“Let us not go back in anger or forward in fear, but around in awareness.” ~ James Thurber
Photo Credit: Katherine Cameron, Alameda, CA, October 2026
Greetings -
I hope you, your families and friends are well and easing into the early days of Fall.
October has been a whirlwind of work, travel and fun. I am writing this from my lovely (and soggy) hometown of Portland, OR, where I am spending time visiting with family, catching up with friends and seeing clients (and seasons!). This trip has included a fun rendezvous with friends and family on the Oregon Coast. Between wonderful meals, a bit of golfing (outstanding weather at the Coast) and lots of laughing, we could not have asked for a better visit.
With the year winding down, I am spending more time with leadership teams and facilitating team offsites. Though varied in terms of industries and organizations, they recognize that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. Teams aspire to collectively lead more deliberately and thoughtfully, putting a premium on the value of culture and a commitment to cultivating effective and sustainable work communities.
This edition starts from the premise that leadership growth is seldom a simple choice between leaning into our strengths and shoring up our blind spots. More often, it is a matter of discerning which one the moment calls for.
That discernment rests on self-awareness and the discipline of honest, consistent reflection. That is, a willingness to ask ourselves, again and again, What serves me here? And what must I let go of so that I, and my team, can flourish?
I have been sitting with those questions a great deal lately, as I partner with clients who are adapting their leadership styles to drive results, strengthen culture and guide their teams.
They have drawn me back to Jim Collins and his concept of Level 5 leadership. Twenty-five years on, his insights are as relevant as ever (perhaps even more so). These leaders are set apart less by charisma or presence than by what Collins calls a “paradoxical combination of personal humility plus professional will.” I think of it as tenacity and grace, held in balance.
Collins offers a memorable image to illustrate the point: the window and the mirror. When things go well, Level 5 leaders look out the window, crediting their people, their circumstances and even good fortune. When things go poorly, they look in the mirror and take ownership, without pointing to others or to bad luck. Beneath both lies an unwavering resolve to do whatever the result requires, paired with a genuine willingness to let the credit land elsewhere.
When I reflect on my own strengths and blind spots, I find myself returning to the mirror. That is where the journey from good to great begins for each of us. (Some mornings, I confess, the mirror is more candid than I would like. )
And finally, for those needing some reading material, Adam Grant just released his latest book: Vibe: The Secrets of Strong Connections in a Lonely World. I am enjoying the start of it and I am sure there will be plenty of excellent insights to take forward in my work.
With respect and deep admiration for you all, happy reading and listening!
Be well, take good care of yourselves, families and community.
-kj
PS - (Missed a newsletter? Past editions can be found here: https://www.kevinjordan.coach/blog. And if you hit paywall on an article(s), feel free to send me a note and let me know what you need. I have subscriptions to many of the sources that I cite.)
Featured: Should You Develop Your Leadership Strengths—or Fix Your Weaknesses?
The either/or premise of this question makes reductionist thinking tempting. Just pick one and commit.
And why not? There is no shortage of research and commentary demonstrating that a focus on either strengths or weaknesses can yield real benefits.
Yet, as I consistently find in my practice, the honest answer is: it depends.
Thoughtful and effective leadership development is predicated on 1) your values and purpose; 2) the nature and context of your current role and future aspirations; 3) team dynamics and culture; and 4) the organizational norms and political realities you are navigating. The optimal path forward is necessarily highly individualized. The key to accelerating leadership development lies in the specificity of your analysis, assessing all of the above with a clear eye toward what success looks like and how it will be measured, in both the near and longer term.
When we do this well, we can develop tailored plans that amplify strengths, mitigate blind spots and explore untapped areas of potential growth. The result is greater agency, agility and adaptability to meet the exceptional demands of modern leadership.
Shannon Anderson-Finch, Konrad Lenniger, and Michael Watkins (whose The First 90 Days remains, in my humble opinion, essential reading for any leader in transition) offer a practical and rigorous framework for exactly this kind of diagnostic thinking.
Articles
Psyche: How to uncover your blind spots. "We all have parts of ourselves others know but we don’t. Gain greater self-awareness by seeing yourself from the outside in."
Harvard Business Review: Why Aren’t I Better at Delegating? "...We also identified four challenges that stop even those who know how to delegate from doing it successfully: an addiction to the dopamine hit of easy productivity, a disinclination to reject requests for help, a desire to meet their own bosses’ or clients’ unmanaged expectations, and a misunderstanding of what “work” should mean for a manager. Drawing on research and my own two decades of experience advising senior leaders, I’ve developed concrete recommendations for overcoming each challenge."
Harvard Business Review: The Case for Performance-First Management. "Performance-first management represents a gentle shift toward an approach where managers empower their teams to deliver high-impact results within a complex and evolving reality. It keeps people at the center, but reorients the manager’s role around enabling performance, not just supporting satisfaction. Gartner research shows that managers who shift toward a performance-first approach are up to 21% more likely to deliver the business results that are expected of them. And employees who say that their managers are performance-first report higher overall satisfaction with their employee experience."
KelloggInsight: The Costly Gap Between Two Career Ladders. "Managers earn more than individual contributors—even when their work is comparable."
The Wall Street Journal: The 24 New Rules for Succeeding at Work. "How do you get a raise? How do you make work dinners palatable? How do you deal with an overwhelmed middle manager? We asked the people who would know."
Research
The Pragmatic Engineer: The state of the tech industry in 2026. "A look into what has changed, what’s still the same – and what’s broken – in the tech industry."
Blog Posts & Opinions
Adam Grant (The New York Times): Why We Fall for Narcissistic Leaders, Starting in Grade School. "The responsibility of leadership is too important to entrust to arrogant people. Narcissistic leaders deny their weaknesses and make themselves weaker. Humble leaders admit their weaknesses and make themselves stronger. Great leaders overcome their weaknesses and make us all better."
The University of Chicago Center for Practical Wisdom: Humility: Why modern leaders need to resurrect this ancient virtue. "I think about humility in two ways. One way is being the right size in a given situation — not too big, not too small...The other way of thinking about humility is our ability to know ourselves, check ourselves, and go beyond ourselves. This way starts with self-awareness and an accurate assessment of one’s strengths and weaknesses. Then it requires restraining those selfish impulses while also considering other people’s needs and well-being as equal to your own." [KJ: See also this companion piece re: intellectual humility.]
Michael Watkins (LinkedIn): 6 Elements of Enterprise Leadership. "An enterprise leader is a multi-faceted role requiring a unique blend of strategic thinking, emotional intelligence, and operational insight...By mastering the art of strategic thinking, navigating complexity, managing core tensions, aligning stakeholders, driving innovation, and developing talent, enterprise leaders build resilient, innovative, and purpose-driven organizations that can thrive in an ever-changing business landscape. As the pace of change continues to accelerate, enterprise leaders' role in shaping their organizations' future will only grow in importance."
Nettie Reynolds (CLOSLER @ Johns Hopkins): The Ones Who Stay With Us. "...But being affected by another human being doesn’t necessarily mean we’ve crossed a boundary or cared too much. Maybe it’s simply part of what happens when our work brings us into some of the most vulnerable moments of others’ lives."
Podcasts
The Curiosity Shop with Brené Brown and Adam Grant: Overconfidence and the Art of Knowing Yourself. "What happens when your confidence outruns your competence? Brené and Adam start with...how to notice your thinking, question it, and change it on purpose. They dig into the Dunning–Kruger effect, calibration, journaling, and feedback, discuss why we’re so bad at estimating timelines, and consider how “I’ve got this” energy can quietly wreck projects, relationships, and learning."
Kelly Corrigan Wonders: Super Traits: Deep Dive with Steve Kerr on Humility. "What does humility look like when you're standing at the absolute top? Kelly talks with Steve Kerr—nine-time NBA champion—about the tension between winning and perspective, the culture built on values most people wouldn't associate with dominance, and the contradiction at the heart of his best player, Steph Curry. They explore why we're drawn to watching people reach their peak, what coaches taught him that had nothing to do with basketball, and how loss shaped the way he leads. Steve also reflects on using his platform when staying quiet would be easier, what he's learning from the youngest people in the room, and why beginner's mind might be the most important practice of all."
A Bit of Optimism with Simon Sinek: Humble Leaders Lead Better Teams with Retired Navy SEAL Jocko Willink. "Most people believe the only way to lead is to become the best at something. But what if great leadership means admitting you’re not the best at anything?
Jocko Willink believes the secret to his greatest achievements come down to one thing – humility. A retired Navy SEAL commander, Jocko served 20 years in the U.S. military, leading one of the most decorated special operations units through combat in the Iraq War."
Arts, Music & Culture Corner
Nautilus: The Best Ocean Photos of the Year. "Drone, coastal, and underwater perspectives...the photos showcase wonder and wildlife in the oceans, as well as some of the challenges that endanger these incredible ecosystems."
The New York Times: Beck to Basics: A Guy, a Guitar and a Broken Heart. "On his pristine new album, “Ride Lonesome,” rock’s chameleon revisits his most pensive, stately sound."
The New York Times (Dr. Clay Routledge): Stop Pathologizing Ordinary Life. "We should be thankful for the progress we’ve made on mental health and continue to improve access to effective treatment. But we should also try to spend less time stuck in our heads and more time out in the world, pursuing the kinds of activities that support mental health without making us so obsessed with it."
Reflections
“Some other eyes will look around, and find the things I’ve never found.” ~ Malvina Reynolds
The Craftsman
By Marcus B. Christian
I ply with all the cunning of my art
This little thing, and with consummate care
I fashion it—so that when I depart,
Those who come after me shall find it fair
And beautiful. It must be free of flaws—
Pointing no laborings of weary hands;
And there must be no flouting of the laws
Of beauty—as the artist understands.
Through passion, yearnings infinite—yet dumb—
I lift you from the depths of my own mind
And gild you with my soul’s white heat to plumb
The souls of future men. I leave behind
This thing that in return this solace gives:
“He who creates true beauty ever lives.”