First posted on LinkedIn in June 2025. By now you’ve likely heard that, for the second time in one year, Ohio-based JoAnn Fabrics has filed for bankruptcy. This time, though, they are closing all of their stores and relieving all of their employees of their jobs. You might be thinking, what happened?! JoAnn’s was killingContinue reading “JoAnn Fabrics: A Fall From Grace”
Category Archives: Leading with Moral Authority
Revisiting Civic Assembly: An update on my experience with Unify Akron
10 weeks ago I posted about my first impressions of deliberative democracy and civic assembly. I was just moving into my role as a facilitator for Unify Akron at that time. The closing ceremony was last week and the civic assembly has now come to a close. As we embark on the impact team phaseContinue reading “Revisiting Civic Assembly: An update on my experience with Unify Akron”
Community Spotlight: Marketing that Makes a Difference at Hercules Express Wash
My advanced Leadership class, Leadership in the Trenches, ran last week at Madison Adult Career Center (MACC) and, per usual, we had a super engaged and compassionate group of leaders in the classroom. We discussed everything that a manager might need to thrive in the strategic, creative, volatile, and uncertain space that executives and seniorContinue reading “Community Spotlight: Marketing that Makes a Difference at Hercules Express Wash”
It’s Official, my “Speak Up” cards are a hit. Get yours here.
Last week I ran my Conflict Resolution program (The Elephants Among Us: Talking about the Hard Things at Work and Beyond) for the energetic staff at the YMCA of North Central Ohio and I’m proud to share that, once again, my Speak Up cards were extremely well-received. Speak Up cards are a small deck ofContinue reading “It’s Official, my “Speak Up” cards are a hit. Get yours here.”
“I’ll be back for part 2!”
My March Leadership Bootcamp just wrapped up and I have to admit that I think I have more fun each time I run it. This time, EVERY attendee gave the program the highest rating possible in ALL categories! Maybe we’re hitting our stride? As a reminder, Leadership Bootcamp is a two-day, twelve-hour introduction to authenticContinue reading ““I’ll be back for part 2!””
Leadership Circle Profile: Take your team, and your career, to the next level
I’m excited to share that I now offer the Leadership Circle Profile (LCP) as part of my executive and leadership development services. The LCP is a powerful 360-degree assessment tool that empowers the shift necessary for true and lasting individual and team transformation. What makes this assessment different is that it looks at both theContinue reading “Leadership Circle Profile: Take your team, and your career, to the next level”
Am I a modern Luddite?
I was at a meeting the other day when, after a bit of small talk, the conversation shifted to AI. It seems that everything shifts to AI these days. It floods our LinkedIn feeds with AI slop, blocks our use of every piece of software we encounter with it’s pop-ups and sidebars, and prevents usContinue reading “Am I a modern Luddite?”
On local business’ role in a thriving community
My reading list so far this year has been pretty heavy on community development and civic leadership topics. And it’s got me thinking. In the same way that those of us in the business advising space think of a business like an ecosystem, a collection of loosely coupled entities that all work together to createContinue reading “On local business’ role in a thriving community”
The world needs fewer leaders, more “First Followers”
We have a tendency to romanticize the person who brings us innovative, new, or breakthrough solutions to sticky problems. The lightbulb (Edison), the automobile (Ford), X-rays (Curie), and more, we put the person who brought it to the masses on a pedestal, look to them as someone to emulate, someone we can learn from, whoContinue reading “The world needs fewer leaders, more “First Followers””
Reflecting on a year in transition
I moved back to my hometown last year because I inherited the family farm. Returning to a small, rustbelt community after being away for literally decades was a bit of a culture shock. In some ways it was good and in some ways, not so good. But mostly I’ve discovered that things aren’t necessarily betterContinue reading “Reflecting on a year in transition”
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