in communication. Not to say I don't study what works, what doesn't, and make many attempts to regularly do better. But effective communication is hard. The line between too much and too little communication is so fine it's missed often. And here's what makes it even harder: the location of that line changes based on who you're working with, what the topic is, the day or time, the feelings of the other person, and so much more. A perfect way to communicat

A few years ago at a leadership conference, someone pulled me aside during a break. They needed to vent about their boss. What they described stayed with me because it wasn't just frustrating. It was a masterclass in how leadership falls apart when one fundamental skill is missing. Their team had been dealing with project timeline issues. Instead of explaining the actual resource constraints they were facing, their leader told stakeholders the organization had implemented

It builds directly on self-awareness. You can't manage emotions you don't recognize. But awareness alone isn't enough. You also need the ability to do something productive with what you're feeling. Self-management doesn't mean suppressing your emotions or pretending you don't feel things. It means feeling them without letting them control you. It means responding thoughtfully instead of reacting impulsively.

Self-awareness isn't just knowing you exist or being able to list your strengths and weaknesses on a resume. Honestly, it’s hardly any of that. It's the ability to understand how you're showing up in real time, how others are experiencing you, and how your internal state is affecting your external impact. It's reading the room. It's catching yourself mid-sentence. It's recognizing when your approach isn't working and adjusting before you lose the room entirely.

Tracking the wrong leadership metrics? Here's how to measure what actually matters for team health and effectiveness, not just what's easy to count. Here's a confession: I'm a finance person. Numbers are my language. I love data, spreadsheets, metrics, all of it. I can get genuinely excited about a well-constructed dashboard. (Yes, I know that makes me weird. I've made peace with it.) But here's what I've learned after two decades in leadership: most of the metrics we obses

The things I've gained from other leaders include learning everything I can to make smart decisions, collecting data and taking time to dive into a situation before making a knee jerk reaction, the art of storytelling and making real life situations interesting to help people learn and grow, and true compassion for others. But I've also learned what NOT to do. The things I've observed that I don't want to emulate include overconfidence, leading from ego, making decisions bas

There's something about January that makes us all lose our minds a little bit. We convince ourselves that this is THE month. The fresh start. The clean slate. The moment when everything changes. So we create these elaborate plans. We set impossible standards. We try to overhaul our entire lives all at once while still, you know, living our actual lives. And then reality hits.

I apologize when I have to bother someone to get details about a personnel matter. Even when that matter is as important (or more important) to the person I'm "bothering" as it is to the employee involved. Even when it's literally part of their job to provide me that information. Then on the flip side, I apologize when I have to deliver news that isn't what someone wanted to hear. When a project didn't make the priority list. When the outcome of a situation isn't exactly wha

Let me be clear about something right up front. The number changing from 2025 to 2026 doesn't magically transform anything. January 1st is just another day. The sun will come up the same way it did on December 31st. You'll wake up as the same person with the same life and the same challenges. The calendar switching doesn't create a fresh start. YOU create the fresh start. The calendar just gives us the kick in the pants to do it.

It's the last Monday of the year, and if you're on social media at all, you've seen them. The posts about New Year's resolutions. The ambitious lists. The grand declarations of transformation.

As we head into this Christmas, my wish for you is simple: I hope you feel valued, because you are. I hope you feel proud of what you've accomplished this year, even the small things that nobody else noticed. I hope you get a moment of pure, uncomplicated happiness. I hope you feel the love of the people around you, and I hope you let it in. I hope you rest, really rest, without the weight of everything you think you should be doing. And I hope you know that the work yo

Here's the thing about December: the Christmas chaos at home is just one part of the equation. If you work in government like I do, you know that December brings its own special brand of workplace insanity.

That Sunday evening pit in your stomach about Monday? You're not alone. Here's the 3-step system that helped me eliminate Sunday night work anxiety for good. It's 7 PM on Sunday. You should be relaxing, maybe watching a movie or reading a book. Instead, you're mentally cataloging everything waiting for you Monday morning.