I enjoy wearing many hats throughout my day.  I love being entrepreneur, student, inventor, teacher, athlete, explorer, researcher and father. Over the years I've discovered that in all of these roles, my ability (or inability for that matter) to lead with clarity, confidence and compassion determines my success (or failure). 

I define leadership as one's ability to consistently act in alignment with one's values.

Whether I'm acting as CEO of EXLI, developing technology like Pollinate.life or teaching a mindfulness/emotional intelligence program like Search Inside Yourself, my ability to consciously embody my core values and align my actions with them, is what ultimately determines the efficacy of my leadership in any given moment. True leadership isn't about words; it's about action. I've learned the hard way that fake it till you make it just doesn't cut it in situations that require true leadership.

All of my work, therefore, involves helping individuals, teams and organizations cultivate core, action-oriented leadership skills. Over two decades of professional and personal experience have led me to base my approach on the following three principles:

Leadership Can Be Learned

Recent advances in neuroscience and positive psychology have clearly demonstrated that what we call leadership consists of specific behaviors that enable individuals and/or groups thrive.  We are now able to identify (and quantify) specific competencies that comprise effective leadership.  What we used to think of as innate abilities have now clearly been proven to be trainable skills.  What makes this kind of learning different, however, is that leadership is not something that can be simply taught in a lecture hall.  It has to be experienced; felt on a visceral level and ultimately integrated into one's being.  

Leadership Is Highly Personal

Leadership is a personal expression of our core values and is brought to life in every facet of our personal and professional activities. Leadership skills are not selectively applied -  we literally are what we repeatedly do. Cultivating leadership skills is a highly personal process with profound implications on everyone we interact with. Learning these skills requires courage, vulnerability and a life-long growth mindset. There's so much we don't know about the human condition, and I have great respect for the role of awe and wonder in this process. In my experience, the answers to all of our questions, challenges (and bliss) lie within. 

Leadership Requires Deliberate Practice

Developing leadership skills requires a life-long commitment to learning. The adage that you don't need to be sick to get better applies; there's always room for improvement. Effective leaders constantly seek to improve their skills and are humble seekers of truth. Like any form of expertise, you get out what you put in. Just like athletes perfecting their physical and mental game; or musicians practicing their instruments until they mastery feels effortless, effective leaders devote themselves to the craft of embodying communication, compassion and integrity.

As Galileo pointed out, nothing is more powerful than learning one's own answers.  I'm not a therapist, though I do integrate both psychology and neuroscience into my approach. Nor do I think of myself simply as an executive coach. Rather, following the tradition of my backcountry adventure mentors, I see myself as a guide - helping my clients discover for themselves what being an effective leader means to them.  

One of the greatest joys in my life is engaging with, and supporting people on this important journey.  I look forward to supporting you.