Alex Hoffer

Mid-Year Leadership Check: Are You Worth Following?

Personal Growth

As I’ve said before, leadership is the process of doing things with and through other people. Therefore, a leader needs to be someone worth following. 

In other words, if no one follows you, you are not a leader. 

I’ve found June a good time to do some inventory on my personal development. After all, if you are not growing, learning, changing, and improving, are you worth following? 

Here are some personal development fundamentals I’ve practiced in the first half of 2025. The list is not exhaustive, nor is it in any kind of order. 

  • Success statements: I began the year focusing on success statements, and they’ve become a recurring theme in my planning. I now use them to prepare for business and personal trips. For example, before attending the Plastics Industry Fly-In meetings, I shared three success statements with my Executive Coach to clarify my goals. I apply the same approach when planning family trips.
  • Making small tweaks rather than large changes: In February, I started taking notes while reading the Bible to refresh my study routine. This simple change freed me from over-analyzing my reading plan and allowed me to focus on the actual text. Similarly, I have discovered that small tweaks to the org chart are often more effective than large changes. Why? There is less disruption and often the tweaks make the organization flow with greater clarity. 
  • Reexamine inputs weekly: While listening to a Founders podcast one Monday morning in April, I realized that my mental energy — whether positive or negative — might be the most important thing I bring to our Monday morning meetings. This insight reminded me to be intentional about how I prepare my mindset.
  • Say it all, preferably in person: This year I’ve focused on asking direct, challenging questions face-to-face. The key breakthrough has been learning to ask from genuine curiosity rather than judgment. I now check my motivation: Am I asking out of concern? Or am I asking out of pride, anger, or frustration? People respond better, and I’m more effective as a leader when my questions come from genuine concern.
  • Make time for positive relationships: In April, I had dinner with my friend Tony — and it truly uplifted my soul. Often, I don’t feel like I have time for that sort of thing. I am wrong.
  • Confess daily: I screw up all the time, and spend a lot of time in confession. I do not know how leaders go through their journey without confession and repentance.
  • Focus is now a separator: I am at my best when I intently focus on something and do deep work. So are you. But I struggle with doing this. I imagine you do as well. To be someone worth following, we need to grow the focus muscle. Success statements help us focus on the few things that lead to our success. 
  • Go 3D on what matters: A customer who has become both mentor and friend gave me valuable advice about reading. They said the trend is to go 2D on many, many books. “But,” they advised, “you need to go 3D on what matters.”
  • Reread books that make you think, smile, and cry: Yes, you need an outlet for your emotions. I am human enough to admit that. Re-listening to Unbroken in the first half of the year was one of my favorite moments.
  • Use words: Tell your spouse, kids, and coworkers how much they matter. Positive affirmation is rare these days. They crave it.
     
  • Call your mom: Yes, this is on a list of personal development because it is still important. The first half of this year was a reminder that life continues to move quickly. I caught myself, sometime in the middle of winter, going through my to-do list so rigidly that too much time had gone by without calling my mom in Florida. I fixed that immediately. 

These fundamentals aren’t complicated or revolutionary — they’re simple practices that, when consistently applied, make the difference between managing tasks and truly leading people.

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Beyond the Barbecue: Remembering What Memorial Day Truly Represents

Special Post

This Memorial Day, I’m thinking about the values that make our country great. While there’s a lot of chatter about America and a growing political divide, I believe there is still much to celebrate. 

I am writing this post not so much to convert you to my point of view, but rather to get you thinking about the cost paid by the men and women who died for our freedom. All the comforts of this Memorial Day weekend came at the cost of their human life. 

No Other Place I’d Want to Live

To be absolutely clear, there is no other place in the world that I would want to live but the United States. I also pray that my friends in other countries would think the same about their home country. I believe that no place is perfect. Again, having said that, here are some of the values that make America a different (and in my humble opinion, better) kind of place. 

While this list of core American values isn’t intended to be exhaustive, I think of these principles most when reflecting on what our fallen heroes fought to protect. Remembering these fundamental values and those who gave their lives defending them is what Memorial Day is truly about.

Sacrificial Service

America is at its best when we live out our sacrificial service value. The most striking example of this, in my opinion, is the Omaha Beach landing in World War II. Twice, I have stood on that beach pondering the courage of the men who came ashore on June 6, 1944. The only possible explanation for being willing to do what they did is that of sacrificial service. While exact numbers are difficult to come by, approximately 2,400 casualties occurred out of 34,000 troop landings. Yet, these sacrifices led to the end of the European War less than a year later. 

Both times I visited Omaha Beach, I also visited the American Cemetery at Normandy. Words cannot describe the emotion that came with those visits — it’s where the idea of sacrificial service moves from the head to the heart. Want to know what it means to be an American? Walk those graves and you will know. 

Patriotism

Patriotism is the love and devotion one has to their country. It is the feeling that most of us get on July 3 or 4th when we hear traditional music while watching a fireworks show. It is a healthy view, similar to the healthy view one has of their family. 

When I think of our servicemen and women and their patriotism, I often think of the Tuskegee Airmen who served even though they often faced racial discrimination at home. Their heroic service led to President Harry Truman issuing Executive Order 9981 desegregating the U.S. Armed Forces and mandating equality of opportunity and treatment on July 26, 1948. Their sacrificial service and love of (an imperfect) country are instructive to us all. 

Freedom

My favorite thing about our country, and what makes it great, is its pursuit of freedom. As the example above of the Tuskegee Airmen indicates, this pursuit is always a work in progress. It is never something one arrives at. 

One of the most striking aspects of contemporary American culture is its political divisiveness. 

Quite frankly, it tires me out. Yet, simultaneously, I realize that the ability to express one’s political differences is part of what makes America great in the first place! So while I would prefer we dampen down the political stuff in pop culture, sports, and even the business world, I also recognize that in America, it is part of what makes us free. In fact, I can use my freedom by turning off movies, sporting events, and media that over-politicize things. Feel free to turn me off as well. 

That is your freedom! 

A Reminder

I will end with a recommendation and a reminder: 

Ken Burns has done remarkable work on a variety of documentaries. As the examples above indicate, I am a student of World War II. Burns’ documentary The War is absolutely breathtaking, convicting, and inspiring. I give it my full recommendation. 

And one last reminder. 

Those of us who follow Jesus are to remember that our love of country cannot become an ultimate thing. We can have love and devotion to our country so long as we bow to Jesus and God’s word. 

While we love our temporary home in our home country, our heart’s truest longing is for the eternal Kingdom of God, where sickness, death, and evil will be forever defeated. And where there will no longer be any political divisions, war, or death. 

Until then, let us live, love, and remember what is good. And let us give thanks this Memorial Day to the families that have paid the price for us to do everything we do. 

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Gratitude, Success, and Presence: An Open Letter to New Graduates

Special Post

I’m not giving any commencement speeches this year — but if I were, here’s what I’d say.

Dear Class of 2025, 

There are moments in life that you always remember despite the passage of time. While it has been a quarter of a century since I graduated from high school, I remember much about that day. 

Similarly, in the decades to come, you will remember much about today and the coming weeks. Soak in these moments because they will pass. And although having fun is essential now and in the future, it’s important to embrace the people in your life who might not be around 25 years from now. The only thing I would do over from my commencement 25 years ago would be to linger a little longer with my grandparents rather than heading to one last graduation party. 

The other perspective I have to offer you today comes from the following three points: 

Choose Gratitude 

I graduated from high school before social media — before everyone had smartphones and constant access to news and information. And while I fully embrace technological advancements, I have also come to appreciate how disruptive they can be to one’s psyche. 

But I am not going to be another voice sounding the alarm on these things, nor am I going to pontificate about how great the past was — as if my grandmothers wouldn’t have loved to be able to order groceries on their phones! 

Instead, I’ll point out that, despite our technological advances (and the promises about how much better our lives will be with them), we are generally more stressed out than before their invention. 

With this in mind, I urge you to choose gratitude. 

And gratitude certainly is a choice. Think of it like getting dressed. You can put on the “clothes” of criticism, bitterness, and selfishness. You can involve yourself in every political controversy, and let every little aspect of life drive you nuts. You can even blame all the problems on the other side, the other team, or that weirdo in your biology class.

Or you can wear different clothes altogether — the clothes of gratitude. In this outfit, you see the world as it is, but you find what is good, even when the only thing good is that the sun still comes up every morning. 

Gratitude doesn’t deny that life is hard. 

Gratitude doesn’t deny that there are things fundamentally wrong with humanity and the way we treat each other. 

Instead, gratitude is a conscious decision to find the good despite all the things that are wrong. 

You hold the power to choose what you see. Choose to see the good. Choose gratitude. 

Define Success, and Hold That Definition Loosely 

What does success mean? When I graduated, I only had vague ideas of success — a college degree, a job, a wife, or a certain quality of life? 

Don’t get me wrong.  My dreams included countless pursuits — including being an ESPN sports broadcaster! But I didn’t have real clarity on what success looked like. So I went through my twenties with a constant feeling that I wasn’t living up to the extremely vague and unclear version of success that only existed in my mind. 

I would have been better off had I done what I am recommending you to do: spend a little time this summer thinking and writing on the following prompts: 

  • If you had to boil down what success would look like for you at age 25, what would it be? 
  • What about later in life, like in your 40s or 50s? I know this seems like forever from now, but it will be here before you know it. 
  • What are the things that matter to you: family, wealth, relationships? What are the things worth sacrificing for? 
  • And finally, what are the most important relationships to you? Who are the people that you should forgive at almost every cost to ensure relational longevity? 

I have discovered that peaceful relationships are worth more than vast wealth. 

Just something to consider as you think about your definition of success. 

Belief Drives Behavior

Another lesson I have discovered the hard way is that belief drives behavior. Not only does my executive coach remind me of this, but I often live it out. If you believe you’ll be successful only by gaining a certain level of wealth, guess how you will behave? You will either work exceedingly hard to make money or feel like a failure when you don’t. Be clear on what makes you a success. 

And then hold that definition loosely. 

I imagine you see things differently than when you started high school. After all, learning isn’t about information as much as it is about personal transformation. As you experience life in the coming decades, your views will continue to change — which means that your opinions on what it means to be successful will also change. Mine definitely have. Treat this process as a work-in-progress rather than a plan written in stone. 

Feel the ground you are standing on. 

Be Present Today

This all leads me to my last point, which is being present today. 

“Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That’s why we call it “the present.” This quote, largely attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, finds its way into many commencement addresses. To some, it may produce an eye roll given how cheesy it feels. 

But you’ll grow to realize its wisdom. Life tempts you to either look back or forward. But looking behind or in front of you forces you to miss today. And missing today is the absolute worst thing you can do in your life because you cannot order more days on Prime — and like your favorite show on Netflix, this “season” will be over before you know it. 

Don’t believe me? I wouldn’t have either when I was 18, so I don’t blame you. But I will challenge you: Talk to someone in their 90s and ask them how fast it went. Their answer will speak volumes. 

At the risk of being judged on my movie tastes, I must tell you that About Time is one of the most underrated movies I know. I urge you to watch it for yourself: it’s a story about a father (and his son) who can travel in time. It follows the life lessons they both learn, particularly about what matters most. And in the end, the son, Tim, shares the most important lesson he learned. He says:


“The truth is I now don’t travel back (in time) at all, not even for the day. I just try to live every day as if I’ve deliberately come back to this one day, to enjoy it — as if it were the full final day of my extraordinary, ordinary life.” 

Congratulations, graduates! And may God bless every single day of your extraordinary, ordinary life.

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Winning Without Pushing — Five Truths I Hope Our Sales Teams Live By

Sales

Earlier this year, I wrote an off-the-cuff LinkedIn post about things I hope our sales team always does and things I hope they never do — and it got a lot of attention and feedback. Today, I want to dive deeper into the “always” side of that conversation, exploring the five practices that I believe are essential for building genuine relationships with customers rather than just chasing transactions.

  1. Be courteous

When I posted this on LinkedIn, one of the commenters said that sales people should “lead with empathy”. Yes! Taking the time to understand the feelings of the person you are selling to is courtesy in action.

In other words, put yourself in their shoes. What does a win look like for their company? What does a win look like for them personally? What demands do they face in their role?

Recently, I reached out to one of our customers to discuss a new project. When they didn’t respond, their VP explained that the team was overwhelmed with start-of-the-year priorities. I did not “professionally persist,” but instead, listened. And then I applied number 2.

  1. Be accessible when customers need them

The meeting I wanted to schedule needed to fit their timeline, not mine. This meant that I had to be accessible when the customer was free.

I want the same thing for our sales team. While there have to be limits to work, one must also be open to connecting when customers want to connect. 

I once had the pleasure of playing golf on Kiawah Island with Jimmie James. After retiring from a 33-year career at ExxonMobil, Jimmie played the top 100 golf courses in the world. Suffice it to say he was a lot of fun to play golf with.

But the lesson I took from him was not about golf, but about accessibility. While we waited on a par three, my phone vibrated for the third time in five minutes. I excused myself and had a quick call with someone at the office. When I got back to the tee, I apologized profusely to Jimmie. 

Jimmie looked sternly at me and said, “Don’t you ever apologize for doing your job. It does not matter that you are on vacation. As an owner, you need to be accessible when your team needs you. Your ability to be playing golf at Kiawah is because of that job. Don’t you forget that.”  

So when a customer calls, I remember that my ability to do anything is because we have customers at Hoffer Plastics.

  1. Ask questions and listen

Asking questions and listening may be Sales 101 in theory, but it’s Sales 401 in practice. Even for me, it is easier to ask questions than listen. Listening means shutting off your brain from what you will say next, locking eyes with the person talking, and digesting what they say. What they say next might change your life. After all, in the story above I cannot tell you what I shot the day I played golf with Jimmie James, but I can tell you exactly what he said to me on that tee. 

Similarly, I want our sales team to have stories of where the hero — the customer — tells them something that changes our business.

  1. Respect the “no”… and the prospect’s inbox 

In all walks of life, no means no. Want to turn a no into a yes? Respect the no. I am more apt to buy from people tomorrow because they respected my no today. 

Arguably the best sales person I hired said no to me first. Twelve months later, our executive vice president saw her at a conference, and she was in a different place. Ten years later, she still brings all the fun to the sales team! 

The second aspect is simply respecting how many messages people get these days. In 2025, expecting every message to be replied to is unreasonable. As outlined in the last post, responding to solicitations could quickly turn into a full-time job — something I’m sure you can relate to if you are an executive. 

It comes down to this: I trust our sales team to use discernment. If a message is not returned after a few attempts, move on. While the aggressive inbox-flooding approach might occasionally win business, this tactic damages far more potential relationships than it creates. The short-term win often comes at the expense of long-term opportunities.

  1. Be 100% honest about what we can, and cannot, do

Finally, I want our sales team to be brutally honest about our capabilities. If we are not saying no to opportunities, we set ourselves and others up for failure. The reality is that we should NOT strive to match every price or every capability. Instead, we need to be brutally honest about what price we can manufacture the product for, and what capabilities we have now and will pursue in the future. 

While it’s tempting for salespeople to over promise to secure a quick sale, honest limitations build lasting trust. Saying ‘no’ demonstrates humility and respect — acknowledging that our company can’t be everything to everyone. This transparency may cost an occasional transaction but preserves our integrity and customer relationships.

Above all, I encourage our sales team to stay positive and approach each day with an abundance mindset. There are always more opportunities — more customers to help, problems to solve, and relationships to build. 

Remember that providing real value comes first; the business will follow. That’s not just good sales practice — it’s good business.

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Five Sales Behaviors that Drive Decision-Makers Away

Sales

In my role leading Hoffer Plastics, I’ve been on the receiving end of countless sales approaches — some impressive, many forgettable, and a few downright frustrating. Today, I’m sharing five sales tactics I hope our team never employs — not just because they rarely work, but because they undermine the trust that forms the foundation of meaningful business relationships.

  1. Offer to pay someone for their time or buy them gifts. 

In the last several years, I have been pitched various hourly rates for my time, offered luxurious gift cards, and countless gadgets. People usually write things like, “I know your time is valuable,” or “I know you are busy, so in exchange for your time…” I do not think these people are bad — I know they are just trying to do their job. But to me, this feels a little like bribery — a tactic I don’t want our sales team to use.

Before I move on, let me clarify that “thank you gifts” to customers are an entirely different matter and I am not addressing them here — I am addressing using gifts while cold calling. 

  1. Message people to death on LinkedIn. 

If you take one thing away from this post, I hope it is this: 

A LinkedIn connection does NOT mean the connection MUST answer your messages. 

In reality, excessive messaging actually decreases your chances of getting a response. Here’s a personal insight: if someone messages me more than once without my reply, I ignore them 99% of the time.

Does this make me a jerk? Perhaps. I currently have close to 5,000 connections on LinkedIn. This does not mean I am important, and it certainly does not mean I am cool. It means I have a title and people want to connect because my last name is on our building. 

It also means that every single week, I get close to 100 LinkedIn messages. And that isn’t mentioning the hundreds of additional emails, voicemails, and text messages from other channels. 

Man, I wish I had been this cool in high school! Maybe I would have been on the homecoming court? Probably not, because I was not that good-looking and definitely was not that cool. Even the “title” would not overcome those factors!

The point is that if I were to reply to all these messages, I would have to ignore my family, direct reports, and business. If I gave everyone 15 minutes, maybe I would be done by the time I was 138 years old? I think you get my drift.

And before we move on to the next point, let me make one thing clear: your message is not the exception to this rule.  

  1. Leave passive aggressive voicemails or emails.

I only get these occasionally. But as you guessed it, they don’t work either. 

Just this morning, someone emailed me saying that because I had not responded I must be okay paying more for electricity. Is the implication that I do not care? Or, am I just stupid? 

True confidence in your product means letting results speak for themselves. Want my attention? Send a concise PDF case study showing how a company our size benefited from your solution. If it impresses me in the 10 seconds I’ll give it, I’ll forward it to the right person on our team.

(And this goes without saying, but if you email me asking “who the appropriate person is,” you are not using LinkedIn the way it should be used). 

  1. Fail to respond 

When we require some kind of service, I have the aforementioned contacts to reach out to. This is when it is time to respond! 

Failing to do so is something I hope our sales team never does. It falls on the list of things that keep me up at night. 

When I actually need a service, I contact the professionals who’ve shown me respect by not overwhelming my inbox. That’s when responsiveness becomes critical! Any salesperson who fails to answer promptly at this crucial moment loses the opportunity forever. This type of missed connection is precisely what I want our team to avoid — it’s literally what keeps me awake at night.

  1. Use insincere flattery as a sales technique

Finally, be sincere.

Many people message me on LinkedIn claiming to enjoy my blog before immediately launching into their sales pitch. In contrast, the CEO of a mold building company regularly engages with my content and offers thoughtful feedback without ever trying to sell me anything — and their approach feels genuinely appreciative rather than transactional. By focusing on relationship-building instead of immediate sales, they’re playing the long game — and their company’s value naturally speaks for itself.

And you know what? 

We are still quoting molds from them. 

We have bought large molds in the past, and will do so in the future.

The best sales relationships aren’t built on persistence or persuasion tactics, but on respect. When we avoid these five behaviors, we demonstrate that we value long-term partnerships over quick transactions. The companies that consistently earn our business aren’t the ones who push hardest; they’re the ones who understand when to step back, listen, and let their value speak for itself.

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The Uncomfortable Path Forward: Finding Strength in Setbacks

Leadership

Modern life is about comfort. 

Growth is about discomfort. 

I recently received bad news from one of our customers: they’d found a lower-cost alternative and may move their business elsewhere. As I write this, I have no idea how the situation will play out. 

What do you do in moments like these? 

Do you wallow? Do you have self-pity? Do you get mad? Do you blame? 

While I understand these mechanisms, I want to offer something different.

What if you sat in the discomfort? 

I did. 

Instead of wallowing, I spent time contemplating. 

I allowed this reality to sting. The potential of losing the business hurt, and the potential of losing relationships hurt more. 

Instead of self-pity, I asked myself hard questions: What could I have done differently? How could I have led differently? After all, any business I lost was ultimately my fault as co-CEO. 

Instead of anger, I let the burn reinvigorate my energy. Yes, it reinvigorated me! I found myself digging a little deeper than I had before this realization. Strangely, it refilled my energy tank at the end of last year. 

Instead of blaming others, I emailed our team and told them we would not blame each other for our predicament. In fact, if anyone were going to be blamed, it would be me. 

My sister Charlotte said we all shared in it. She is a co-CEO, so I expect nothing less. But the point remained that I would rather be blamed than for the team to spend one unproductive, wasteful second on blame. Besides, as I pointed out above, I AM ACCOUNTABLE. 

That is THE job. 

What happened next? 

The team came together. 

The discomfort made us grow closer to one another. 

Our product designer began working on an incredible design that fit the customer’s needs. 

Our product specialist organized clear communication with the customer that addressed their customer’s needs — the ultimate decider in the situation. 

Again, as I write these words, I don’t know how this will play out. 

But I already know that we have won. 

Why? 

Because our team used the discomfort to grow. 

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robert hoffer

Walking Your Factory Floor: A Letter to My Grandfather

Special Post

Dear Grandpa,

Every year, I have a moment while walking through the company when the significance of our work hits me anew. Last week, Dennis retired after 46 years at the company. He kept his emotions in check until it was time to punch out for the last time. He simply could not do it. 

So, Nadia did it for him. 

And then they both wept. 

I have pondered that moment all week. It reminds me that our work matters in ways that I often forget. 

Though this year brought its usual share of challenges, stresses, and frustrations, watching Dennis struggle to punch out that final time put everything in perspective. His emotion showed me what Gretchen, Charlotte, and I are really stewarding here – not just a company, but a place that becomes woven into people’s lives, a place worth caring about this deeply. So, thank you for the business you founded. We mold much more than plastic parts here. 

We mold lifelong relationships.  

A Personal Check-In 

In many ways, I have been on the verge of a mid-life crisis this year. Contemporary Western culture prioritizes its identity in self. While there are some good aspects to it, it has often tempted me to become too self-centered. The pursuit of a refined “me” has led me to feel like:

  • A mediocre CEO — despite taking advantage of executive coaching and driving myself to exhaustion with books and podcasts.
  • A stressed-out husband to Sarah and father to my three kids. 
  • A body showing its age, despite my stubborn belief that discipline and hard work would somehow make me the exception to time’s rules

In sum, chasing my identity in “self” has continued to produce a mostly stressed out, often joyless, and definitely aging man who does not do a good job of spreading the joy of Jesus to others. 

What I am changing 

I came to the above conclusion over Christmas break this year. It led me to confess that I was looking horizontally for my identity. I have been running myself ragged, trying to prove to the world I am worthy. 

Despite what I said to others, my life wasn’t showing that I trusted Jesus about my identity. In short, I could speak Christian, but I was not acting like one. 

Looking vertically, here is what I learned: 

I am sufficient as a CEO as long as I am centered on God. I will read books and listen to podcasts when I want to. But I rest in God’s sovereignty and find my worth in Him. 

Full stop.

The most important relationships I have on this planet are with Sarah and then the kids. These come after God but before everything else. They deserve a me that is fully available to them, not centered on self. 

My body is aging. As my Marine buddy reminds me, the aches and pains indicate a life lived well to this point. I must accept this — and all the other things I cannot change through discipline and hard work. And the hope is in what will only come when I am given a resurrection body, one with no aches, pains, or imperfections!

The Real Marker of Success 

When I find my identity vertically, I am then freed from the need to find validation in horizontal markers. As a Co-CEO, this does not mean I am off the hook for business results. The markers of a business are extremely important. I am proud that our sales and profits grew last year. But, my life and worth are not better because of this. And this reality allows me to work hard and then rest.

It is not up to me. 

My identity is tied to the vertical, so I am on solid ground, no matter the weather. On solid ground, I can be there for people and do so from a place of joy. Sarah counsels me often that this is my most important work.

As always, she is right.

Gosh, I wish you had gotten to know her Grandpa. 

To come full circle, I want to close by telling you about three significant retirements this year at your company. These people all worked with you:

Lizzie retired after 54 years  

Mary retired after 48 years  

Dennis retired after 46 years 

All three said basically the same thing: This was their family away from their family, so all three reminded us never to lose sight of the power of relationships. 

I imagine that if you had been here, you would have told us the same thing. 

In fact, I can hear that whisper as I walk through the production floor. 

That, and to get more presses running. 

Roger that. 

I miss and love you. 

Alex

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Slowed-Down Leadership: My Four Guiding Themes for 2025

Personal Growth

This past December, I spent some time creating a personal development plan. In it, I clarified my leadership themes for the upcoming year and identified the books and podcasts I plan to explore. 

Today, I’ll share those themes with you. I hope reading my themes will encourage you to develop your own, clarify your intentions, and focus on the right things.

Here are my leadership themes for 2025: 

I am practicing a slowed-down spirituality.

Reflecting on how I led others in 2024, I realized I was often in a hurry. And I realized this wasn’t a good way to share Jesus’s love in my leadership. After all, Jesus was never in a hurry. No Scripture states that Jesus “ran” to the next obligation. Rather, Jesus walked, prayed, and spent time in solitude. 

Regardless of what you believe about Jesus, his life exemplifies how one stays present in the moment and how one should interact with people lovingly. This, of course, oversimplifies the Gospels, but you get the point. 

I am a better person when I practice a slowed-down spirituality. This starts with my morning Bible reading, extends to a mid-day five minutes of stopping and being in solitude, and finishes with a devotional reading, gratitude journal, and an evening prayer with Sarah. 

Certainly, there’s plenty of chaos between work, kid’s activities, and all the other things that come with being a husband, father, friend, and co-CEO. But sticking to this discipline has helped me slow down and remember the most important reality of life: I am not God. Therefore, I must look vertically to Him and find my energy, wisdom, and everything else I need from Him. 

I am leading with optimism and a growth mindset. 

Reflecting on the final month of 2024, I realized I was starting to have a fixed mindset toward others—a belief that people cannot change. A growth mindset, on the other hand, recognizes that people can grow and change. As a leader, it is my job to grow people. Therefore, I must embrace this role and make it my top priority. 

In other words, December’s frustrating results were ultimately the result of my leadership. Not only do I have to grow as a leader, but I also have to help others on that journey. 

To do this and lead with optimism, I am primarily focusing my personal growth studies on optimistic leaders. I will also read about many people I admire: the books by Teddy Roosevelt and Abraham Lincoln are already in the queue. I am also paying attention to the Founders podcast I mentioned in December to learn from entrepreneurs. 

I am doing the best that I can do. 

Last May, our executive team underwent a multi-session Enneagram training, during which I learned I was an Enneagram Type 1. As such, I am extremely hard on myself. I have an “inner-self critic” that loudly voices all my shortcomings in my head. 

Sarah and I were watching an old season of The Amazing Race with our kids last fall when I saw the phrase “I am doing the best that I can do” in action. (Retroactive spoiler alert!) In Season 33, Penn and Kim Holderness win the race. At some point along the way, Kim talks about her anxiety and how when it strikes, she reminds herself that she is “doing the best she can do.”  Her vulnerability was both inspiring and instructive. 

Since then, I have turned this phrase into a question: Am I doing the best that I can do? Often, the answer is yes. When it is, I tell that inner critic to be quiet. When the answer is no, I regroup and ensure I start doing the best I can. After all, this is all any of us can do. 

Time is limited; I am “living like I am dying.” 

In late 2024, I found myself overwhelmed by memories of Christmas celebrations with my grandparents, all four of whom have passed away. As I watch my own children growing up so quickly, these memories have taken on new meaning. They’ve awakened in me a profound realization: our time is precious and limited.  Like the Tim McGraw song, I want to live like I am dying. To me, this equates to embracing each day fully, living with intention and presence, and knowing that every moment is a gift that shouldn’t be taken for granted.

While I want to be grateful for the past and optimistic about the future, I also want to soak up every moment of today. 

Clarifying my themes for 2025 has already been a massive help for me starting the year well. What does 2025 hold for you? I encourage you to take the time to clarify your themes! 

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Beyond Business: Using Success Statements to Create Unforgettable Family Moments

Leadership

I started the year off by writing about success statements from a business perspective. As a refresher, success statements help do three things:

Success statements help me get clear on what winning looks like. 

Success statements help align the leader to the follower and the follower to the leader.

Success statements help evaluate how things are going in real time. 

While all the above is a natural fit for business leadership, it also helps plan a family vacation. 

While I admit that may sound a little “out of left field,” consider this: What family vacation would not benefit from a clear understanding of what will make it a success and ensure everyone’s aligned toward that goal? 

I think all family vacations would. So I put this into practice during our family’s first European vacation with all five of us. 

How we made it happen

One night after dinner, I explained success statements to my family. I asked my three kids, “For you to consider our vacation a success, what are the one or two things you want to do in Europe?” 

I then went on Amazon and ordered notebooks for their trip. Each of them picked out the color they wanted — blue for the boys and pink for Sadie, naturally! They then took some time to consider what success would look like for them. Meanwhile, Sarah and I discussed what success would look like for the entire family. After all, we also needed success statements for our  “company”! 

Here’s what we came up with: 

Family success statement 

Our family will stay safe, have fun, and learn something new every day of our trip.

Individual success statements

Will: I will remain flexible about the lack of sleep due to the time change and embrace each day’s adventure with a positive attitude. 

Ben: I will go all-in on our day at Normandy, soaking up every second of that adventure.  

Sadie: I will get a picture of myself at the Eiffel Tower. 

Dad: I will be present by leaving work in the States, seeking adventure, and thanking God for each moment. Additionally, I set a rule for myself: I would limit checking my work email to before and after our sightseeing for the day. I would only do the necessary decluttering and save the rest for post-vacation. 

Sarah hadn’t clarified what her personal success statement was beforehand. But it was clear that she was present at every moment, tended to every need the kids had (two were sick the entire time we were there), and was all-in on our family success statement. 

Evaluating each vacation day

Not only did we all write the family success statement and personal success statement in our journals, but I also challenged everyone to keep a journal while on vacation. 

The prompts I gave the kids, and the ones that I used were the following: 

Three questions

  1. How well did you meet your success statements today? In other words, was it a green, yellow, or red day? 
  2. What was a highlight or win?
  3. What was something new you learned, found interesting, or something fun you ate? 

We spent a few minutes answering these questions each night after we got home from dinner. This led to even more conversations about what had happened during the day. 

For example, one day, Ben called me out for processing a work issue out loud on the train. Because of this, he said my success statement for the day needed to be yellow. I told him he was probably right, so yellow it was. I ended the trip with two yellow days, and everything else was green. This would not have happened unless I had clarified what success looked like to me and everyone else.

How did everyone else do? 

Bless his heart, Will kept a great attitude despite having walking pneumonia and not sleeping well. 

Ben walked Omaha Beach in an absolute downpour. I will never forget the image of my two boys collecting sand off the beach in the rain. Combine this with watching the flag ceremony at the American Cemetery, and it is safe to say that this day is one none of us will ever forget. 

Sadie got her picture underneath the Eiffel Tower. I even went down on the ground to take it, which I am not known for doing—being that “touristy” guy. But I knew what success looked like for her, and I was all in. The cloudless Paris sky on a perfect 70-degree October day was simply a foretaste of heaven. 

Our family stayed safe, had fun, and learned something every single day.  It was a great success. Does this mean we were the perfect family? Heck no. The kids watched way too many screens in the hotel rooms. I still thought about work a lot, and I sometimes had to nudge everyone to do their journals each night. But by clarifying what success looked like in advance and getting everyone on the same page, we leaned into the moments that mattered. And that is a success in itself! 

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From Accountability to Affirmation: Why Success Statements Matter in 1:1s

Leadership

One of my foundational beliefs as a leader is the value of the 1:1 weekly meeting. Leadership is doing things with and through other people. Therefore, we must spend time with the people we lead to cast vision, provide feedback, and hear input to achieve and maintain alignment. 

In my last post, I discussed how the power of success statements helps clarify what winning looks like and align the follower and leader in that pursuit. Today, I discuss the next step in the process: evaluation. 

Here are three benefits of using success statements in 1:1 meetings:

  1. Self-accountability 
  2. Uncovering obstacles 
  3. Affirmation 

Self-accountability 

Success statements force us to evaluate our performance. I do this using an Excel file that lists each success statement and allows me to select a color-coded drop box to mark each statement with red, yellow, or green. Each color corresponds to how well I met each success statement. 

Red = Not true 

Yellow = Inconsistently true 

Green = True 

For example, consider the personal success statement I developed for our family’s European vacation last October: I will be present by leaving work in the States, seeking adventure, and thanking God for each moment. 

I used this statement to evaluate each day, giving it a green, yellow, or red rating. While most days were green, there were two days that I rated yellow — and the exercise helped me get back on track the following day. 

On the work front, I’ve found that success statements help the people I lead see their strengths and weaknesses. As I often remind them, a red rating doesn’t equate to failure, but it is a wake-up call that requires us to take action to correct the course. Weekly 1:1 meetings are helpful because they are — you guessed it — weekly. They allow us time to evaluate and make changes, unlike yearly performance meetings, which, in my opinion, are an abdication of leadership. 

Uncovering obstacles 

Success statements also help uncover obstacles to success. For example, one of my team members leads our customer service team. She identified two team members she wanted to invest more time in, building them up and helping enhance their performance. For two months last summer, however, she consistently ranked those success statements as yellow. 

By rating them yellow, I knew to ask the obvious follow-up question: “What is getting in the way?” And we got to the bottom of the issue; she was filling in for one person’s vacation, doing quarterly pricing updates, and handling several other essential tasks. We discussed how she could prioritize and identified smaller tasks she could delegate. We also jointly recognized that this situation was temporary and largely related to the seasonality of jobs and summer vacations!

This may seem like a small example, and it is—but there’s a crucial reason I brought it up. As a leader, I have discovered that small things can frustrate those I lead. For instance, if I were to push harder on this team member—someone who works extremely hard during a season when they have more on their plate due to vacations—they likely wouldn’t receive it well. It could cause them to become dissatisfied, frustrated, or potentially consider leaving the organization. 

Success statements allowed us to have a productive conservation about her workload. They let us get aligned to where she was during that particular season and allowed me to clarify what was important given the limits of her time.

Affirmation 

This leads us to the final element of this blog post: affirmation. Expanding on the example above, seeing those green success statements let me affirm where our team leader was achieving success. I could articulate what I appreciated and share the good things I saw. This helped encourage the team member at a busy time of year when she likely needed a boost.

I’ve discovered the same to be true with our VP of Operations and Director of Engineering, two people who have been in their roles for a little longer. While each tends to give one the impression that they are “tough” and don’t need affirmation, they’re still human beings — and success statements give me a good reason to praise their hard work. Unsurprisingly, after these conversations, there’s an observable shift in their body language. They suddenly sit a little bit taller. 

Giving affirmation does not come naturally to me, which is one of the reasons I love success statements so much: They provide me with specific actions to affirm! For example, I returned to our customer service leader the following month and let her know that I could see the work she was doing building into her team and had heard positive feedback from the sales team about their performance. Giving this specific level of feedback was extremely valuable to us both. 

Needless to say, I’ve found success statements to be extremely valuable. Now it’s your turn; I challenge you to spend some time today creating success statements for your role and co-creating them with those you lead. You won’t regret it!

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