They’re not the puppet masters. These useful idiots are the puppets who think they’re pulling the strings. And in 2025, they’re everywhere.
Category: Ramblings
When Leadership Becomes Performance
Across public higher education, there are institutions where the machinery of governance still hums but the spirit that once powered it has stalled. Leadership meetings occur on schedule, strategic plans are cited in slide decks, and community updates are filled with the right vocabulary of innovation and inclusion. Yet within the walls of these colleges—and, […]
Holding Steady in Change
In complex times, steady leadership is not optional. It’s what holds teams together, builds trust, and drives meaningful progress when clarity is hardest to find.
As a Leader, Are You Actually Listening?
Before your next conversation, pause and ask yourself: Am I really hearing them — or am I only hearing myself?
The Discipline of Letting Expertise Lead
The higher we rise, the more comfortable we must become with the truth that we are no longer the smartest person in every room—and that is exactly as it should be.
The Arena of Cruelty: Sports Culture Conditions Us for Dehumanization
If we want to remain a society that values more than domination, we must learn to cheer differently. The spectacle is not inherently wrong. But what we demand of it—and how we reflect it—can be reimagined.
Taking Stock: High Vibration in a Low-Frequency World
Somewhere along the way, I stopped expecting applause. I stopped expecting that doing the right thing would be rewarded, that advocating for others would earn loyalty, or that holding people accountable would inspire change. I learned that showing up with clarity, consistency, and compassion can make you a target just as quickly as it makes […]
Stop Chasing Black and White — Win in the Gray
And if you’re waiting for perfect clarity, or the perfect answer, or the perfect timing — you’re waiting for something that doesn’t exist.
The Five Weeks of April
We live in ‘thirty-day months.’ We do not always control the landscape we inherit. But great leaders learn to work not just within those frames — but between them.
Why Do the Troublemakers Get a Free Pass at Work? (While the Rest of Us Get Exhausted.)
First, a truth bomb: people who stir the pot are exhausting to manage. That’s not an excuse—it’s a reality.
Authenticity Fatigue, or, I’m Just Tired
For those experiencing the fatigue of being publicly “real” in professionally strategic ways, it may be time to embrace a quieter, less curated form of presence.
Grindr, the Crutch, and the Chase
By a CMO Who Knows Both the Algorithm and the Allure
Power-Ups and Pathways: a Leadership Parable
Hammers will always fall, and some levels will seem impossible at first. But with each hammer dodged—or taken head-on—you grow stronger, wiser, and more prepared for the next challenge.
Pages to Thrive in 2025
Ok, so my commute affords me time to listen to books. After a lifetime of reading here or there, I read or listed to 22 books in 2023 and a whopping 56 in 2024. All while earning a master’s degree and PMP certification in that time! Woof. And here we go: November Deep House Dogtown […]
How to Handle Infamous “People Are Saying” Claims
We’ve all been there. You’re in a meeting or chatting with a colleague, and someone says, “Well, people are saying…” Suddenly, you’re stuck trying to respond to a vague, faceless “people” who apparently have opinions but no names. Frustrating, right? The problem with “people are saying” is that it sounds legitimate while being frustratingly nonspecific. […]
The vibrant life within a forest
I’m a curious fella. Choose your perspective on that thought. Haha. Anyway, I asked my AI buddy ChatGPT to describe me using the characteristics of my name and of the attributes I share at the right of this page. Here’s what ChatGPT says about dear ol’ me, I mean aside from calling me old: PROMPT: […]
Not a Bore in ’24
So last year, I set a personal best with reading (also listening)… 21 books. Damn. And I started a Master’s program. Not gonna lie… doubful 21 gonna happen this year. Anyway, here we go: December A Short History of Nearly Everything Fan Fiction How Full is Your Bucket? The War of Art November Bury Your […]
Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody
This was used by a beloved undergrad professor of mine at UMass. It’s a fun parable on leadership, lessons from which I think of often. This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. […]
