Your reaction teaches people what to say next time. I worked with a leader who couldn’t understand why his team rarely brought problems to him until they had become urgent. He genuinely believed his door was open. And technically, it was. But when someone did raise a concern, his first response was often frustration: “Why didn’t we catch this earlier?”“How did this happen?”“Who dropped the ball?” They weren’t unreasonable questions. But in that moment, before anyone felt hear

Some of the best leadership conversations happen around a BBQ With National BBQ Day coming up, I was thinking about how often people open up when there’s no formal agenda, no pressure, and no meeting invite attached to the conversation. Standing around a BBQ has a way of leveling things out. People relax. Stories come out. You learn what’s actually going on in someone’s world. Over the years, I’ve learned some of the most valuable leadership moments happen in the in-between s

On the Edge of Victory — and Leadership When your team is close to winning, the pressure reveals habits that define real leadership. This week, I stood on the edge of possibility — along with my wife and daughters, decked out in Blue Jays caps and jerseys — watching the scoreboard, hoping for a historic win. The moment felt electric and slightly fragile: one play, one decision, one conversation could tip the outcome either way. In coaching leaders at Nexus, I see the sam