A second knee surgery ended my college basketball career and, with it, my whole sense of identity. I spent a semester pretending I was fine while everything quietly fell apart, until my mom sat with me in silence for an hour, just asking what was going on. That conversation reset everything. I decided I wasn't going to be a victim, and I went all in on learning how to get better, at communicating, at leading, at everything.

That hunger got me into a role at FranklinCovey with minimal consulting background, just an internship's worth of facilitation experience. I could have pitched the hiring manager directly. Instead, I made a different bet: build real value for the person with her ear first. I used my own network to get the sales rep responsible for that region in front of people she actually needed to meet. She vouched for me when it mattered, to the person actually making the hire, because I'd already proven I could create value before anyone asked me to. I got the job on the value I created, not the resume I had. That same principle, find the highest-leverage move instead of dwelling on obstacles, has shaped every chapter since.

For the past several years, I've worked as a Leadership Consulting Partner with Lone Rock Leadership, working directly with HR and L&D leaders across industries, defense contracting, insurance, healthcare, manufacturing, and more, on manager development, executive coaching, and the systems that turn strategy into results.

What hooked me was the shift away from broad skill development, more content, more complex models, and toward a focused operating system built around the handful of skills that actually move the needle. Results that show up this quarter, not eventually.

I've watched the same pattern again and again: a manager with no track record as a leader gets the right model, applies it, and within weeks the people above them trust them differently. Not luck. A system that works when it's used, and gets results the C-suite cares about.

The bigger win is what happens to the HR and L&D leader. When the managers they develop get an operating system that actually moves the needle on results the C-suite cares about, and it works, that leader is the one who gets the credit for making it happen. That's why I've watched HR and L&D leaders go from a support function to a strategic partner, with more budget, more influence, and a bigger seat at the table to show for it.

If that's the kind of impact you want for the managers you develop, let's talk.