The Choice To Serve

In a world where people are feeling disconnected, distrustful, and overwhelmed, the concept of leadership is often wrapped in some form of mystical and abstract definition, surrounded by inadequate words from the human vocabulary. As a result, many people struggle with what is leadership, and how to lead. When they look around to find the answer, all they see are fear-and-shame-based, or rank-and-yank forms of leadership. And none of this inspires them, or helps them answer the question of what is leadership. 

When I was teaching my year long course on leadership and organizational change, I would have students read nine different books, and numerous articles on the subject of leadership. I remember one time during our third class session, a student came up to me during a break, and they were deeply frustrated.

“I’ve done all the readings, Geery, and none of the authors you assigned agree with each other. Every one of them sees it from a different angle. So, what’s the truth around all of this?”

“You’re right,” I replied. “This is why you need to decide, based on the research and your own personal experience, what makes sense to you, and what works best given your skill set and mind set. You need to find your clarity, and your truth on this subject.”

“Huh. Okay. I will do that.” And over time, they did just that. They found their answer, and became a very effective leader in their organization.  

For me, the best leaders I know are stewards of what matters most, and, at the exact same time, they are 100% focused on building a better future for all. They embrace this two prong approach of stewardship and service, and live with the tension between these two elements, namely a desire to maintain what is important, and a desire to improve what is most important. 

Right now, I fear that too many people have come to tolerate, and even expect, that leaders always act in a self-centered manner. As Patrick Lencioni in his book,  The Motive: Why So Many Leaders Abdicate Their Most Important Responsibilities (Wiley, 2020), writes “… if reward-centered, self-centered leadership becomes the norm, young people will grow up believing that this is what it means to be a leader….. I believe it’s long past time that we, as individuals and as a society, reestablish the standard that leadership can never be about the leader more than the led.” Then, he continues “… leadership is meant to be joyfully difficult and selfless responsibility…. Perhaps people will stop using the term ‘servant leadership’ altogether, because everyone will understand that it is the only valid kind. And that is certainly worth doing.”

From my perspective, the pathway to this kind of leadership requires something that is rarely, if ever, discussed in the world of leadership. As James Kerr in his book, Legacy: What The All Blacks Can Teach Us About The Business Of Life (Constable, 2013), writes, “The first stage of learning is silence, the second stage is listening.” What the best leaders understand is that on-going learning is mission critical to being successful as a leader, and that it begins with learning to be quiet. I like this old Gaelic phrase which I think captures the spirit of this idea, namely “quietness without loneliness.” It is hard to do, and it makes the listening element even better. 

Many years ago, our oldest son took his mom and dad on a multi-day hiking trip in the southwest. In my earlier years, I had done a lot of hiking and camping, and was pretty confident that I could handle this trip. Since my own hiking equipment was dated and not in the best shape, our son borrowed some newer equipment from friends.

On the day we were packing our backpacks, a variety with an internal frame that I had never used before, our son watched me struggle with how to load it so the weight was evenly distributed. In my old back pack from the late 60’s which had an external frame, I knew how to do this with my eyes closed. In this one, I was baffled. 

He watched me struggle for a while, and finally said: “Do you want a pro tip, Dad?”

I answered, “Sure” and stuck out my hand, thinking he was going to give me some physical item.

He smiled, and said: “Cannon balls before feathers. Put the heavy items closer to your hips and the lighter items toward the top.”

I looked at him, and I looked at this modern back-pack, and then I smiled. He was 100% correct. I was loading it wrong, and this insight was the solution. I also smiled, because while I had done it in the past, it did not mean I knew how to do it in the present. I needed to be open to learning, and being taught. 

Next, this form of leading others requires us to understand something else that is rarely discussed in the world of leadership. James Kouzes and Barry Posner in their book, A Leader’s Legacy (Jossey-Bass, 2006), note, “If we’re going to be authentic in our leadership, we have to be willing to serve, and we have to be willing to suffer.” The first time I read this I had to stop reading, and really ponder this deep insight. Because in my work as an executive coach, I have met many people who are suffering, and who have suffered. As Kouzes and Posner explain, “Everything leaders do is about providing service.” And the best leaders are passionate about serving. Still, “... the word passion in any dictionary that includes origins you’ll see that it comes from the Latin word for suffering. Passion is suffering!” And suffering is normal. 

Still, if we grasp this insight, we recognize one more thing that Kouzes and Posner shared that makes sense: “When we choose to lead every day, we choose to serve. Leading is not about what we gain from others but what others gain from us.” Our hope as leaders is that what people gain from us is clarity, connection, and confidence in order that they can serve others, too. 

Furthermore, as we define leadership as the combination of stewardship and service, I am reminded of the following quote by the American basketball coach, John Wooden: “A player who makes the team great is better than a great player.” What I have noticed about great leaders is that they are team focused, especially in the areas of building and maintaining a cohesive leadership team. As Patrick Lencioni in his book, The Advantage: Why Organizational Health Trumps Everything Else in Business (Jossey-Bass, 2012), notes: “Becoming a real team requires an intentional decision on the part of its members…. teamwork is not a virtue. It is a choice - and a strategic one.” And a critical role of the leader is to choose people who will work well as a team, especially players who will “make the team great,” referencing Wooden’s early observation. 

One unique element about these leaders is that they create a good climate or internal environment on the team. Lencioni calls this “vulnerability-based trust.” As he explains in the aforementioned book, “At the heart of the fundamental attribution error is the tendency of human beings to attribute the negative or frustrating behaviors of their colleagues to their intentions and personalities, while attributing their own negative or frustrating behaviors to environmental factors.... Of course, this kind of misattribution, where we give ourselves the benefit of the doubt but assume the worst about others, breaks down trust on a team.” Therefore, he continues, “The only way for the leader of a team to create a safe environment for his team members to be vulnerable is by stepping up and doing something that feels unsafe and uncomfortable first.” 

This is where I have spent a great deal of time coaching leaders who want to embrace stewardship and service as their form of leadership. In particular, we discuss the power and importance of role modeling key behaviors as a leader and as a team member. Recognizing that each leader has different strengths and talents, great leaders build on the strength of their team members and their respective teams. They recognize that trust is built on clarity, experience, and compassion, recognizing that all involved are doing their best even on the days that they struggling on the inside and/or outside. When leaders comprehend this insight and this perspective, they can serve their team and the company in an authentic and healthy way too.

Fourth, as leaders choose the combination of stewardship and service, they must discern the difference between ripe and unripe issues. When I taught my year long course on leadership and organizational change, I would ask the students to read an  interview of Ron Heifetz, the director of the Leadership Education Project at Harvard University’s John F Kennedy School of Government, in an article called “The Leader of the Future” by William Taylor in the June 1999 issue of Fast Company magazine. Many would complain that the article from 1999 was so “old,” and “why couldn’t they read something written more recently.” However, once they had read the article, they always said it was very helpful and good. 

In one section of the interview, Heifetz explains the concept of a “productive discomfort zone.” He notes that “Drawing attention to tough challenges generates discomfort. So you want to pace the rate at which you frustrate or attempt to change expectations.” Then he writes: “That means distinguishing between ‘ripe’ and ‘unripe’ issues. A ripe issue is one in which there is a general urgency for action. An unripe issue is one in which there is local urgency -- a readiness to change within just one faction. The work that it takes to ripen an unripe issue is enormous -- and quite dangerous. It needs to be done, but it's different from working a ripe issue.”  

This is such a simple concept, and yet such a powerful concept. Leaders, who embrace a reward-centered and self-centered form of leadership, don’t care about their people. They just want what they want, and don’t choose to ripen issues. Instead, they force things through the organization in order to get them done. The outcome of this choice is the creation of massive levels of distrust and, over time, a complete destruction of continuity and teamwork within the organization. 

Jim Collins, in his book, How The Mighty Fall and Why Some Companies Never Give In (HarperCollins, 2009), calls this the “Hubris Born of Success.” As he explains, “Great enterprises can become insulated by success; accumulated momentum can carry an enterprise forward, for a while, even if leaders make poor decisions or lose discipline… [decline] kicks in when people become arrogant, regarding success virtually as an entitlement, and they loose sight of the true underlying factors that created success in the first place.” This whole perspective is the result of leaders believing “We’re so great, we can do anything!”. And as a result, people become disengaged. 

However, when leaders choose to steward what matters most and serve their people, they can discern the difference between ripe and unripe issues. Then, thoughtfully and carefully, they can execute their plans related to the ripe issues and to ripen the unripe issues. The outcome from this choice is the on-going building of trust and commitment, plus teams getting stronger and more resilient in the face of difficult or challenging times. 

What leaders need to understand is something that Brené Brown put so bluntly and clearly: “There is no app for transformation.” They also need to understand that there is no app for leadership. When an individual chooses to combine stewardship and service, they recognize that every person’s life has meaning, and every life has an influence, and is being influenced by other lives. We are all connected, and truth be told, every person is seeking a life of connection, purpose, and meaning. It is from this foundation that an individual will, over time, become a great leader. It is worth the time, effort, and energy to pursue this course of action because the outcome will always be transformational. 

© Geery Howe 2026

Geery Howe, M.A. Executive Coach in Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Change

Questions Are Just As Important As Answers

Right now, leaders at all levels are being bombarded with questions about big and small problems. Every leader I know feels pressed to come up with the right answers and the right solutions. Furthermore, they feel pushed by limited time, energy, and resources to get it right. They also don’t want to make any short or long term mistakes, strategically or operationally. As a result, they are deeply worried, sometimes afraid, and often overwhelmed with anxiety. 

When we visit, they share with me that everything and everyone feels out of control. They also see very little, if any, predictability moving forward. As I listen to the depth of what they are experiencing, I am reminded of a quote by Mr. Rogers: “In times of stress, the best thing we can do for each other is to listen with our ears and our hearts and to be assured that our questions are just as important as our answers.” 

This perspective is not easy for many leaders to accept, because their journey through the land of leadership was based on their ability to fix things and provide the right answers. They rarely were promoted for asking the right questions. Nevertheless, the best and experienced leaders know that questions are just as important as answers. 

So, in these moments when people are struggling, I routinely ask the following question:  “What questions do you have for me today?” While this question surprises many young leaders, they often respond to my question with “I have a ton of questions.” And then, we begin. 

Given their many questions, I choose to respond with curiosity rather than judgment. I also respond with openness and a willingness to think collectively about the answer. But in the beginning, we often discuss why and where their question is coming from. It does not surprise me that many people believe they should always have the answer, and do not feel like they have permission to ask a question. And when they are given permission, they do not want to ask a dumb question. But as their executive coach, I assure them that having questions is normal and important. 

This choice to ask and to listen carefully to a question requires us both to be present to facts and feelings. We also have to respect the dignity of our individual and collective experiences. It invites us to not seek, or to try and create a perfect or permanent answer. Instead, together we strive to find an understanding, a touch stone, or a well spring from which to draw upon as we face the challenges and the questions before us. 

As American entrepreneur and author, Gary Keller notes: “Life is a question and how we live it is our answer.” And the work of an executive coach is to help people live into the answers. Poet Rainer Maria Rilke understood this as well when he wrote: “Live your questions now, and perhaps without knowing it you will live along some distant day into your answers.” With the creation of safe spaces to ask questions, support, and perspective, we can live a life where questions are as important answers. We also can give ourselves permission to keep asking questions even when they are challenging and complex. 

This week, remember the wise counsel of Deepak Chopra: “If you live the questions, life will move you into the answers.” 

© Geery Howe 2026

Geery Howe, M.A. Executive Coach in Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Change

Seeking Order Within Disorder

There are days when life just feels crazy and chaotic, especially if you are in a leadership position. Centuries ago, when this happened, people would say that things were going to hell in a hand basket, meaning things or people were spiraling out of control, and everything was rapidly becoming a disaster. 

As a long time executive coach, I routinely meet people who have experienced this, or who are currently experiencing it. And everyone one of them will ask me some variation of this question: How do I create order in the midst of disorder? It is a great question, and an important question. However, the answer to this question takes a fair bit of exploration, sharing, and thinking. 

First, we need to discern the difference between order and disorder. As defined by the dictionary, order is an arrangement of people or things in relationship to each other according to a particular sequence, pattern or method. Order promotes stability, security, and predictability. Order often refers to something that is harmonious, and purposeful in contrast to something that is confusing, and chaotic. Disorder, on the other hand, is a state of confusion, or an illness or condition that disrupts normal physical or mental functions. While a disease is a specific medical condition, disorder is a disruption in the normal function of things that may not have a known cause, and is a cluster of symptoms or causes. 

With the above in mind, when we seek order within disorder, we are seeking stability, security, and predictability, especially when it is harmonious, and purposeful. The pathway to this experience has three components. First, we must know what matters most to us in our lives, because this will define our priorities and choices. As a Vermont farmer told me many years ago, “When it comes to making big decisions in my life, I know what is most important. It’s God, family, and then the farm. When I am good with the first two, I can handle what every happens in the third area of my life. The first two make my life meaningful and gives me a sense of purpose. The third is important, but if I lost the farm, which I hope never happens, I will always have God and my family. And that will always make a difference in what ever happens next.” Knowing what matters most always creates perspective and inner stability even in the midst of disorder. 

Second, we must keep learning and keep listening to and/or reading from a diversity of voices and experiences. As Father Richard Rohr points out, “According to the great spiritual teachers, ignorance does not result from what we don’t know; ignorance results from what we think we do know.” Therefore, we must be committed to life-long learning from a diversity of sources and people. I like how the poet Mark Nepo captures the importance of learning: “Life is an apprenticeship in being receptive.” When we continue learning and listening, we are more receptive, and we discover important lessons to be learned in the midst of disorder. 

Third, we must know ourselves, inside and out. For many, this is a tricky process. People want to know what makes them tick, for lack of a better term, but they don’t always like the process, and the work involved in creating this level of understanding. In essence, they want the happy feeling of knowing without the effort of going through the process of figuring it out. While there are many ways to know yourself, one unique way of doing this is to visit with people who you think role model this way of living and working, and asking them how they did it. Then, choose which pathway works best for you and your life. And recognize that knowing yourself is an ever evolving process of gleaning new insights and understandings. 

The choice to seek order within times of disorder is an important one. Mark Nepo in his book, The Fifth Season: Creativity in the Second Half of Life (St. Martin’s Essential, 2025), writes “How do we stay close to what matters in a daily way in the midst of so many detours and distractions? Three essential ways come to mind. We stay close to what matters by remaining wholehearted, by clearing the confusion that constantly visits us, and by quieting the voices of lack that hoard what we have and compare what we don’t to all that is around us.” When we choose to remember what matters most to us, and when we keep learning and listening in combination with seeking to know our selves better, we discover an inner feeling of stability, security, and predictability, which is harmonious, and purposeful. And this is what allows us to be clear, confident and connected during times that are disorderly and chaotic.

© Geery Howe 2026

Geery Howe, M.A. Executive Coach in Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Change

The Delta of Complexity

After exploring problem solving within complexity, slowing down in the midst of complexity, and the importance of asking better questions during complexity in this blog, it is time to explore one more area of complexity, namely the delta of complexity.

A delta is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, and a symbol used in mathematics and science to represent a change or a difference. It also is a landform created at the mouth of a river where it meets a slower-moving or standing body of water like an ocean, sea, or lake. As a river enters a large body of water, its velocity decreases, causing it to loose the sediment that it has been carrying. This then creates a delta. For our purposes here, think of the Mississippi River delta at New Orleans. 

When exploring the delta of complexity as a metaphor, we need to recognize that more than 250 rivers and streams flow into the Mississippi River, forming a vast drainage basin that covers a third of the United States. While there are hundreds of smaller tributaries, the most significant include the Missouri, Ohio, Arkansas, Illinois, and Red Rivers. Each of these rivers are carrying large amounts of sediment, and over time, they all flow into the Mississippi. 

For those who are interested, the source of the Mississippi is Lake Itasca in Minnesota. One year, a long time ago, we went there on a family vacation. I actually stepped over the spot where the Mississippi River begins it’s 2,350 mile journey to the Gulf and the Mississippi delta. At the source, the water is crystal clear. When this river enters the Gulf, the delta is approximately 3 million acres in size. Now, that is a lot of silt and sediment built up over time. 

So, how do we proceed when we find ourselves at the delta of complexity?

The simple answer is that we must choose to be still, and let the the sediment of complexity drop away. Then, we can see the flow of complexity, and discern, and better understand the sources from which the complexity arose. This choice may sound easy, but it is neither simple nor easy, because it requires us to comprehend that being still and doing nothing are not the same thing. Instead, being still starts with being centered, and engaging in uninterrupted reflection.

For many, the concept of being centered sounds like a mix of 1960’s hippie stuff and more recent New Age stuff, all blended into one vague concept that is not very applicable. Nevertheless, this is neither 1960’s based or New Age based. Instead, it is very old choice. Nowadays, it is often called mindfulness, a practice of paying attention to the present moment without judgement or reactivity. Whatever the name and the source, the key is to utilize it during complexity. 

When you become centered, you are attuned to what is happening around you and within you. It is characterized by being calm, staying grounded, and connected to one’s core values, and sense of self. It also involves being aware of your thoughts and feelings without being overwhelmed by them, and by making decisions based on clarity rather than feeling overwhelmed or reactive. This depth of balance allows an individual to remain composed and present, even in the midst of complexity. In short, we find peace, perspective, and insights within the feelings of things being chaotic.

From this place of being centered, an individual can strive to see the larger dynamics happening around them, and their own, internal responses to these dynamics. They also have the patience to discern how the bigger picture is changing, and whether or not the risk profile is changing. Then, they can determine if the current strategic plan, or the current operational systems are able to adapt to these changes. But most important, they can focus on the sources of these changes and attempt to understand how the current environment is going to change, or be influenced by them, e.g. think about the short and long term implications of AI or robotics on your line of work. 

In the beginning, we need to create time and space for uninterrupted reflection. We also

need to seek insight, rather than solutions, because complexity is always dynamic. Next, we need to find safe and respectful people who will listen non-judgmentally, and be present with us as we share our thinking out loud. Finally, when one is struggling with how to do this level of reflection and it’s related work, I would read these two books by Cal Newport:

- Deep Work: Rules For Focused Success In A Distracted World, Grand Central Publishing, 2016.

- Slow Productivity: The Lost Art of Accomplishment Without Burnout (Portfolio/Penguin, 2024).

Being centered and staying centered takes time and energy. Doing in-depth reflection at the delta of complexity takes patience and openness. Yet over time, the outcome of these choices results in a level of understanding about ourselves and about what is happening within us and around us. As Daniel Goleman writes, “Self-awareness means having a deep understanding of one’s emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and drives. People with strong self-awareness are neither overly critical nor unrealistically hopeful. Rather, they are honest - with themselves and with others.” And when we find ourselves at the delta of complexity, this level of honesty and understanding are profoundly helpful and important. 

So, this week, create time and space to become centered. Then, engage in honest and holistic reflection so you and those you lead can better handle complexity. 

© Geery Howe 2026

Geery Howe, M.A. Executive Coach in Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Change

Ask Better Questions During Complexity

Right now, because of issues related to dealing with complexity, many leaders are pushing their teams for more action, and more effort. They want 200% commitment, and perfect execution. In short, they want all of the time, focus, and energy they can get from the team, and they want it, morning, noon, and night. 

What interests me the most about this form of leading people is that very few leaders are actually focused on outcomes. Instead, many tell me that they want success. When pressed on what this means, it often translates into achieving the goals as defined in the strategic plan, or someone’s annual performance plan. 

I often respond to this line of thinking with a simple question: “So, what difference will that make?” Once the goal is accomplished, we all know that the company will set new goals. There will always be new expectations, and there will always be more things to get done than time available. So, what is the outcome of all this action and effort? 

This is a simple question on one level. Yet, as I visit with more and more leaders and managers, I have come to realize that few, if any, can articulate the line of sight from the goals that they are trying to accomplish to the mission or the vision of the organization.

I believe that the current intense focus on action and effort reflects leaders feeling pressed for time. I also believe it reflects leaders holding unrealistic expectations when it comes to execution. This is happening, in part, because the definition of success is binary, namely done vs not done. There is no connection to mission or vision. There also is no understanding that in order for action to be successful, it actually needs to be successful over time, namely that it happens again and again, quarter after quarter, year after year. 

Brené Brown in her book, Strong Ground: The Lessons Of Daring Leadership, The Tenacity Of Paradox, and The Wisdom Of The Human Spirit (Random House, 2025), understands this perspective when she wrote: “Our job is not to move things off our desk and our to-do list, but to think strategically about systems and to anticipate…. Strategic thinking is more about asking the right questions than finding perfect, strategic plans.”

Jim Collins in a conversation with Brené Brown, as shared in the aforementioned resource, said: “Sound strategy is impossible without clear vision. Muddled strategies flow from muddled vision; clear strategies flow from clear vision. If you want to have a good strategy, you need to first understand with piercing clarity what you are trying to achieve. A good strategy determines how you will achieve your BHAG [Big Hairy Audacious Goal], guided by your purpose and consistent with your values. Vision then strategy then tactics.” 

At this time period, I think we have lost the vision, mission, and the core values that should be guiding action and effort. I also think we have lost a great deal of strategic thinking. Instead, we are just doing a lot of strategic reacting. 

I get that most leaders want perfect plans, and perfect execution. But, in reality, they need to be asking better questions. As Dr. Sarah Lewis, award-winning art and cultural historian, author and professor at Harvard University writes: “The mental discipline and flexibility required to sustain excellence is different, and often harder, than the exertion it took to get there in the first place.” With this in mind, we need more mental discipline and flexibility if we seek to create on-going and sustainable levels of excellence. And this begins with better questions such as What is mission critical right now?, What are we trying to achieve right now, and why?, and What will be the outcome of our actions?.  

With clarity of mission and vision, we can be successful over time even in the midst of complexity. It will take great effort and hard work, but when there is clarity around the outcome, and direct line of sight from action to goals to strategy and ultimately to vision, then the results are impressive. This week, I urge you to ask better questions and create clear lines of sight. 

© Geery Howe 2026

Geery Howe, M.A. Executive Coach in Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Change

Slowing Down In the Midst Of Complexity - part #2

From Resilience to Thriving

Tasha Eurich in her book, Shatterproof: How to Thrive in a World of Constant Chaos (And why resilience alone isn’t enough) (Little, Brown Spark, 2025), writes that many people right now are “stressed-out strivers: goal-oriented people seeking success and fulfillment, who feel exhausted by chronic, compounding challenges across multiple areas of life (work, career, romantic relationships, family, friends, health, community, and the world).” In this wonderful resource, Eurich argues two things: “First, because resilience is a limited resource, it alone may no longer be a complete coping strategy in this increasingly chaotic world. And second, the best response to constant chaos is not merely to survive it, but to harness it in order to become the best version of ourselves.”

She then says that there are three things needed to thrive. As she writes, “The first three-to-thrive need is confidence: the belief that we’re effective in our actions, capable of achieving out goals, and able to grow and learn new things. The second three-to-thrive need is choice, means feeling free to function without pressure or threat, acting with agency and integrity, staying true to ourselves. The final need is connection, the sense that we belong, get along with others, and experience mutual closeness and support…. Fundamentally, confidence keep us growing, choice keeps us authentic, and connection keeps us together.” 

From my experience, trusting relationships are critical to building healthy connections and a healthy level of community. With these two in place, i.e. connection and community, we can create time and space to pause, de-accelerate, catch our breathe, and gain perspective. We can then move from chronic rushing around, perpetual exhaustion, and continual reactions. Instead, we recover the capacity to move from “emotional and/or cognitive intensity,” referencing Brené Brown’s earlier writing, to emotional and cognitive clarity. This helps us be resilient, and then to thrive in the midst of complexity. 

An On-going Commitment To Learning

Second, in order to de-accelerate and begin to feel less overwhelmed, we need to make an ongoing and long term commitment to in-depth learning and studying. This perspective often surprises people. Most think the solution is time management and understanding the difference between strategic challenges and operational problems. While these may be very important, I approach the need to slow down in the midst of dynamic complexity from a different angle.

Over the last 6+ months, I have been asked numerous times about how I get started, and ended up becoming a consultant, executive coach and trainer in leadership, strategic planning, and organizational change. The people, who are asking me this good question, are individuals who are considering becoming themselves one of these things, or are currently doing it and want to become better at it. Often, these individuals will point out that I got my BA in history with a minor in education, taught high school history for five years, and later got my MA in instructional design and technology. In no way, does this pathway typically lead to being a consultant, executive coach, and trainer in leadership, strategic planning, and organizational change. And, for the most part, I agree with them, though I do point out that the world of training and development, and the world of teaching are nearly one and the same thing. 

What surprises most people is that as I walked the aforementioned pathway, I was always interested in such topics as leadership, teamwork, managing people, and/or communications. Then, as I was invited to do consulting, coaching and training, I choose to do three things at the same time. First, I read everything that I could get my hands on related to specific topics, e.g. teamwork. Being a former history major in college, where we were often assigned 1-2 books per week per class to read, I was a good, and fast reader, who knew how to take notes and where to find key information within those notes. I have a folder in my computer of notes from 100+ different books. They are my library of insight, for lack of a better term. And I am still reading books today because I am still interested in these subjects. 

Next, every time I met a leader who I believed was a good leader, I would ask them what they were reading. Over the course of 90 days, it always stunned me that the best leaders were all reading the same books. So, if two or more leaders in this category, were reading a specific book, I went out and read it too. Then, I studied that book to distill out the key information in order to be able to communicate it to others or reference it in my coaching work. In short, I followed the old Boy Scout motto, be prepared, and I was always learning and preparing myself for what was happening now, and what might be happening in the future. 

Third, I had the courage and where-for-all to listen to my elders and mentors. I understand that not everything in life can be learned from a book. Sometimes, you just have to go to the source, and listen to the full story in order to gain a deeper appreciation and understanding of a specific subject. Overall, it was the combination of these three things, i.e. learning and studying, listening and reading, and finally going to the source of those who have walked this pathway before me, that generated capacity in me to pause, regain perspective, and more thoughtfully respond to the world around me. 

Envisioning the Future

During times of complexity, the world can seen like a hot mess with multiple troughs and Grand Canyons of chaos happening all around us. But Brené Brown in her book, Strong Ground: The Lessons Of Daring Leadership, The Tenacity Of Paradox, and The Wisdom Of The Human Spirit (Random House, 2025), offers an important perspective: “The future can’t be predicted, but it can be envisioned and brought lovingly into being.” And when we choose to do this work together, especially at the individual and group levels, we can, with discipline and on-going focus, lovingly bring this vision into being. 

The first step is to slow down during times of complexity. We do this by understanding the difference between feeling stressed and feeling overwhelmed. Then, we must build trust and move from a focus on resilience to one on thriving. This, along with an ongoing commitment to learning, will all make a difference. 

As these collective actions take place, we then will fully grasp the wisdom shared by executive coach, Aiko Bethea. As she writes: “There is no growth or transformation without expansiveness.” And now, given all that is happening, we need to envision an expansive and inclusive future where all can feel safe, respected and have a sense of  belonging. Then, we can gain perspective, and respond from a place of clarity and connection. This is the beginning to a new and better future for all. 

© Geery Howe 2026

Geery Howe, M.A. Executive Coach in Leadership, Strategic Planning, and Organizational Change