Progress is easier to see when we stop long enough to notice it. By late October, it's easy to start looking ahead. Year-end targets. Budgets. Planning. Projects that still need to be finished. Goals for next year. The list of what's left can quickly overshadow everything that's already been accomplished. So before the year-end sprint really begins, I think there's value in asking your team one question: What are we doing better today than we were in January? Maybe communicat

Sometimes the anticipation is half the fun. At our house, Halloween doesn't begin on October 31. It starts weeks earlier. There are costumes to choose—and sometimes reconsider. Decorations appear. Plans are made. The girls start talking about where they'll go, who they'll be with and, of course, how much candy they hope to bring home. By the time Halloween actually arrives, we've already spent weeks enjoying it. It reminds me that looking forward to something is part of the e

Your value as a leader isn’t measured by how much you know. Many of the technical leaders I work with built their careers by becoming very good at what they do. They know the equipment. The process. The numbers. The operation. When something goes wrong, people come to them because they have the answer. Then they become leaders. And suddenly, the habit that helped them succeed can start getting in their way. Leadership requires a different kind of expertise. You don’t have to

The best time to respond to change is before it becomes a problem. In mining, changing seasons don't come as a surprise. As temperatures drop and winter approaches, experienced teams know that conditions change. Equipment, access, schedules, visibility, weather and risk all require attention. You don't wait for the first real problem to start preparing. I think there's a leadership lesson in that. Conditions change with people, too. A team that was functioning well six months

Don’t wait until December to ask how people are doing. There’s something about October. Summer vacations are behind us. The days are getting shorter. Year-end targets are getting closer. And that fresh September “back to business” energy can start wearing thin. This is often when teams quietly shift from busy to depleted. The work is still getting done. Meetings are still happening. Deadlines are still being met. But energy changes. As leaders, we tend to notice burnout when

The people who know us best are often our toughest audience. I spend a lot of time helping leaders become better listeners, communicate more effectively, and manage their emotions under pressure. Then I go home to my family. And that’s often where the real test begins. At work, we talk about pausing before reacting, listening to understand, and being curious instead of immediately jumping in with an answer. Those things matter at home too. As a father of twin girls, I’m const