Leadership is a long journey. It shouldn't be a lonely one.
I created Anchor & Way out of a belief that leaders need trusted people, different perspectives, space to think, and sometimes permission to stop, rest, and be renewed.
I've sat in the chair.
I've been self-employed for most of my adult life. More than 27 years ago, I started Laminate Works in my garage. Over time, that business grew into a $30 million company.
I've experienced great successes and heartbreaking failures, navigated growth, bought and sold companies, and led through 9/11, the 2008 financial crisis, COVID, and the countless challenges that never make headlines.
I've made good decisions and bad ones. And I've learned that leadership can be incredibly rewarding—and incredibly lonely.
I didn't do it alone.
For more than 10 years, I participated in peer forums with other business leaders. I also formed my own advisory board and met with that group for another 10 years.
Those relationships didn't make the decisions for me. They helped me see the decisions more clearly.
Leadership changes.
Over the years, my children began entering the business. Eventually, my son grew into greater responsibility and today serves as president, leading the day-to-day operation.
Handing over the reins wasn't the end of leadership. It was a change in leadership.
It created room for someone else to lead and room for me to ask: Where can my experience be most useful now?
Learning to step away.
In 2022, I stepped completely away from my business for three months.
With the help of my advisory board, we created a plan that left Laminate Works not only safe, but in a position to grow and flourish. Then I disconnected completely: no emails, no calls, no reports, no financials, and no day-to-day involvement.
Like a field left fallow for a season, the time away gave me space to rest, recharge, reflect, and consider what mattered most.
I came away believing a thoughtfully planned sabbatical can strengthen both the leader and the organization.
Put the big rocks in the jar first.
If you fill a jar with small rocks first, eventually there won't be room for the big ones. But if you put the big rocks in first, the smaller rocks can settle into the spaces around them.
I've spent decades building businesses and carrying the responsibilities that come with leadership. But I've tried to be clear about which are the big rocks.
Business has an incredible ability to consume whatever space we give it. The challenge is making sure something that feels urgent doesn't slowly crowd out something that is more important.
Am I still putting the big rocks in first?
Faith, courage, wisdom, and rest.
My Christian faith has shaped the way I understand leadership, responsibility, relationships, courage, and rest.
Proverbs 27:17 shapes my view of peer forums. Deuteronomy 31:7–8 shapes my view of mentoring and courage. Matthew 11:29 shapes my view of rest and renewal.
I don't claim to have leadership figured out. What I do have is experience. I've sat in the chair, carried the responsibility, and benefited enormously from people who challenged my thinking and shared their wisdom.