In the Trenches: Organizational Health

Today, I’m giving you a practical tool to do just that. Based on the principles from John Maxwell’s Developing the Leader Within You 2.0 and Gordon MacDonald’s Building Below the Waterline, here is your Leadership Character Audit.If we’re honest, most of us don't know where our foundation is cracking until the building starts to lean. We need a way to inspect the "below the waterline" part of our lives before the sinkhole appears.Character Audit Worksheet- https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/0mpxnjaceitw300atavx6/The-Character-Audit-Guide.pdf?rlkey=vgghlvf1iumkxy2thbskomktf&dl=0Books Mentioned:The Secret by Mark Miller and Ken Blanchard- https://a.co/d/2zN49fpBuilding Below the Waterline by Gordon MacDonald- https://a.co/d/hd1e1yyDeveloping the Leader Within You 2.0 by John Maxwell- https://a.co/d/592SOOTwww.hudsonleadership.comkeith@hudsonleadership.comBook a Discover CallHelp us grow our community by liking and sharing.

In my years of coaching leaders in small businesses, non-profits, and churches, I’ve seen a recurring tragedy: talented leaders who build incredible organizations, only to have them collapse because their "inner world" wasn't strong enough to support their "outer world."Here is the reality: you cannot grow past or lead beyond what your character allows. Your skills might get you to the top, but only your character will keep you there.Books Mentioned: The Secret by Mark Miller and Ken Blanchard- https://a.co/d/2zN49fpBuilding Below the Waterline by Gordon MacDonald- https://a.co/d/hd1e1yyDeveloping the Leader Within You 2.0 by John Maxwell- https://a.co/d/592SOOTwww.hudsonleadership.comkeith@hudsonleadership.comBook a Discover CallHelp us grow our community by liking and sharing.

Today, we have to talk about something that is killing organizations from the inside out and driving away your best people. We have to talk about Toxic Culture.New data from Monster’s 2025 Mental Health in the Workplace survey is alarming: 80% of workers now say they work in a toxic environment.www.hudsonleadership.comkeith@hudsonleadership.comBook a Discover CallHelp us grow our community by liking and sharing.

Today, we're talking about the fuel that makes the engine run—the secret ingredient that keeps the team from burning out. We’re talking about The Power of Celebration. Specifically, we are going to see the benefits of taking the time to celebrate, as well as some practical ideas of ways we can celebrate with our teams. www.hudsonleadership.comkeith@hudsonleadership.comBook a Discover CallHelps us grow our community by liking and sharing.

You’ve got the vision. You've got the strategy. You just came from the big leadership retreat, the whiteboards are full of amazing ideas, and everyone is fired up!And then Monday happens.The daily grind hits you in the face. The emails. The phone calls. The unexpected problems. And that brilliant, game-changing strategy? It gets buried under a mountain of daily tasks.This is the Execution Gap. It’s the single biggest trip point I see in organizations. We are great at creating strategy. We are terrible at executing it.The truth is, a great strategy isn't what makes you successful. Execution is what makes you successful. So today, we're building the bridge from talk to do.Book- The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Revised and Updated- https://a.co/d/cwRQQdGwww.hudsonleadership.comkeith@hudsonleadership.comBook a Discover CallHelps us grow our community by liking and sharing.

Today, we're talking about: Tactical Patience. This is the secret weapon of high-performing leaders. It’s the strategic use of time to allow a situation to develop, enabling better assessment, decision-making, and setting the optimal conditions for success.This isn't an excuse to be slow or passive. It’s about being intentionally deliberate.www.hudsonleadership.comkeith@hudsonleadership.comBook a Discover CallHelps us grow our community by liking and sharing.

Today, we're building on that idea of trust and tackling a single, simple word that is silently killing organizational health.That word is "try."It's the word we use to avoid accountability. It's the subtle verbal safety net that keeps us stuck in a cycle of "talk and no do."www.hudsonleadership.comkeith@hudsonleadership.comBook a Discover CallHelps us grow our community by liking and sharing.

In this episode, we are diving into the topic of trust and low-trust in your organization and the effects both positive and negative it has on your organization. We are also going to look at 4 ways we can build trust. As the backbone of our conversation, we will be referencing Stephen Covey's The Speed of Trust (https://a.co/d/00yPrNp).www.hudsonleadership.comkeith@hudsonleadership.comhttps://hudsonleadership.com/book-a-discovery-call

Today, we're talking about something that is oftentimes overlooked and so often you don’t even think about this as keeping organizations stuck. It's not having too many ideas.It's not being bombarded with too much feedback.The enemy, my friends, is thinking your idea is the only and best idea.It's getting trapped in your own little echo chamber.www.hudsonleadership.comkeith@hudsonleadership.comBook a Discover CallHelps us grow our community by liking and sharing.

An easy trap for small business owners, non-profit leaders, or church leaders, because your work is often born from a passion, a calling, or a personal interest. The problem is that passion can sometimes blind you to the need for a professional, disciplined approach to your finances. Hobbies are great and a wonderful way to spend money, but in an organization, there is a need to manage the finances strategically. There is a needed mindset shift. The danger of treating an organization as a hobby is that you make decisions based on emotion and short-term desires rather than long-term sustainability.www.hudsonleadership.comkeith@hudsonleadership.comBook a Discover CallHelps us grow our community by liking and sharing.

Cash flow is always a big question. For many of us, it can feel like a constant struggle – a puzzle we can't quite solve. It's the difference between having a good month on paper and having money in the bank to pay the bills. Today, we're not going to cover anything overly complicated or technical. I have heard it said that when dealing with complexity, it is best to use simple rules to guide complex behavior. You see, complexity creates a paralysis, where we just aren’t sure what to do or where to start. Books Referenced: Mike Michalowicz, Profit First- https://a.co/d/7IFA550Donald Miller, How to Grow Your Small Business- https://a.co/d/d1fTjtWRobert Kiyosaki, Rich Dad Poor Dad- https://a.co/d/d1b3wdYwww.hudsonleadership.comkeith@hudsonleadership.comBook a Discover CallHelps us grow our community by liking and sharing.

Today, we're diving into perhaps the most fundamental aspect of bridging that gap: leadership modeling. The core truth we'll explore is this: People do what people see. This is especially true for those in leadership. Whether you're leading a small team, an entire non-profit, or a congregation, your actions speak louder than any mission statement or values poster. Your team is watching, and they're taking their cues from you.www.hudsonleadership.comkeith@hudsonleadership.comBook a Discover Call

Today, we're diving deep into a topic that is absolutely critical for true organizational clarity: the difference between your organization's actual values and its aspirational values. Are you really living out what you say you believe?www.hudsonleadership.comkeith@hudsonleadership.comhttps://hudsonleadership.com/book-a-discovery-call

In the episode, we're going to break down one of the most powerful and widely recognized frameworks in leadership development: John C. Maxwell's Five Levels of Leadership. This model is brilliant because it clearly outlines the journey of a leader, from someone people have to follow to someone they want to follow. We'll help you identify where you currently stand and, more importantly, give you actionable steps to start climbing that ladder. We'll also touch on a few other complementary frameworks to broaden our understanding.www.hudsonleadership.comkeith@hudsonleadership.comhttps://hudsonleadership.com/book-a-discovery-call

John Maxwell says, "“Leadership is influence. That’s it—nothing more and nothing less.” If leadership is influence, what does that mean for organizational health? It means that genuine leadership isn’t about your job title; it’s about your ability to shape thoughts, inspire actions, and guide people towards a shared objective. In this episode we will be talking about the four areas of a leader's Influence: Guide, Attitude and Outlook, Trust, and GrowthClick here for the learner guide. www.hudsonleadership.comkeith@hudsonleadership.comhttps://hudsonleadership.com/book-a-discovery-call