There was a lot going on. And I wasn't taking particularly good care of myself.

Like a lot of leaders, I was taking care of everything else—and putting myself somewhere down the list. I was experienced, committed, and deeply invested in the work. But I wasn't bringing my best self to it.

I was more reactive. Less patient. Less energetic. Less resilient.

The work was hard.

But eventually I had to ask myself:

Was the job the only thing making it hard?

What happens when an organization invites people to speak up—but shuts them down when they challenge the prevailing narrative? A personal leadership lesson about psychological safety, organizational risk, and why the questions we least want to hear may be the ones we most need to hear.

What I thought would simply be a difficult conversation unexpectedly became an important leadership lesson — I learned more about trust than I had ever anticipated.

In this second part of a two-part series, I explore what makes accountability actually work.

It’s not about lowering standards or avoiding responsibility. In many cases, the traditional approach—assigning blame to correct behavior—actually backfires.

Effective accountability is about restoring trust.

When things go wrong, real reassurance comes from supporting those impacted and learning from what happened so we can improve moving forward.

When things go wrong, leaders are expected to act decisively. In our case, we did exactly that—making changes, holding people accountable, and signaling strength.

It felt right. It also didn’t work.

In this first part of a two-part series, I reflect on a critical moment that challenged my understanding of accountability, the hidden assumptions behind it, and how our response ultimately eroded trust instead of restoring it.

That phrase kept coming back to me as I looked ahead to the year in front of me. After a long “in between” season—stepping out of a 25+ year career in wilderness therapy and an 18-year role as a co-founder—the question became clear: What does it look like to go all in?

Over the past year, I’ve been navigating one of the biggest transitions of my life — professionally and personally. This is a reflection on endings, uncertainty, and what it looks like to begin again when the identity you carried for decades suddenly shifts. It’s about grief and gratitude, fear and trust, and following the small “breadcrumbs” that appear when the path ahead isn’t clear.

If you’re in a season of transition — or supporting others who are — this one’s for you.

Leaders don’t get to choose when a crisis hits—but we do get to choose how we respond. In my career, one incident pushed Open Sky to the edge and exposed something as worrisome as the crisis itself. What happened next taught me critical lessons about trust, culture, and the hidden cost of the blame trap.

If you lead in a high-stakes environment, this is a story—and a shift in mindset—you won’t want to miss.

Even the most capable leaders can lose their footing. I did. It wasn’t until I finally reached out for help that I began to rebuild — not just my confidence, but my capacity to lead with authenticity and purpose. “Embattled to Empowered” shares how coaching transformed my leadership and why asking for help might be the bravest move a leader can make.

When was the last time you truly invested in yourself—not for productivity’s sake, but for your own growth? A recent men’s retreat reminded me how essential this is for all of us who lead and care for others.