Latest Posts

Stabilizing During Uncertainty

By Josh Nicholls
October 7, 2022
3 Min Read
In Leadership
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To celebrate our most recent wedding anniversary, my wife and I hiked The Narrows at Zion National Park. It is a beautiful hike in a slot canyon through a shallow river. Depending on when you go the clarity of the river water can vary from clear to opaque. What makes the water opaque is the dirt and sand that has washed into the river. When we hiked The Narrows, the water was opaque. With each step it was a mystery to know what would come next. The bottom of the riverbed has various depths (from a few inches to a few feet) and various terrains (from soft sand to large uneven river rocks) making each step its own unique challenge.

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Ignite the Fire With Those You Teach

By Josh Nicholls
September 29, 2022
3 Min Read
In Learning
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A while back I took my son out camping in the mountains. At the time he was about 5 years old, and we were both excited to have some one on one time. We brought the fixings for s’mores and picked up some firewood on the way in so we could have a proper campfire and treat after dinner.

As a youth I grew up in the scouting program and earned the Eagle Scout award so camping and fire building is not a foreign task. The wood was large logs, but we did not have any kindling. My son and I explored the campsite and surrounding area for twigs, sticks, and anything that we could use to start our fire. 

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Leadership Definition

By Josh Nicholls
September 21, 2022
3 Min Read
In Leadership
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There is no shortage of books, articles, and research papers on the concept of leadership. It is a massive area of study for academics and practitioners alike. Despite the size of the field, there is no common definition for leadership. Consider a few that I have collected, some of which are quite terrible. I will let you be the judge.

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Leadership Flywheel

By Josh Nicholls
September 15, 2022
5 Min Read
In Leadership, Learning
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Ever since reading Good to Great by Jim Collins I have been fascinated by the concept of the flywheel. Working hard on the right things consistently over time and then having your efforts compound for massive impact over time. I have touched on the idea here and here.

Leadership is a difficult topic to create a flywheel around because there is not a shared definition of leadership in the community. The definition I choose to use is:

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Challenging Vulnerabilities

By Josh Nicholls
September 7, 2022
3 Min Read
In Self Discovery
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Personal and organizational growth is difficult. Hundreds, if not thousands, of books have been written on the topic and we have yet to crack the code. I do not pretend to have cracked the code, but I found a pattern that is worth exploring.

Physical, emotional, and mental growth all follow the same pattern.

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Observations and Interpretations

By Josh Nicholls
August 31, 2022
3 Min Read
In Leadership
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Driving any work forward and making progress is difficult. When there are individual people and feelings involved (as there always are) it makes it even more difficult. In the past few months, I have used what I will call observation and interpretation mapping to help me and others focus on the work and less on the people involved in it.

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Standards

By Josh Nicholls
August 12, 2022
3 Min Read
In Leadership
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I recently attended a talk given by Noelle Pikus-Pace who won the silver medal in the sport of skeleton at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Before she got into skeleton, she was dedicated to becoming a collegiate athlete in track in field. Noelle competed in the decathlon which is an event that covers ten track and field events including the high jump and pole vault.

The jumping events have a horizontal bar held up by two poles called standards. The standards mark the height of the bar and when the event begins the standards move up as jumpers clear the bar. The standards and bar never go down throughout the competition, once they are set, they only go up.

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Rumination

By Josh Nicholls
August 3, 2022
3 Min Read
In Leadership, Self Discovery
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Nearly a year ago my wife, my son, and I went through what I would describe as a traumatic experience. My son who was just a little over one sustained burns on his body, primarily on his feet and hands. This experience kicked off a series of problems or challenges that we have faced and continue to face as a family.

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About Me

Josh Nicholls

I teach and invite people to act. Proud husband, father and amateur pizzaiolo

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