ARTICLES

For more than a century, most organizations have been built on a command-and-control mindset: leaders issue orders, workers comply, and success is measured by efficiency and obedience. Yet people have changed, work has changed, and expectations have changed. Today, most employees want what you and I want—control over their work, room to grow, and leaders who trust them enough to let them think, not just execute. A Brief History of Command and Control Command and control did n

In a planetary gear system, the carrier is the quiet hero—connecting sun gear, planet gears, and ring gear so everything turns in harmony. Communication plays that same role in organizations. It's not flashy, but without it, even the best strategies grind to a halt. I've spent years refining and trying to figure out better ways for teams to communicate. After countless morning huddles, one-on-one check-ins, and hard conversations, three principles emerged—what I call the 3 P'

I’ll be honest: a big part of me feels like I’m the wrong person to write about this. But that discomfort is the reason I am writing this. I’m not a therapist. I don’t have letters after my name. I still feel a little clumsy even using the word “suicide” in a conversation. But I’ve also noticed something over the years: almost everyone feels that way. Most people are uncomfortable talking about mental health and suicide, especially at work. And that might be the biggest reaso

If you want people to do their best work, you have to get the environment right long before you talk about motivation, culture, or performance. S.P.A.C.E. is a simple way to remember the five essentials leaders must design on purpose—not leave to chance. When these five areas are solid, people stop burning energy just trying to survive the workday and start investing their best effort into the mission. S – Safety Safety is the promise that everyone goes home at the end of the

Leadership doesn’t grow from stone pillars—it grows from living roots. Before you can lead any system, you have to cultivate the six roots of leadership within yourself. These aren’t tactics or management tricks. They’re the inner disciplines, quiet decisions, and daily reps that make everything else possible. Picture a tree: the underground roots anchor the trunk—you, the leader—and feed the canopy above—your team and organization. The stronger the roots, the higher the grow

We love to say, “A rising tide lifts all boats.” When one person or team levels up, their example can lift everyone around them. I’ve seen that over and over in organizations: good ideas and strong cultures are contagious. But there’s another side of that tide we don’t talk about enough. Sometimes the water doesn’t rise. Sometimes it drains. One person with low standards, low energy, or toxic behavior quietly lowers the tide for everyone around them. Proximity Cuts Both Ways

The Leader's Living Tree—that's you—thrives through every season, deepens roots, drops seeds that grow new forests. Leadership isn't a destination. It's a living legacy that comes alive through connection with others. Roots: Six Foundations Spreading Underground Leadership grows from six living roots: Identity, Model the Greats, Self-Mastery, Relationships, Impact over Position, Practice. These spread beneath the surface—inner mindset and daily disciplines that anchor your tr

Your supervisors avoiding hard conversations is not a minor leadership flaw; it’s the most common management mistake and the one that quietly does the most damage. The mistake usually isn’t saying the wrong thing—it’s doing nothing and hoping the problem will sort itself out. The most common mistake: doing nothing One of the best bosses ever told me, “The most common management mistake is doing nothing,” and, if being honest, that has probably been my biggest mistake too. Whe

The future of leadership in government isn’t about choosing between efficiency and culture—it’s about building systems that deliver both, relentlessly moving us forward while keeping our team strong and connected. Jim Collins nails this in Good to Great, where Level 5 leaders confront brutal facts—like our reactive firefighting—while maintaining unwavering faith in the endgame: sustainable progress through disciplined systems, not just hustle. Cities I’ve worked with often ex

Months ago, I wrote about the Emperor Moth and The Coddling of the American Mind , exploring how overprotection—whether in parenting or elsewhere—robs people of the essential struggle that builds resilience and strength. Today, that same dynamic plays out in leadership. We’ve all heard of “snowplow parenting,” where well-meaning parents clear every obstacle from their kids’ paths. In the workplace, we do the exact same thing: snowplow leadership. We rush in to solve problems,

Every promotion creates a Competence Chasm between your proven skills and the new leadership demands ahead. Humility is the only reliable bridge across it, turning potential failure into lifelong growth. What Is the Competence Chasm? The Competence Chasm is the deep, treacherous gap that opens with every promotion—the divide between the technical strengths and task mastery that earned you the role, and the new demands like mentoring, strategic thinking, emotional intelligence

It’s that time of year again—the season of new gym memberships, colorful planners, and lofty resolutions. We all want to be better, do more, achieve something meaningful. And yet, every January, thousands of us set goals we’ll quietly abandon by February. I’ve been there too. The truth is, goals by themselves aren’t the problem—it’s how we use them. Goals give us direction, but they rarely create real progress. Progress comes from systems—the daily, repeatable actions that mo

Every organization, sooner or later, faces a tough call: What do you do with an exceptionally talented person who poisons the well? As a manager and consultant, I’ve seen this play out repeatedly—not just in offices but on baseball fields too. Take Barry Bonds, for example. He was as talented as anyone who ever played the game, but teammates often called him a bad teammate, demanding special treatment and stirring friction in the clubhouse. The Giants made it to a World Serie

Under the lights, my nine-year-old son took the mound, his face a mix of concentration and nerves. He’d pitched very well all season, but...

As leaders—and as people—we all hit moments where we feel stuck, especially when things don’t go our way. I’ve found myself tangled in...

When most people hear “discipline,” they think of restriction. But I’ve found the opposite to be true, both in my personal routines and,...

In my earlier article, Consistency Over Intensity, I talked about the 1911 race to the South Pole between Roald Amundsen and Robert...

The well-known exercise of writing your own obituary, popularized by self-help experts and career coaches, asks you to clarify your...

As anyone who’s spent time in city government knows, expecting total consensus on every issue is a losing game. Cities aren’t monoliths,...

When I developed my organizational model based on a planetary gear, I wanted each part to have real meaning. People are at the center as...