A year ago today, life changed in a big way. Change is not always easy, but sometimes it is needed.
July 4, 2025, was my final night of a one-month stint living in a hotel while closing out my job duties.
Oh yeah, my son was living in the hotel with me while he closed out things. In May of that year my wife and daughter had already moved back to Colorado.
You see, my son committed to attend Colorado State University (CSU). My daughter asked about moving back to where we had previously lived five years prior so she could finish high school with her friends. My wife worked for CSU and her job classification would be changing in December, requiring her to live in the state again.
For more than twenty years every move this family made was based on my job.
Ohio to Colorado to Texas to Colorado to Ohio and so the story goes. A parks and recreation professional, working in sports management, and a high school football coach.
This though, this was different. I had to embark on uncharted territory.
My son was graduating high school, and we made the decision that I would step away from football after sixteen years of coaching.
I obtained my Jon Gordon speaker and trainer certification, my 3D Coaching certification, and went through ICF training so I could start a side hustle helping people and teams.
With the life decisions listed above, this idea of a side hustle quickly became the plan. Not as a side gig. It was the gig.
Scary? Yes.
Awkward? Yes.
A test of patience? Yes.
This venture made me a little uncertain. It was a major identity shift for me, and I was hopeful I could create the same impact for teams as I did for the ones I previously led.
On July 6, 2025, I woke up in this strange house in a bed I had never slept in before and did not know where anything was to even grab a shower. It was my new house though. A new area.
Day by day, one step at a time, we continued forward. Putting the house together. Putting the business together. Helping people along the way.
Easy? No.
Rewarding? Yes.
If I am to help teams create the environment for change, I suppose I need to navigate this myself.
I love working with teams and watching the magic as they discover new pathways. That is what keeps me going.
As I explore this new journey of mine, coaching, speaking, and training, I also think about the journey new leaders go on. The journey transitioning teams experience. How we try hard to maintain continuous improvement and make it more than a catchy buzz phrase.
Much like building a team, this journey has its ups and downs.
In speaking with teams, I hear the same things repeatedly. Teams highlight being too busy to do development, culture focused work, or values alignment. And here is the risk when leaders are too busy for those things: culture erodes, burnout rises, and alignment disappears.
I can speak from experience. If you are too busy for those things, you will struggle to reach your objective and frankly, in most cases, never get there.
Culture is greater than strategy every day of the week.
It takes leadership and culture to navigate strategy. Just like a strategic plan without a capital budget is not going anywhere.
From my professional experience, my business journey, and speaking with teams across the country, here are some key components:
Create:
- Connection
- Clarity
- Alignment
- Commitment
- Accountability
- Consistency
If you focus on these things, you will create a team that cares.
A team committed to values.
A united team, and we know united teams serve in a bigger, consistent way.
Over the last year I have met so many new people. Sometimes leaders are just in a rut. Sometimes teams are struggling because they need change and are not sure how to create it.
Quit riding the doom loop. Having someone help you is ok. Trying new things is ok.
If you need help designing new values that fit your team or need to get out of the doom loop, I am here to serve.
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