July 2 is Halfway Day, which makes it a perfect time to pause, review your goals, and decide what deserves your attention for the rest of the year. I did my own midyear check-in and realized I could use your help with one of my biggest goals for 2026: turning my Guiding Leader concept into a book. I would love to know your top three questions about how to communicate with clarity and lead with confidence.

One of the best parts about traveling to speak is having the opportunity to explore places I’ve always wanted to visit. While in South Dakota to present a leadership workshop for the Independent Insurance Agents of South Dakota, I arrived a day early and finally crossed Mount Rushmore off my bucket list. Here’s what one of America’s most iconic landmarks taught me about leadership.

Last week at the Community Bankers Association of Georgia LEAD On Conference, I was reminded that people learn and communicate in different ways. The best leaders recognize these differences and adapt their approach accordingly.

Ever notice how complicated making simple decisions feels when you are under pressure? Whether you’re leading a team, managing a project, or sprinting through an airport trying to catch a connecting flight, pressure has a way of testing your judgment. Here’s a simple framework for making better decisions when the heat is on.

When we were growing up, our mom had a daily ritual: every afternoon, she sat in her chair, put her feet up, and read a book. At the time, I thought she was just taking a break. Now I realize she was teaching my sisters and me one of the simplest lessons in leadership: burnout prevention starts before exhaustion.

Long before “psychological safety” became a leadership buzzword, yogis and early Christians were already teaching the same principle: people contribute more when they feel safe and valued. When the pressure is on, does your team feel safe enough to ask questions, admit mistakes, and tell the truth?

Letting kids tie their shoes is where patience goes to be tested. It’s also a perfect lesson in leadership: If you always jump in and do it yourself, you may get out the door faster—but you’ll be tying shoes until college.

Nothing motivates you to listen to feedback quite like the possibility of being mauled by a bear. One of the best lessons I ever learned about feedback came while backpacking as a Girl Scout in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Quick question: What’s the worst kind of boss you’ve experienced? I asked this in my newsletter and the responses were…painfully specific. There’s a pattern here, and it says a lot about how many leaders are still operating in “hero” mode. Here’s what I’m seeing—and why it’s not working.

Ever been in a meeting where the tension rises so fast you start wondering…is this still a team meeting or the opening scene of Fight Club? Conflict isn’t the problem. Avoiding it, or mishandling it, is. Here’s how to handle conflict without turning it into a full-contact sport.

The last few weeks of a semester have a way of turning everything up—the pressure, the pace, and the number of things competing for attention. Watching my students navigate these last few weeks at Georgia Southern reminded me of something simple but powerful: busy seasons don’t create leadership habits—they reveal them.

It would have been easy to make a quick decision. But one question changed everything. This is a friendly reminder that listening is one of the most strategic things a leader can do.

Change is hard because it can be uncomfortable. The real challenge for leaders is not just setting direction, it’s managing the emotion that comes with it.

Most conversations don’t break down because of what’s said—they break down because people aren’t aligned on what kind of conversation they’re having. This simple adjustment fixes that.

AI is creating a lot of noise—and even more uncertainty—at work right now. Here is how to lead your team with clarity and confidence when you don’t have all the answers.

One of my first big assignments on Capitol Hill was researching and writing a response to a constituent letter—back in the prehistoric era before Google. Looking back, it was a leadership lesson on the difference between delegating and dumping.

Every January we make extremely confident predictions about our future selves. By now, many of those predictions have already proven…optimistic. It’s a perfect example of the Overconfidence Trap—and it affects leadership decisions more than we realize.

It’s easy to spend an entire quarter being productive…and still not move forward. Here is a quick reminder from the Cheshire Cat on why leaders must look up from the to-do list long enough to choose a direction.

Empathy at work is often misunderstood. Too many people think having empathy means being nice. It’s not. It is about helping people get better. Here is a simple way to balance care and accountability without lowering standards.

Leaders don’t burn out from the big decisions. They burn out from the hundreds of small ones that never should have needed their attention in the first place. Here’s how to reduce decision fatigue so you can focus on the choices that actually require leadership.