Notes on leadership from the inside: how decisions get made, where teams get stuck, and what it takes to move things forward.
What Brian Brennan is noticing in the room — leadership, pressure, and the conversations most people avoid — along with what actually works, where things tend to break down, and the shifts that move teams and decisions forward.
Latest Post
The Profile Said She Was Too Harsh. I Almost Ignored It
I’ve used personality assessments for over twenty years. And the thing I’ve learned — the thing most leaders miss — is that the useful part isn’t the section that makes people feel good about themselves.
Everyone reads their profile the same way. They get to the strengths and think: yes, exactly, that’s me. They nod through the challenges section a little faster. They file it away feeling seen and affirmed.
That’s not how these tools actually help you.
Past posts
What I Took Home from Calgary: TEC Canada’s National Member Conference 2026
Over 300 senior leaders. All of them successful in their own right. All of them, by being in that room, willing to admit there were things in their businesses, and in themselves, that they didn’t have figured out. That’s not a small thing. Most rooms aren’t like that.
The Coffee Pot
I’ve spent a lot of years working with CEOs and business owners. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s that the real problems in an organization rarely announce themselves. They show up sideways. In a meeting that feels off. In a conversation that goes nowhere. In a kitchen that nobody seems to think is their problem. This is a story about a coffee pot.
Everyone Left the Meeting Aligned. Nobody Was.
I’ve used personality assessments for over twenty years. And the thing I’ve learned — the thing most leaders miss — is that the useful part isn’t the section that makes people feel good about themselves.
Everyone reads their profile the same way. They get to the strengths and think: yes, exactly, that’s me. They nod through the challenges section a little faster. They file it away feeling seen and affirmed.
That’s not how these tools actually help you.
Some Days I Wish for the Simplicity of a Gunfight
I’ve had a lot of conversations with leaders over the years. Most of them are about growth, succession, team dynamics, pressure, uncertainty — the familiar terrain of running something that matters.
My conversation with Mark Gasparotto was different.