The Moment the Light Breaks Through
Illumination Is the Gift of Insight
Dear Reader
I was once hired by a CEO who was struggling to gain traction on the largest transformational initiative their organization had ever undertaken. From the beginning, it was clear that the challenge did not lie in the plan itself but in the way leadership was being expressed. The executive was deeply focused on perfecting the strategy, refining frameworks, and controlling outcomes, yet the team remained disengaged. Progress had slowed to a crawl.
As we worked together, I began to see that there was an opportunity for them to elevate their leadership. They could not yet see how their presence shaped the energy, motivation, and confidence of those around them. Every meeting followed a similar pattern. Strategy was discussed in detail, but little real movement took place. The brilliance of the plan remained locked within the confines of discussion.
One day it became clear to me that they needed a different way to understand what was missing. The image of a diamond came to mind. I explained that their strategy was like a rough stone, full of potential yet unfinished. Their role as a leader was to help their people make the precise cuts that would bring that potential to life. Leadership was not about polishing the surface. It was about guiding others to shape the facets and bring light into the work.
Something shifted in that moment. The executive began to focus less on control and more on creating the conditions for clarity, trust, and collaboration. Over the following months, the team found its rhythm. The work began to flow. Energy returned, progress accelerated, and what once felt theoretical became something real and radiant.
What Have I Been Learning
Strategy does not exist in isolation. It becomes real only when people begin to act. Every project, every decision, and every challenge gives shape to the larger whole. Leadership is the practice of translating purpose into progress through others. The true work is helping people understand how their efforts contribute to the shared vision and then supporting them as they make it real.
Where Have My Travels Taken Me
Travel has taught me that perspective shapes experience. Some of my journeys have taken me to places that tested my patience and adaptability. Yet even in the most challenging moments, I found that meaning could be created by choosing to see what was good. I do not remember any of my travels as terrible. What remains are the moments of connection, discovery, and quiet insight. The only exception might be the night I found myself stuck in the Houston airport, though even that holds a certain humor now.
Travel has shaped the way I see leadership. Each experience has been like a facet cut into the stone, revealing new angles of awareness and understanding. The discomforts of the journey have refined my perspective, much like the process that gives a diamond its brilliance. It is through movement, reflection, and resilience that clarity emerges. These experiences continue to remind me that the beauty of the journey is found not in perfection but in how we allow it to shape us into something more complete.
What Am I Reading
I have been revisiting Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan. The authors emphasize that strategy without follow-through is nothing more than wishful thinking. Their message aligns with what I have seen time and again. True leadership lives in the connection between vision and disciplined action.
Closing Insight
Clarity is not born in isolation. It is shaped through collaboration, learning, and movement. Strategy that remains static loses its vitality. When leaders treat it as a living process that is continually refined through the hands and minds of their people, it begins to shine. The brilliance of any strategy is not found in its design but in its execution, where purpose is transformed into progress.
Until next time,
Kursten