What are expectations? It's knowing what someone can count on you for, and what you can count on from them in return. What you'll do. How you'll do it. What the end result is supposed to look like when it's done. Saying “everyone needs to know what's expected of them” sounds so obvious it barely feels worth saying out loud. Of course that makes sense. Who would argue with it? And yet, in more than twenty years of public sector leadership, this is the piece I watch teams str

For years, every time I asked a question, I got the same reaction. People got defensive. Their shoulders would tense up. Their answers got short. And for the longest time, I couldn't figure out why. Now I understand it completely. And once I did, it changed everything about how I show up at work, and honestly, at home too.

Last week I walked into a room full of finance and human resources professionals. Smart people. Experienced people. The kind of room where you'd think, after 21 years in this field, I'd walk in and simply belong. Instead, I felt that familiar flash. Quick, sudden, gone almost as fast as it arrived, but it still landed. A pang that told me everyone else in that room already had more of what it takes than I did. Not a long drawn out thought. Just a flicker of doubt, there and

Last December, I sat through a conference presentation on permitting and solar farms. I'm not in the permit department. I'm not in engineering. At the time, that presentation meant absolutely nothing to me. But the people presenting had lived it. They'd hit every wall you can hit, chased down every regulation, and dealt with every frustrated landowner and township board along the way. They were generous enough to share what they'd learned, mistakes included. So I listened an

Last week I interviewed 19 people for the same position. One hundred and eighteen people applied. Getting from 118 to a manageable interview list took time, focus, and more than a few passes through a whole lot of resumes. It got me thinking. About the process. About what makes someone stand out. About what hiring managers are really looking for and what applicants often miss. So whether you are on the applying side or the hiring side, this one is for you.