Tag: culture
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How to Make Difficult Choices a Little Easier
I don’t know what to move forward on, we need many things and I am struggling to decide what is best. Yep, that was last week’s conversation with a director. Last week we talked about difficult conversations. This week we lean into difficult decisions, because they often go hand in hand. My first question was,…
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Why Leaders Struggle With Difficult Conversations and How to Fix It
I am really struggling with one of the managers I oversee right now. They are not getting the job done. I hear this all too often. To which I respond, “have you discussed things with them and designed a plan?” “Well, I told them they were not meeting deadlines, and it was holding the team…
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The Year I Started Over: Why Change Built My Calling
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…
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The Power of Connection Starts With Your TEAM
We are hitting the middle of summer. Avoid the mid‑summer meltdown. You know exactly what I’m talking about. All staff, part-time included, are going to start burning out from heat, long hours, and working more days than they are used to. And when we are tired, habits slip. The key to overcoming this is uniting…
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Set the Standard: Stop Carrying the Team and Start Leading It
Set the Standard. Set clear expectations. Quit wondering if things are landing with your team at meetings and change the way you conduct them. Eighty two percent of leaders feel they don’t have the time to build consistency and accountability. One in three leaders feel they are the only one holding the team together. Folks,…
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It’s Happening Already: The First Signs of Summer Burnout
It’s happening already and I told you it would. Most people I’ve talked to lately are 2–4 weeks into the summer season and it’s present. They’re already feeling the beginning stages of burnout. It’s true. This is exactly why over the last 6 weeks I’ve been writing about accountability and the H3 Formula: Health, Heart,…
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Busy Being Busy Is Breaking Your Leadership
Let’s be honest, most leaders aren’t burned out because they’re weak. They’re burned out because they’re busy being busy. Summer exposes that faster than any other season. In Parks & Recreation and municipal government, the pace doesn’t just increase it explodes. Your head goes down, you sprint forward, and suddenly someone says, “Hey, when’s our…
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From Burnout to Breakthrough: The Moment Everything Changed
Burnout doesn’t show up all at once. It creeps in quietly — through late nights, constant interruptions, unclear expectations, and the pressure to carry a team on your back. And if you’re anything like I was, you don’t notice the burnout until you’re already deep in it. I used to think burnout meant I was…
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Stop Surviving and Start Thriving
Leadership isn’t easy, it demands time, patience, energy, empathy, culture‑building, and the constant pressure to support others while keeping yourself together. And when your habits and systems break down, everything else follows. I know because I’ve lived it. I’ve been overwhelmed by “all the things,” and it pushed me straight into burnout. Summer is approaching…
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The Courage to Start Without All the Answers
People don’t rise to the challenge they sink to their level of training. And in leadership today, they sink even further… to their level of habits. Over the last couple of weeks, we’ve talked about overwhelm and the power of building systems that protect our teams. Systems create guardrails. They allow us to be present…
