The Leadership Reset

Planning Your Season Before the First WhistleShaun's LinkedInLet's kick off with something that matters more than motivation, more than resolutions, more than any of that fresh-start energy everyone's talking about right now.We're talking about the leadership reset. How to plan your season before the first whistle blows.Because here's what I know from years on rugby fields and in boardrooms: most teams plan their entire season before they take the field. Most leaders? They wing it.

It's that time of year.Planning season. Goal-setting. Strategic reviews. New Year's resolutions.And every leader I know is doing the same thing:Setting goals for next year. Revenue targets. Growth initiatives. Performance metrics. Personal resolutions.But here's what I've learned after years of coaching executives:Goals without a foundation don't work.By February, most of those goals are forgotten. By March, leaders are back in reactive mode. By Q2, it's just another year of overwhelm.Why? Because they started with goals instead of clarity.Your Dashboard IS your strategy.Not another planning tool. Not another framework to add to the pile.It's the foundation everything else is built on.When you have clarity on your Vision, Mission, Values, Edge, Key Initiatives, Performance, Relationships, and Development, your goals flow naturally from that.You're not guessing what to focus on. You're not reacting to every new opportunity. You're not setting goals that sound good but don't actually align with who you are or where you're going.You're leading from clarity.In this week's newsletter and podcast, I'm breaking down:Why most New Year goals fail by February (no foundation)How the Dashboard becomes your strategic framework for the yearHow to use your Dashboard to plan Q1 (and beyond)Why leaders who start with clarity outperform leaders who start with goalsBecause this is the moment. The end of one year. The beginning of another.You can start the new year the same way you started this one—with a list of goals and good intentions.Or you can start with clarity. With a Dashboard. With a strategy.Read the full article here: LinkedIn - The Leaders Boost

For weeks, we've been talking about the Leader's Dashboard.Vision. Mission. Values. Edge. Key Initiatives. Performance. Relationships. Development.Eight elements that give you clarity on who you are, where you're going, and how you'll get there."How do I actually build this?"Here's the reality: You can't build a Leader's Dashboard in an hour. You can't do it between meetings. You can't squeeze it into a performance review or a strategic planning session.You need dedicated time. Space. Focus.That's why I created the Executive Game Plan Intensive.It's a full-day process where we step away from the noise, away from the fires, the emails, the demands, and we build your Dashboard.Not surface-level. Not corporate speak. Real clarity.By the end of the day, you walk away with:✅ Your Leader's Dashboard (all 8 elements, integrated)✅ Your 90-day Game Plan (clear priorities and actions)✅ Your baselines (the non-negotiables you won't drop below)✅ Clarity on what matters most (and what doesn't)In this week's newsletter and podcast, I'm taking you inside the Intensive:Why it takes a full day (and why shortcuts don't work)What the process actually looks likeWhat you walk away withWhy leaders say it's transformativeBecause information doesn't change you. Integration does.

"What gets measured gets managed."Everyone knows this.But here's the question most leaders never ask:Are you measuring what actually matters?I see this all the time: Leaders drowning in data. Dashboards full of metrics. Weekly reports. KPIs tracked religiously.But when I ask them, "What are you actually measuring? And why?" they can't answer clearly.They're measuring everything. Which means they're measuring nothing that matters.Here's the problem: Most leaders measure lag indicators—outcomes that already happened. Revenue. Profit. Customer churn. Employee turnover.These tell you what happened. But they don't tell you what's going to happen. Or what you can actually control.Lead indicators predict the future. They're the activities and behaviors that drive outcomes. But most leaders don't track them.In this week's newsletter (LinkedIn) and podcast, I'm diving into:Why most performance metrics are useless (lag indicators only)The difference between lead and lag indicators (and why you need both)How to measure what actually matters (based on your Mission)Why Performance is a core element of your Leader's DashboardBecause if you're measuring the wrong things, you're managing the wrong things.And that's costing you.

Vision is where you're going. Mission is WHY it matters.Last week, we talked about Vision: the destination you're building toward.But here's what I see: Leaders can have a clear vision and Still burn out. Still lose energy. Still struggle to keep going when things get hard.Because vision without mission is just ambition.Mission is your "why."It's the higher purpose behind your work. The contribution you're making. The reason you keep going when obstacles hit.And like Vision, you need Mission on two levels:Your organization's mission: Why does this work matter? Who's better off because of what we do?Your career mission: Why do YOU work so hard? What difference are you making through your career?When both are clear and aligned, you have something powerful: Purpose that sustains you.But when mission is missing or misaligned? Work becomes transactional. It's just a paycheck. Just execution. Jjust going through the motions.In this week's newsletter and podcast, I'm diving into:🏉 Why mission matters (it's what keeps you going when vision isn't enough)🏉 The difference between corporate mission statements and real mission🏉 How to articulate YOUR mission (for your organization and your career)🏉 Why Mission is a core element of your Leader's DashboardBecause vision tells you where you're going. But mission tells you why it's worth the fight.

Without vision, you're just reacting.Work pulls you in a dozen directions. Every day, there are fires to fight, decisions to make, and competing demands on your time and attention.And if you don't have a clear vision for your organization AND for your career, you lose perspective. ❌ You end up busy but directionless. ❌ Executing but not building toward anything. ❌ Reacting instead of leading.That's not sustainable.I see this all the time with executives: They're great at execution. But when I ask them, "What's your vision? Where are you taking this organization? Where are you taking your career?"...Vague reply....They've been so focused on the day-to-day that they've lost sight of the destination. 📌 In this week's newsletter and podcast, I'm diving into:❓Why vision matters (it's not just motivational fluff) ❓The difference between organizational vision and personal vision (and why you need both) ❓How vision gives you focus when everything's pulling you in different directions ❓Why Vision is a foundational element of your Leader's Dashboard Because when you have a compelling vision, everything changes:🏉 You have clarity when decisions get complex🏉 Your team has energy and engagement🏉 Setbacks feel smaller because you know where you're going🏉 You attract the right people and resources

Most organizations say they value professional development. They talk about it in meetings. They put it in their values statements. They mention it in performance reviews.But when you look closer, There's no actual strategy.No clear development plans. No accountability. No systematic way to build the next generation of leaders.Just good intentions. And good intentions don't develop people.Here's what I see: Organizations that have real development strategies, with teeth, with accountability, with implementation, get dramatically different results:✅ Higher engagement (people feel invested in)✅ Greater satisfaction (people see a future)✅ Stronger contribution (people perform at higher levels)✅ More confidence (people know they're growing)But it requires more than just annual reviews and "professional development conversations."It requires a system...A Personal Development Plan (PDP) that's not just HR paperwork, but an actual strategic tool.In this week's newsletter and podcast, I'm breaking down:🏉 Why most development efforts fail (no strategy, no teeth)🏉What a real PDP looks like (and why it matters)🏉How development drives engagement, satisfaction, contribution, and confidence🏉How to make development accountable (for both leaders and candidates)Because development without strategy is just hope.And hope isn't a plan.

Your legacy isn't what you accomplish. It's who you develop. In rugby, the best captains and coaches are building the next generation of leaders. They're teaching younger players How to read the game. How to handle pressure. How to lead when it matters. Because they know: When they're gone, the team needs to be stronger, not weaker. Leadership works the same way. But most leaders don't develop other leaders. They manage people. They delegate tasks. They drive performance. But they don't intentionally build the next generation.And when they leave? The organization scrambles. Because the leader took all the knowledge, all the leadership IQ, all the leadership capacity with them.That's not a legacy. That's a dependency.In this week's newsletter and podcast, I'm diving into:🏉 Why development is strategic, not just HR🏉 The difference between managing and developing🏉 How the best leaders identify and build future leaders🏉 Why Development is a core element of your Leader's DashboardBecause your impact isn't measured by what you achieve. It's measured by who you leave behind. Read the full article here: 👇 LinkedIn newsletter

The loneliest room is full of people.You can be surrounded by colleagues, team members, clients all day and still feel completely alone.Because nobody understands the decisions you're making. The trade-offs you're weighing. The pressure you're carrying.That's leadership loneliness. And it's one of the most common and least talked about costs of leading.Here's what I've learned: You can't lead well from isolation.In rugby, we have a saying: "15 as one." No matter how good you are individually, you can't win alone. You need teammates who know your game, who trust you, who have your back.Leadership is the same.But most leaders don't build those relationships. They have transactional relationships - people who need something from them. But very few have developmental relationships - people who see them, challenge them, support them.And that gap? It's costing them.In this week's episode (and LinkedIn newsletter), I'm diving into:Why leadership is lonely (and why it doesn't have to be)The difference between transactional and developmental relationshipsHow to build relationships that sustain you, not just drain youWhy Relationships are a core element of your Leader's DashboardBecause you found your edge. But you can't deploy it alone.Read the full article here: [link]💬 Do you have someone in your corner who truly gets what you're carrying? Or are you leading alone?

Every great rugby player has a weapon.A devastating sidestep. A bone-crushing tackle. A long pass that opens up the field. A hand-off that leaves defenders on the ground.It's not about being good at everything. It's about being exceptional at one thing. Knowing your weapon. And using it when it matters most.Leadership works the same way.Every great leader has an edge, something that makes them uniquely valuable. Something that sets them apart.But here's what I see when I work with executive leaders: Most leaders can't name their edge.They know they're "good at leadership." They know they "add value." But they can't tell you what makes them irreplaceable.And that's a problem.Because when you don't know your edge:You try to be everything to everyoneYou compete on the same playing field as everyone elseYou burn out trying to be competent at everything instead of exceptional at somethingYou become commoditizedIn this week's episode, I'm breaking down:Why most leaders are commoditized (and don't realize it)How to identify your unique edgeWhy your edge is a core element of your Leader's DashboardThe difference between competence and weaponized strengthBecause leadership without edge is just management. And the world doesn't need more managers.