Blog 2 Column

A Season of Change, Arriving Just Now

Apr 2, 2025JohnUncategorized

The first quarter of 2025 is closing, and (depending on where you are) Spring has either already sprung, or it’s teasing its approach. Change, too, is everywhere: advancing, arriving, arrived. I’ve been out on the road a lot this month – working with clients on the things we do (strategic planning, leadership development, improving operational results). We’ve been in retreat centers and executive conference rooms, had lively discussions with mid-level managers and staff, and conducted a bunch of individual, personal interviews with principals and shareholders. Concurrently, I’ve also been immersed in research – the background work we do to better […]

The Elevation of Leadership and Business Success

Apr 1, 2025JohnUncategorized

Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of leading a session of our Management Essentials Program (MEP) with the senior management team of a client firm. This intense, full-on, two-day immersive workshop is always energizing – and usually exhausting. MEP is the foundational piece of our larger, fully comprehensive leadership program XLD! The Extraordinary Leadership Development Experience – laser-focused on principal level management and leadership, personal growth, and elevated business performance. XLD is a highlight of our practice and professional work – and central to our mission of supporting professional services firm leaders to plan for the future, grow their […]

Rise, Strive, and Thrive – in 2025

Apr 1, 2025JohnUncategorized

Two days after Christmas, lights flickered on quite early at our home. It was 3:00 am when we all arose, and after ferrying my older son James to Logan airport for an extra-early flight back to Texas, Megan and I drove to the local hospital to check me in for a ‘TKR’ – a total knee replacement – scheduled for that morning. Everything went as planned, I was out of surgery by mid-morning, and after a one-night stayover I was home, on the couch, and beginning the journey back to normal. This was my second TKR (I’m now out of […]

Our ‘Be Extraordinary’ Short Clip

Dec 16, 2024JohnUncategorized

Recently, I traveled to Los Angeles – and then on to the hills of Malibu– to join up in an annual in-person retreat of professional peers, mentors, accountability partners, and close friends – for a couple of days of big ideas, mind stretching possibilities, and success planning for our future. [You do have, yourself, at least one of these groups, right?] While we were there, one of these friends – the amazing Chris Cummins [find him here] – shot a short, handheld phone video of me (and others) simply walking around the amazing retreat property. It was nothing more than […]

We’re Thankful for Hard Things

Dec 2, 2024JohnUncategorized

In the US, we’ve just finished our National Thanksgiving – and kicked off the end-of-year rush into the holiday season. Along with the busy, this season also offers its own complexities: celebrations and losses; slowing down, and racing forward; important endings, and new beginnings. Most of us have a lot to celebrate – beginning with acknowledging the extraordinary life lottery we’ve won by simply living here, in this country, and in this time. Indeed, it’s far from perfect, always an ongoing work in progress, and with unlimited opportunity for improvement nearly everywhere. And yet, still there are millions and millions […]

‘Some Time for Me?’ (Asks the VIP)

Nov 25, 2024JohnUncategorized

One thousand plus executives. Over the last twenty years, I’ve worked – as a business consultant and strategic adviser – with more than a thousand top executives (CEOs, Presidents, Partners, Owners, Managing Principals). A hundred or so of these leaders have become clients for an extended term. A couple of dozen have become close friends. “On a 1 to 5 scale – I give John a six!” (President, Engineering Firm) Along the way I’ve found something strikingly similar in nearly all of these people: they’re often quite alone. There are, of course, many benefits to being in charge: autonomy, authority, power, […]