Hey Leaders, We are excited to announce our newest Book Feature Friday series at Axis Leadership! Over the next 10 weeks, we will be exploring John C. Maxwell’s powerful book: Intentional Living: Choosing a Life That Matters Most people want their lives to matter. We want to make a difference, contribute something meaningful, and leave the people and communities around us better than we found them. However, a life of significance does not happen accidentally. It is created intentionally—one decision, one action, one relationship, and one opportunity at a time. In Intentional Living, John C. Maxwell challenges us to stop waiting for the perfect moment, greater resources, a larger platform, or someone else’s permission to make a difference. He reminds us that significance is available to everyone who is willing to live purposefully and consistently add value to others. This book is not simply about achieving personal success. It is about moving beyond success toward significance. Throughout this series, we will explore how to: • Recognize that your life is part of a larger story • Discover your personal purpose and unique ability to contribute • Stop living reactively and begin making intentional choices • Use your strengths, experiences, and influence to serve others • Develop relationships with people who share your desire to make a difference • Turn good intentions into meaningful action • Begin adding value with what you already have and where you are right now • Live with urgency, courage, anticipation, and purpose • Create a lasting impact in your family, workplace, organization, and community • Build a legacy defined by the lives you helped improve Each Friday, we will examine one chapter, identify its central leadership lesson, reflect on questions that help us apply it, and complete a practical challenge designed to move us from intention to action. As we begin this journey, consider this question: Are you simply allowing your life to happen, or are you intentionally creating a life that matters?

Hey Leaders, Leadership has never been free from pressure, but today's leaders face an unprecedented combination of economic uncertainty, rapid technological change, and constant disruption. The question isn't whether you'll experience stress—it's how you'll respond to it. In the latest Harvard Business Review article, "6 Ways Leaders Harness Stress," Jon Miller and Drew Keller explain that the most effective leaders aren't immune to stress. Instead, they understand their natural reactions under pressure and learn to adapt their leadership style to meet the demands of the moment. The authors identify six common leadership response styles when facing stress: 🔹 The Lighthouse – Provides calm, clarity, and stability. 🔹 The Alchemist – Sees disruption as an opportunity for innovation. 🔹 The Firefighter – Takes decisive action when immediate response is needed. 🔹 The Stoic – Brings discipline, logic, and focus to difficult situations. 🔹 The Diplomat – Builds trust, manages relationships, and keeps teams connected. 🔹 The Container – Creates structure and order when everything feels uncertain. The article reminds us that no single leadership style is best. Every approach has strengths—and blind spots. Exceptional leaders develop the self-awareness to recognize their default response and the flexibility to adjust as circumstances change. As John C. Maxwell teaches, "Leadership is influence." Under pressure, our influence isn't determined by whether we feel stressed—it's determined by how we respond to that stress. The strongest leaders don't simply endure pressure. They transform pressure into purpose, clarity, and growth. Leadership Reflection: When pressure rises, what leadership style do you naturally fall into—and what strengths or blind spots does it create for your team? Read the full Harvard Business Review article: "6 Ways Leaders Harness Stress" By Jon Miller & Drew Keller July–August 2026 Issue – Dr. Joe

Hey Leaders, Your failure is the most effective engine for your growth — and the most underutilized. In this week’s episode, John reveals the five-step cycle that transforms every setback into your next leap forward as a leader. After his lesson, Mark Cole and Chris Goede dive into real-world strategies to help you put this growth cycle into action and boost your team’s innovation. Key takeaways: - True innovation thrives when leaders create a culture where failing is seen as a crucial part of learning and improving. - The sequence of testing, failing, learning, improving, and re-entering ensures that mistakes become stepping stones, not stumbling blocks. - Sustainable growth comes from asking, “What did I learn?” after every setback and quickly applying those lessons to move forward stronger than before. Click here to listen. The BONUS resource for this episode is the Five-Step Cycle That Turns Failure into Your Fastest Path to Growth Worksheet, which includes fill-in-the-blank notes from John’s teaching. Be sure to download the bonus resource

Hey Leaders, Have you ever found yourself saying, "I just don't have enough time"? It's one of the most common phrases we use, yet in this TED Talk, Laura Vanderkam challenges us to think differently. She argues that time is not something we simply find. Time is something we choose. One of the most powerful ideas from this talk is that we don't build meaningful lives by saving a few minutes here and there. Instead, we build the lives we want by intentionally prioritizing what matters most. Vanderkam shares a simple but profound truth: when something is truly important, we find the time for it. Just as we would immediately rearrange our schedules to respond to a family emergency or a broken water heater, we should learn to treat our priorities with that same level of importance. As leaders, this is a valuable reminder. Our calendars reveal our priorities more honestly than our intentions ever will. If leadership development, family, personal growth, health, or mentoring others truly matter to us, they should appear on our schedules before everything else begins competing for our attention. One practical strategy Laura offers is to think ahead. Instead of reacting to each day as it comes, spend time planning the upcoming week by identifying priorities in three key areas: - Career - Relationships - Self When we intentionally schedule what matters most, we are far more likely to accomplish it. She also reminds us that every week contains 168 hours. While our responsibilities differ, we often have more flexibility than we realize. The question is not whether we have enough time. The question is whether we are intentionally investing the time we've been given. You can watch the full TED Talk here: https://www.ted.com/talks/laura_vanderkam_how_to_gain_control_of_your_free_time As leaders, let's challenge ourselves this week to stop saying, "I don't have time," and instead ask, "Is this a priority?" That simple shift in perspective can transform how we lead, how we serve, and how we build the life we truly want.

Good morning! In today's rapidly changing world, leaders are constantly faced with a choice: Do I adapt, or do I conform? At first glance, those two words may seem interchangeable—but they couldn't be more different. Great leaders understand that adapting means changing your approach while remaining anchored to your values. Conforming, on the other hand, often means sacrificing your convictions just to fit in. In this week's Leadership Latte, we'll explore why the strongest leaders are flexible in their methods but unwavering in their principles. I'll also share a personal lesson from my Air Force career that reinforced the importance of embracing change without compromising the fundamentals. My hope is that this short lesson encourages you to examine where you may need to adjust your approach—and where you must stand firm in your values. Remember... Adapt your methods. Never compromise your values. I hope you'll take a few minutes to listen to this week's Leadership Latte, and if the message resonates with you, I'd love for you to share some words of encouragement to others in the comments. As always, thank you for allowing me to be part of your leadership journey. Better People…Better World. Dr. Joe