As this year winds down, have you paused to celebrate how far you’ve come and what you’ve learned along the way?

Reflection is a cornerstone of effective leadership. It gives us the chance to celebrate successes, express gratitude, learn from challenges, and chart a course for the future.

Psychological safety isn’t just a leadership trend; it’s a crucial foundation for a thriving workplace. While physical safety rightly garners attention—through measures like secured doors, surveillance, and visitor protocols—these efforts overlook a deeper need: the psychological safety of employees.

Succession planning often feels important, but execution is lacking. To do it effectively requires a proactive approach, belief in training and time devoted to creating a leadership pipeline. A strong succession plan allows you to fill vacancies quicker without significant disruption to the organization.

I don’t have enough time to do everything?

How many times have you uttered these words? What about:

I feel overwhelmed?

Values seem to be almost a buzzword lately. I hear all the time about how important culture is, and how organizations need to have values. What I hear less, though, is how to make values a part of the culture (or rather the culture).

Patrick Lenioni’s flagship book, The Five Dysfunctions of a Team, should be required reading for every leader and team member.

Are you a leader?

Do you know how you are doing? Do you ever ask for feedback?

Sometimes leaders feel like they are failing (and sometimes they are).

We hear a lot about the importance of values in a workplace, and there are many organizations who have declared their core values but are they actually part of the culture or are they just posters on the wall.

We are in a leadership crisis.

I say this often (and I truly believe it). But why? How did we get here?

Why does it matter if my team is strong? I have lots of high achieving people on my team.

Does this sound familiar? Ever heard anyone say that?

Have you ever been asked a question and you didn’t know the answer? Probably, most of us have experienced that situation. How we respond, though, varies.

What makes a great leader? That’s the million dollar question without a clear-cut, simple, do this and you’ll rock answer. Ask a group of people and you are likely to get a ton of different answers, but I do think there are a few core skills that great leaders have in common.

Are you a rockstar or a super star? Or do you know? What about for those on your team?

Fail better? I’d never heard that phrase before I first read about it in Michael Bungay Stanier’s book: The Coaching Habit. But as I read it, I put stars beside it and made a note to reflect on it, and it’s been swirling around my brain for the past few months.

Years ago, a student walked into my classroom. He was visibly upset and started rambling at me. I knew he was trying to tell me something, but I had no idea what exactly he was trying to get across.

I’m reading Howard Behar’s Book It’s Not About the Coffee (Howard was a senior executive at Starbucks who worked closely with Howard Schultz, founder, and whose focus was always the people and culture). I actually saw him speak at a conference a few years ago and his talk was titled, “It’s About the People” which fits my belief about a people-centric focus too.

I’ve practiced several different morning routines over the years, but none have really stuck. I understand the importance of a good morning routine, and I am always happier when I can get myself settled and set in the morning before the hecticness of everything starts, but inevitably, the lure of my cozy bed wins out over the alarm clock.

Last week I was excited to take Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead course. It was a long, but amazing, three days and I learned so much. Kim Knull facilitated a fabulous, but intensive workshop.

I have read many leadership books, but I think one of my favorites is still The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. I have read many of his books and they’re all great, but this one distills down characteristics of great teams.

A couple of weeks ago, I was mindlessly scrolling through my Facebook feed when a friend’s post caught my eye(I will call him, Peter - not his real name, but easier than constantly writing “my friend”).

Peter’s post read:

Ugh. Already late handing in an assignment and I just can’t get my fire lit. Help!