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  • Mic Drop; It’s Turns Out It’s Better To Give Than Receive

    From “I Must Be Authoritative” to “I Will Be Giving” ALIGN Trait: CharacterSubconscious Myth: “I must be authoritative.”Conscious Alignment: “I will be giving” Art Imitating Life: The Devil Wears Prada’s Miranda Priestly She didn’t ask for respect. She demanded…

  • In a World Of Toxicity Be More Like Ted

    Empathy is the Secret Weapon When collaboration breaks down, it’s rarely because people can’t work together. It’s because they don’t understand each other. Picture this: marketing wants to launch fast, while engineering wants to ensure everything…

  • The Amazing Leadership Illusion That Only Fools The Leader

    The Illusion of Control—The Power of Reflection As an executive, you’re expected to have answers. You chart the course, allocate resources, and provide confidence when others doubt. But here’s the paradox: the more control…

  • When The Team Member is Terminated

    Terminations Suck Hey, everybody. I wanted to take a minute to do something that hopefully will be helpful for everyone. One is I wanted to provide a little insight and way in which companies, when they…

  • The Art of The Deal Involves Your Ethics

    Winners Align Their Value-Based Decision ALIGN Trait: CharacterSubconscious Myth: “I must be winning.”Conscious Alignment: “I will be ethical” Art Imitating Life: Breaking Bad’s Walter White Walter White didn’t start off a villain. He started off needing a win—something to…

  • The Thrill of Being Challenged As an Executive Leader

    When Was the Last Time You Were Challenged—Not Just Supported? At the C-suite level, praise is easy to come by. Your title commands respect. Your presence changes the room. Your opinion often becomes the…

  • The Courageous Power of Transparency In Professional Relationships

    Power From “I Can’t Be Weak” to “I Can Be Flawed” ALIGN Trait: AttitudeSubconscious Myth: “I can’t be weak.”Conscious Alignment: “I can be flawed.” Art Imitating Life: Iron Man’s Flawed Genius Tony Stark is arrogant, brilliant, and deeply flawed.…

  • The Struggle To Hear At The Top of The Ladder

    The Higher You Climb, the Harder It Is to Hear the Truth Being a C-suite executive means you’ve made it to the top. But there’s a quiet irony waiting there: the higher you climb,…

  • The Grand Canyon of Leadership And How To Cross It

    Your Title Doesn’t Equal Trust—You Still Have to Earn It There’s a dangerous assumption in leadership: that once you reach the top, trust is a given. You’ve earned the position, the office, the authority.…

  • The Supreme Power of Listening and Learning In Life.

    From Needing to Be Heard to Choosing to Learn ALIGN Trait: AttitudeSubconscious Myth: “I need to be heard.”Conscious Alignment: “I desire to learn.” Art Imitating Life: The West Wing and the Power of Listening In The West Wing, President Josiah…

  • Create A Plan That Actually Gets Implemented

    Drive Change that Doesn’t Die in the Binder Using the Shift Matrix to Deliver Real Transformation Let’s be honest: the graveyard of abandoned initiatives is deep. How many times have you seen a leadership…

  • The Power of Feedback and How To Win With It!

    The Feedback You’re Not Getting Is Costing You More Than You Think When was the last time someone on your team surprised you—with honesty? Not a status update. Not a PowerPoint summary. But a moment where…

  • Procrastination: How toMake I’ll Get To It…I got it done!

    Breaking the Procrastination Loop ALIGN Model Focus: Shift Your Attitude: “I Need” becomes “I Desire” S – Situation You’re behind again. Not because you don’t care — quite the opposite. You do care, which is why you’re…

  • How To SHIFT From Being Needy to Necessary At Work and in Life

    From Needing to Be Valued to Choosing to Bring Value ALIGN Trait: BehaviorSubconscious Myth: “I need to be valued.”Conscious Alignment: “I desire to bring value.” Art Imitating Life: The Office and the “Value” Trap In the hit series The Office,…

  • Great Leaders Pay Attention To The Quiet Problem Others Can’t Hear.

    Solve the Right Problem, Not Just the Loud One Using the Shift Matrix to Drive Clearer, Smarter Action There’s a sneaky little leadership trap that even brilliant executives fall into: solving problems that aren’t…

  • Conflict: How To Gain Clarity Before Crucial Conversations

    You Can’t Solve What You Can’t Name Let’s cut to it: Most workplace conflict resolution meetings start too soon. People come in hot—hurt, defensive, unclear—and try to “talk it out” without even knowing what…

  • Let The People Speak Into The Culture

    From Compliance to Commitment When team members say they “get the values,” but behavior tells a different story, you’re not dealing with rebellion—you’re dealing with disconnection. SHIFT Matrix shows us how to move from…

  • CEO, Heal Your Company, Ask the Hard Questions.

    Ask the Questions No One Else Is Asking Using the Shift Matrix to Build Insight as a Strategic Superpower The best executives don’t always have the answers. But they almost always have the questions that unlock…

  • Making Your Amazing Culture Sticky and Long Lasting

    Culture Drip—Small Things That Keep the Big Things Alive Leaders often think culture must be reinforced with big moments—retreats, launches, or sweeping programs. But culture isn’t created in one dramatic splash. It’s cultivated in…

  • How To Keep The Flame of Culture Burning

    When the Flame Fades—How to Reignite Cultural Commitment Culture isn’t a poster on the wall or a speech at the annual retreat. It’s what people do when no one is watching. But over time,…

  • Conflict & The Great Hope of Resolution

    Why Addressing Conflict Isn’t the Same as Solving It Let’s talk about that one awkward workplace conversation everyone remembers—but no one mentions afterward. Maybe it was two coworkers hashing it out during a tense…

  • C-Suite Leaders Reap What They Sow in Culture

    What You Reward Is What You Reproduce Using the Shift Matrix to Shape Culture Through Habits Every organization has a culture. Two questions, is it healthy or unhealthy? – and – Is it intentional…

  • Be The High Impact Leader. Resist Autopilot Syndrome

    You’re Not Stuck—You’re on Autopilot If your team feels like it’s going nowhere fast, it’s probably not because they don’t care. It’s because they’re stuck in habits—routines that were once useful but are now…

  • Executive Awareness – Seeing the Big Picture of Your Business

    See the Whole Board, Not Just the Next Move Using the Shift Matrix to Sharpen Executive Awareness C-suite leadership isn’t a game of checkers. It’s chess—multi-layered, strategic, and constantly shifting. In the language of…

  • Seven Life-Changing Lessons From Spending Time With CEO’s.

    I Never Expected To Learn These Things (And Still Have Much To Learn) I’ve spent the last 10 years coaching, advising, interviewing, and occasionally just sitting quietly near high-performing CEOs, hoping their brilliance would…

  • You Can’t Fix What You Don’t See

    Its all In Your Eyesight In most workplaces, the fire alarms are metaphorical: deadlines missed, meetings filled with passive-aggressive eye rolls, Slack messages that sound like smoke signals. Leaders rush in with solutions—throwing tools,…

  • Witness the Power of Reigniting Purpose In Your People

    Hidden In Plain Sight Even the most values-driven cultures can hit seasons where the deeper purpose gets buried under the grind. You hear it in the tone. You feel it in the Zoom fatigue.…

  • Executives…Scale Something Besides Your Stress

    7 Traps High-Performing Executives Escape Let’s face it—being a high-performing executive is mostly about navigating a never-ending obstacle course… blindfolded… while juggling flaming torches… and smiling for the board. But the real danger isn’t…

  • The Conversation Container

    Build the Space Before You Step Into It Most conflict conversations go off the rails not because people are terrible communicators, but because the space isn’t ready. Imagine inviting someone into a room that hasn’t…

  • CIO/CTO’s Play With A Full Deck of Trust

    House of Cards: When Tech Teams Lose Trust Situation (Assess) In House of Cards, power depends on perception and once trust fractures, the whole thing collapses. Same goes for your tech team. You might have top talent, but if there’s low trust, high turnover, or backchannel resentment, innovation dies in silence. Habits (Identify) CTOs and CIOs sometimes over-index on outcomes and underinvest in relationships. You reward delivery but ignore dysfunction. Your standups are quiet. Your skip-level meetings are superficial. And you’ve got one or two toxic high performers that no one wants to confront. Insights (Empathize) Technical teams don’t always speak up. They’ll stay heads-down, disengage quietly, and walk when they find a better culture. Leadership isn’t about pushing harder—it’s about making it safe to be honest and real. Trust is your most valuable architecture. Formulation (Solve) Apply the SHIFT Matrix like a relational debugger:S – Situation: Map team dynamics. Who talks in meetings? Who doesn’t? Who owns what? Where’s tension simmering?H – Habits: Track how often praise, recognition, or real feedback show up. Are you only showing up when something breaks?I – Insights: Ask your team anonymously: “What would make this a place where you could do the best work of your life?” Then actually listen.F – Formulation: Build rituals of recognition and repair. Introduce regular feedback loops. Don’t just hire for skill—develop for trust.T – Transformation: Move from high-functioning to high-trust. Create a culture where it’s safe to speak, safe to fail, and safe to succeed without politics. Transformation (Results) Loyal, aligned teams who innovate because they want to—not just because they’re paid to. That’s the difference between retention and reinvention.

  • When Emotions Hijack the Conversation

    When the Unexpected Becomes The Reality You’re mid-conversation. You’ve done the work—you approached it calmly, clearly, and with respect. Then, boom. Something you said lands wrong.The tone shifts.You see the other person’s face tighten.Their…

  • The Amazing Feeling of Winning Back a Sidelined Leader

    Hint: They Got There For A Reason Sidelined leaders often aren’t lazy or disengaged by nature. They’re casualties of misalignment: unclear expectations, lack of inclusion, poor coaching, or outright neglect. When leadership later demands teamwork, the result is awkward at best—hostile at worst. Here’s how a proactive, problem solving leader can leverage the SHIFT Matrix to rebuild trust, contribution, and culture. S — Situation: Get Clear on What’s Really Happening Your teammate wasn’t always disengaged. Something happened. Your job is to figure out what—and to name it without blame. Ask: Then, have a direct, private conversation to acknowledge what they’ve experienced. You’re not defending it. You’re owning that it happened. Language Tip:“It seems like you’ve been left to figure a lot of this out alone. That’s not fair to you—or the team.” This simple recognition is a door-opener. H — Habits: Interrupt the Isolation Loop Isolation becomes a cycle: You can interrupt it by intentionally changing your own behaviors: Reintegration is relational, not procedural.No amount of new project assignments will fix what isolation broke. They need meaningful connection first. I — Insight: Shift from Resentment to Responsibility The myth leaders believe is: “If they were serious, they’d just re-engage.” The conscious alignment is: “People need support to re-engage when they’ve been left out.” If your teammate is dragging their feet, it may not be defiance. It may be defense. Pride, confusion, or fear of being shamed can all masquerade as laziness.…

  • Move The Conversation Forward

    How To Get Off Repeat You’ve had the tough talk.The air got thick, maybe voices rose. But eventually… it started to settle. And then? It circles back.Again.And again.Same issue. Slightly different words.You feel like…

  • How To Let It Go, Even If It’s Not “Resolved”

    When You Can’t Agree – Create Closure Without Consensus Some conflicts don’t get wrapped up in a neat bow.You talk it through. You listen. You explain.And still—at the end of it all—you just don’t…

  • The Indelible Mark of A Great Doctor; Serve The People.

    From Good to Great: Becoming the Physician Leader Your Community Deserves “Medicine is a science of uncertainty and an art of probability.”— William Osler The science of medicine demands precision. The art of leadership…

  • You Heal Others, Now Design a Career That Heals You, Too

    Designing a Career That Heals You, Too “The physician should not treat the disease but the patient who is suffering from it.”— Maimonides Most doctors enter medicine full of passion and purpose.But somewhere between…

  • The Irrefutable Nexus Between A Happy Workplace & Healthy Patients.

    Diagnosis Culture: Every Hospital, Clinic, and Office Has One But Is It Healthy? Sir William Osler, often considered the father of modern medicine, taught that “the good physician treats the disease; the great physician treats…

  • How Influence Trumps Authority In The Area of Medicine

    Why Influence Matters More Than Authority Dr. Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman to earn a medical degree in the U.S., didn’t wait for permission to lead. She became leadership through action, not title. In healthcare, you…

  • Why Being a Great Doctor Isn’t Enough Anymore

    Congratulations! There is More to Learn Than Med-School “Wherever the art of Medicine is loved, there is also a love of Humanity.”— Hippocrates You didn’t sign up for medicine just to clock in and…

  • One Heart, One Hustle: Why You Can’t Be Two People at Work

    In the era of superhero movies and secret identities, it’s easy to fall into the trap of thinking we need to wear different masks at work. We might believe we need to be “Professional…

  • How To Know You’re Not Faking It.

    In the 1999 cult classic film Galaxy Quest, aging has-been actors from a 1970’s sci-fi television show find themselves transported to another galaxy to play out their characters in real life. An alien race…

  • What Tiger Woods Actually Won At The Masters

    News feeds are glowing this week with the admiration and celebration toward Tiger Woods on the well-earned win in the 2019 Masters Tournament. Pundits are peeking into the future and prognosticating the likelihood of…

  • Mastering Difficult Conversations

  • The Lessons You Don’t Plan On Learning

    An Involuntary Vow of Education. One tenth of a second. One blink of an eye. One split second decision. One thought of “Nah, we don’t have time to go to the store, let’s head…

  • What Jalen Hurts Teaches Leaders

    For The Love of The Team When it comes to classic winning moments in sports, one of the more profound leadership moments in college football history happened at the 2018 BCS National Championship this…

  • Bring Out Excellence In Yourself and Watch Others Shine

    What You See Is What You Get Building morale requires having the ability to see people and relationships accurately in the moment. It is a high-level skill for leaders who operate in a what…

  • Give Them Something To Talk About

    Good Leaders Ask Great Questions Here is a common set of questions in everyday conversation: Person 1: Hey! How are you?Person 2: Good…you?Person 1: Fine…awkward silence..and end of conversation. How often do we get…

  • 5 Perspectives That Can Set You Free

    Feeling Trapped   John and Brooke met and fell in love quickly. Their compatibility was high, and the relationship was strong. After a few years both expressed a verbal interest in future in marriage…

  • How to Determine your Marketing Budget

    Small business owners should never overlook the importance of marketing. No matter how good your products or services are, people need to hear about them first, and marketing is the best way to spread…

  • Are You Living A Why?

      Asking The Question That Can Change Your World Why is the sky blue? Why are we here? Why do people do bad things? Why is the earth round? Why do I have brown…