But implementing that vision meant confronting my own paternal instincts. I had to unlearn habits built over years: controlling outcomes, protecting people from discomfort, making decisions for them. It was uncomfortable. It required humility. But it was liberating. Continue reading Why I Stopped Being the Boss: How Teal Leadership Changed My Life
But under the satire lies a deeper truth: we are five generations sharing the same workplaces—Traditionalists, Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z—and we’re still trying to understand each other. While older generations bring experience, younger ones are often branded with unfair labels like “fragile” or “lazy.” Continue reading What If They’re Not Fragile, But Equipped?
My book, Better Places: Building Stronger Communities with Authenticity and Compassion, is not a manual or a memoir in the traditional sense. It’s a deeply personal reflection on how we learn to love, how we sometimes unlearn it, and how—if we’re lucky—we find our way back to something more unconditional and human. Continue reading Discovering Willful Interdependence in ‘Better Places’
I thought it was a joke. Where I came from, admitting exhaustion was weakness. Needing space was career suicide. But in Norway, trust wasn’t earned through burnout—it was extended by default. Continue reading 🛠️ What Happens When We Stop Assuming the Worst About Our Employees?
We’re all writing the future of work—whether we mean to or not. Let’s write one where people belong. Let’s write one where joy is not an accident but a strategy. Let’s deliver happiness—not just as a brand promise, but as a collective practice. Continue reading Why Authenticity Matters in the Age of AI
For the first time, I stood beside people from all walks of life—different races, incomes, hometowns—and we were equals. We had one mission. One code. One team. The Navy didn’t erase our differences, but it unified us in something larger than ourselves. Continue reading The Healing Power of Military Community
I didn’t succeed because I was self-reliant.
I succeeded because others were there to catch me when the systems did not. Continue reading Why Independence Myths Harm Our Kids
I’ve tried hard not to mention active political figures on this blog. I do that intentionally—not because I don’t have opinions, but because I don’t want to lose readers to the haze of partisan vitriol. Political passion, as we see it now, is often short-sighted and misdirected. It burns hot, fizzles fast, and rarely invites the kind of careful thought that builds understanding or trust.
But this week, I’m making an exception. Continue reading Taming the Jackal: Why Language Matters More Than Ever
Yet—just as in 1995—I also feel a flicker of frustration. So much power, and yet so few ideas come to mind for how to wield it. Innovation still begins with inspiration. Continue reading Welcome to the Inspiration Economy
“We are still shocked by what has happened, but we will never give up our values. Our response is more democracy, more openness, and more humanity… We will answer hatred with love.” Continue reading The Path Forward: Lessons in Leadership from Two Tragedies
Better Places 