Give and take is fundamental to any human relationship over time. Without clear intentions we can be left in-tension feeling like we’re against each other, but with them we can align our greater aims to grow, together…

Sometimes it feels like we’re awash in generalities, broad-stroke strategies and sweeping statements – the noise is hard to cut through. It’s only in the nuances, the details, the specificity of our questions and answers that the difference gets made. Our results will transform in direct correlation with our willingness to dive deep, have the hard conversations, ask the tough questions, interrogate our beliefs and be rigorous in our thinking. Only within the real work of specificity can we find the alignment and clarity we need to propel ourselves forward.

I love writing, speaking and running workshops with leadership teams… but do you know what I love the most? Seeing the impact of our work. Especially engaging with people who really take it to heart and use it to create an inflection point of change in their work, relationships and lives.

Fear is winning as record numbers of people worldwide believe the future will only be worse than today. Economic uncertainty, global instability, AI disruption and rapid change everywhere we turn is leaving people feeling scared, powerless and lost. Unaddressed, it can’t help but stall our personal progress and business growth. And while moving away from those fears and toward growth might seem like a linear path leading to similar outcomes, they actually diverge towards fundamentally different places.

At a time when AI converses with us like friends, augmented reality changes how we see the world around us and computer-generated content blurs the line between fiction and reality, what can be trusted? The very senses we rely on to interpret and navigate our surroundings are under siege by technologies that can mimic, manipulate, and manufacture realities seemingly indistinguishable from the truth. We need to understand what’s real in our work and our lives to be able to take the right actions.

Reasons may be valid. But they don’t have to be an excuse for why we don’t have the results we want. Of course there are always reasons why things are the way they are, but it’s actually not the reasons that matter alone. It’s our response to them. Only once we take the wheel back from circumstances driving us can we steer towards our real goals.

We’ve all struggled, but that capacity to struggle can be the defining factor of success and growth. Typically, we often opt for the easy route. Asking easy questions that usually yield comfortable, but superficial and impact-less answers. It turns out, that it’s the deeper, harder, more challenging questions – and our response to the struggle they entail – that truly catalyzes growth and learning. Up to 450% improvements in one case…

I’m asked after nearly every keynote what books I recommend. And there are many. Different people in different situations I recommend different books. But here are the top 9 books that have made a huge difference for me in my life and business through it all. And, I bet they’ll have a positive impact on you, too. Check them out here and let me know what you think. In no particular order…

There are magical rubber duckies. You heard me right – they’re little yellow rubber duckies that have continued to magically show up – in the hundreds in every shape and size you could imagine – around my nieces. Big yellow ones, small pink ones, halloween ducks, and New Year ducks, ducks with mohawks and ducks dressed as other animals…

Imagine that within each of us lies an innate force, a compelling essence that naturally pulls us to ascend to great heights and the best versions of ourselves. What would that be like?It might sound like a philosophical dream, but it’s more reality than we often realize.

We all have gaps – gaps in our skill set, gaps in our performance, gaps in our relationships. They might be easier to see now that we’re rolling in 2024. Gaps that are the distance between where we are and where we want to be. Easily said and easily understood maybe, but in practice it’s anything but easy. It can be a profound and challenging process that takes one thing to begin.

The ball has dropped, the New Year is here and you might feel like you’re the hare racing the tortoise – off and running into 2024! Maybe you have new standards in place, new goals to work towards and exciting things on deck. You’re blazing off the starting line and I’m right there with you… But, before you really get running, I (and boatloads of research) suggest: you start here…

It’s time to reframe goal setting as we sit on the edge of 2024. You already know that only a few percent of New Year resolution goals are achieved. But those low numbers don’t leave me in the anti-resolution camp. I think we can use the energy and momentum around us in the New Year to progress. But instead of only thinking about goals, let’s shift to establishing standards – #NoMatterWhat standards – that will inherently guide us toward our aspirations…

Completion proceeds creation. And as we start thinking about 2024 and all the goals, dreams and aspirations to come, stepping into that future requires completing the past. Cleaning out the closets, literal and proverbial, and letting go of what no longer serves us: unfinished tasks, outdated beliefs and unnecessary baggage. Reflecting and decluttering creates space to approach the new year with clarity, focus and renewed energy to set a strong foundation for personal and professional growth in the upcoming year. Here are three questions I’ve used with myself and clients to complete the year and powerfully create what’s next…

2023 has been exhilarating and challenging. A year where each of us, in our own ways, have navigated the complexities of a rapidly changing world – from global instability to economic uncertainty; from AI breakthroughs to post-pandemic breakdowns. No doubt we’ll have more in the year to come, but I’ve been taking a moment to reflect on what this year has been about. For me and for all of us…

Have you ever noticed yourself repeating patterns? Time and again encountering similar challenges? Or, no matter how hard you focus on certain areas, results are about the same? The people change, details shift and circumstances are different – but at the core – it feels oh so similar? Me too. What’s required is to do some cycle breaking before you can do any real change making.

Have you felt physical discomfort before (like you stubbed your toe)? How about emotional discomfort (like you lost a big sales deal)? Of course, we all have. There’s a hidden superpower in that discomfort that you probably don’t know about.

I’ve been studying growth lately -- human growth and company growth -- and the most common models out there seem to be a bit misleading. Or, at the very least, incomplete. You’ve probably seen something that looks like this: