What Leadership Looks Like in Hard Seasons

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about what leadership actually looks like in hard seasons.

Not the kind we talk about when things are working—but the kind that shows up when resources are tight, institutions feel brittle, and the work feels heavier than usual.

Earlier in my career, I believed leadership was about having the right answers, moving fast, and proving competence.

What I’ve learned since is this: leadership is about creating conditions for people to do difficult, meaningful work without losing themselves in the process.

That means honoring fundamentals while staying open to quiet innovation. It means noticing excellence in small, unglamorous moments. It means protecting rest in cultures that reward exhaustion. And it means accepting that progress is most often built in long, imperfect stretches, not breakthroughs.

Some of the most impactful teams I’ve worked with didn’t have more money or certainty. What they had was trust, care, and a shared commitment to doing the work well.

In moments like this one, I return to a simple belief:

a small group of thoughtful, committed people can still change things—but only if leadership is practiced with intention, craftsmanship, and humanity.

That is the kind of leadership I am committed to practicing now and in the days to come in 2026.