I got a call last week to be a reference for an Executive Director stepping into a new role at a Housing Authority. In our industry, that's not unusual. But the board asked me: "𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐄𝐱𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 𝐮𝐩 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬, 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐛𝐞?"

Most think leadership is about learning to read the room. And that's somewhat true. But it's also realizing the room is reading you too.

At 12 years old, I was living in a tent.

Not thinking about housing policy.
Just trying to get through the day.

Instead of opening the session with accomplishments, awards, or job titles… we started with where we are struggling.

I'm still talking and thinking about the WAHN event.
One. Week. Later.

And this moment is one of the many reasons why.

It’s easy to talk about values when things are going well.
It’s much harder and much more revealing to see which values people still recognize in each other during difficult seasons.

The peony doesn’t bloom instantly.
It has a long growth cycle and then blooms dramatically.

You start the week focused on mission, direction, and keeping the ship moving forward.