I am writing this from 30,000 feet while the moment is still fresh in my mind.

Tomorrow morning, I have a keynote in California. My travel day requires a 4-hour flight departing at 6 p.m.

Around 2:00 p.m., my phone started dinging with text messages from Southwest.

Flight delayed one hour. Flight on time. Flight delayed 45 minutes. Flight on time.

The text messages continued for the next couple of hours. Delayed. On time. Delayed. On time.

Can we agree that there is simply no good time to paint the inside of a house? I recently had a conversation with myself that sounded something like, “Look, self, there is no ideal time for this, but the house really needs to be painted. Let’s just do it now, and you’ll love it when it is done.”

I can be very persuasive.

Soon after that conversation, I hired a painter who, after looking at my home, said I needed to buy five gallons of paint. Five gallons. That felt like a major commitment.

It was clear to me that something was off in her leadership, but I couldn’t name it. So, I shifted into observer mode to see what I could learn. Over time, it became clear that she embraced being in charge but didn’t want to be responsible.

That was a lightbulb moment for me.

Now that I have language for it, I’ve realized this is a common, dangerous, and toxic trait in leadership.

Over the last few years, we’ve watched as companies report strong profits while laying off their employees.

The last time I moved into a new house, it was stressful. Actually, that’s not the most accurate statement—every time I’ve moved, it has been stressful!

There are so many decisions that come with moving. Finding a new home. Making an offer. Going through the closing process. Choosing the day to move. Packing—so much packing. And then unpacking and trying to settle into a new space.

It’s a lot.

During the last move, I found myself face-to-face with a leadership lesson.

I had packed and organized everything, and then the movers arrived. It was clear they knew what they were doing. They walked through the house, talked through a plan, explained how they would approach it, and then got to work.

I hate that I even have this story to tell. It’s been years, but as I type these words, I feel angry and disappointed that this moment ever occurred.

I was still a college coach, and one of our players had a lingering injury.

Our head athletic trainer came by the office and shared that he believed the only path to recovery would be for this student-athlete to go to the hospital, but at this point, she was refusing to do so. He asked if I would speak with her about this, which I was glad to do.

As a college coach, I took a strength-based approach to leading our team. I believed our job wasn’t to fix everything about a player, but to help them do what they do best — and then build a team where those strengths fit together like puzzle pieces.

This approach to developing people and teams has stayed with me for decades.

When I think about skills, I often divide them into three simple categories:

First, I believe over time, most people will learn to identify their superpower. It’s not always glamorous, but it’s consistent. It’s the thing you can rely on when the moment matters most.

I was seated in a circle with a group I had worked with many times before. They had committed to the long haul of team development, the kind of work that isn’t solved in a single workshop, but over time, layer by layer.

When I first met them, things weren’t good. You could feel it in the room. If something didn’t change, people were going to lose their jobs.

But session after session, they began to grow. They started naming the hard things. They brought unresolved conflict to the surface.

Growth isn’t just about surviving, it’s about staying connected to what nourishes you. In this blog, explore why leaders must pay attention to the environments they choose and the sources that sustain them through the difficult and dry seasons.

Leadership is about more than high expectations—it’s about setting your people up for success. In this post, discover how creating the right environment and culture can unlock growth and innovation within your team.

In this post, a simple roof replacement experience reveals key lessons in leadership: the importance of listening, building trust, and providing exactly what your team needs—no more, no less.