THE LEADERSHIP BLOG
Reflections on Leadership, Clarity, and Growth
Derek’s blog is where he shares reflections on leadership as it is lived: practical insights, real moments, and ideas leaders can return to when they need perspective. Many ideas shared here connect directly to Derek’s books, speaking topics, workshops, and the Lead on 3 framework. Readers often use these reflections as a place to pause, reset, and refocus.
What 1,800 Cups of Coffee Taught Me about Connection
I've probably purchased around 1,800 cups of coffee from the same place over roughly eight years. My order isn't complicated. Black coffee. One day, a barista looked at the name that appeared with my order and simply said, “Thanks, Derek.” It was a tiny moment, but I noticed it.
The Star of the Team Is the Team
During my time as Coordinator of Basketball Operations at Marquette University, there was a banner associated with our program that carried a simple message:
THE STAR OF THE TEAM IS THE TEAM.
Tom Crean used the phrase, and I've never forgotten it.
Clarity Isn't About Saying More
During a Speak with Impact experience with Hawkes Learning, a participant shared a communication challenge that captured something I see leaders do all the time. The message had technically been communicated, but an important piece of context was missing. The words themselves weren't necessarily wrong; the listener simply didn't have enough information to understand what those words actually meant. That's a clarity problem.
Where Change Actually Breaks
One of the easiest mistakes leaders make during organizational change is forgetting how long they've already been living with the change. Senior leaders may have spent six months discussing it. They've reviewed options, debated risks, asked questions, changed their minds, looked at drafts, worked through concerns, and gradually arrived at a decision they're ready to implement.
One Team, One Canoe
Different departments naturally experience the organization from different seats. Sales has goals and pressures. Operations has its own. Clinical Care sees things through another lens. Each group has responsibilities, expertise, and priorities that legitimately matter. Problems begin when people become so focused on their seat that they forget they're sitting in the same canoe.
What the Boxcars Can Still Teach
In 1933, Joseph Siwek lost his railroad job. It was the middle of the Great Depression, and families in Minnesota needed firewood to heat their homes. Joseph started dismantling old wooden boxcars, pulling nails, and selling the scrap wood as firewood.