Reflections on a Year of Growth and Transformation

Every December, I find myself doing what most leaders do: looking back over the past twelve months and thinking, "How on earth did we get all that done?" Honestly, this year, that feeling is stronger than ever.

A few days ago, while preparing for one of our team conversations, I learned something that stopped me in my tracks. We had accomplished significantly more work than I initially thought was already an aggressive forecast. In a year defined by turbulence, unpredictability, and constant adaptation, our team and our clients achieved tremendous things together. I can’t express how grateful and proud that makes me feel.

A Year of Change, Adaptation, and Showing Up

If there’s one theme that defines 2025 for me, it’s that nothing about this world is slowing down. The rapids are getting faster. The currents are becoming more complex. Our organizations, teams, and leaders are trying to steer into a future that remains out of sight, just around that next bend.

In this context, the work we do at WhiteWater has never felt more important. The number of organizations reaching out to us this year—some steady, some growing quickly, and some wrestling with change—reinforced a truth we keep relearning: leading through whitewater requires curiosity, courage, and caring in equal measure. These three traits, that triad we’ve been developing and field-testing for years, feel more relevant than ever.

The Big Ball of Chaos (and Why I’m Grateful for It)

Despite many people’s wish for the world to move in clean, elegant straight lines, the truth is that our world moves like a big ball of chaos rolling roughly in the right direction. I joked with the team that it resembles those old Family Circus cartoons, where the kid takes nine detours through his neighborhood to get home. I can relate: where’s the fun in a straight line?

That zigzagging is an apt description of what this year felt like for many leaders we worked with. If I’m being honest, it’s also what the year felt like for me.

Some weeks, I felt like I spent more time in airports than at home (well, because I did!). Other weeks, I was juggling long-term goals, like putting the finishing touches on the manuscript of my next leadership book (more on that soon!), with real-time fires demanding my attention. But here’s the thing: even through the zigzags, we kept moving forward. No leader gets a perfect linear path. We all just keep steering toward the future we believe in.

And for that, I’m grateful.

Gratitude for the People Who Make This Possible

When I look back on this year, my gratitude shows up in three big buckets:

1. Our Team

I can’t say this loudly or often enough: our team is the reason WhiteWater works. Our team rocks.

Their effort this year was extraordinary. Their resilience, creativity, good humor, and commitment to meaningful work amid unpredictability are humbling. I’m grateful for every single one of them.

And yes, they also keep me accountable for doing the things I’d happily procrastinate, like social content, writing deadlines, or attending events on cold nights when staying home looks awfully appealing. (Fatima, I’m looking at you.)

2. Our Clients

We don’t exist without the people who trust us—those leaders who open their doors and let us into their organizations during times that feel messy, uncertain, or pressure-packed.

To every client this year: thank you for the privilege of working alongside you. Thank you for letting us help you navigate your own rapids, whether wide and rushing or narrow and choppy.

3. The Work Itself

Not everyone gets to spend their days doing what they love. For me, that’s helping teams and leaders grow. I don’t take that for granted. This year reminded me again that the work we do matters—not in a theoretical sense, but in the very real progress we see in people, leaders, organizations, and cultures.

4. Family

Last, and most importantly, none of what I do or our team accomplishes happens without the support my family provides and the sacrifices they make. Heather essentially runs the business and brings enormous creative energy to the table. I could easily argue that her presence is directly responsible for our growth. She and the kids have all put up with me spending as much time on the road as I do at home. That’s a lot of missed games, recitals, dances, and proms, not to mention just plain time spent together. Fortunately, despite my absenteeism (or maybe because of it), they have all grown into productive, independent, wonderful adults! I’m eternally grateful for the love and support they all provide.

Curiosity: The Leadership Trait of the Decade

One of the biggest personal learnings this year? Curiosity isn’t just important; it’s a true differentiator of exceptional leaders.

Curiosity is integral to leadership, strategy, culture, resilience—everything that makes an organization hum. This year, I saw how it rose to the top again and again.

Curiosity expands possibilities and nurtures innovation, opening the door to growth, new markets, new ideas, and new ways of working. In a world where certainty has gone extinct, curiosity gives leaders an essential edge: adaptability.

Looking Ahead to 2026

As we wrap up this year, here’s what I hope we take with us into the next one:

1. Set bold goals (even if they scare you).

   Our reach should extend beyond our grasp. If you don’t try, you miss the chance at even partial success (which is still success).

   
   

2. Be adaptable in how you get there.

   The routes will change, the currents will shift, and the unexpected will show up. Stay flexible and calm in the face of change.

   
   

3. Stay curious.

   Ask “what could we do?” instead of “what should we do?”

   
   

4. Honor your people.

   Growth is always, always a team sport.

   
   

5. Celebrate progress, not perfection.

   You don’t need a straight line to get home.

   
   

And remember: take time to breathe. Recharge. Spend time with people who matter. No matter what shape the world is in, that’s the foundation of leadership.

Finally, to everyone who’s been part of our journey this year—from our team and clients to our collaborators and new friends we met along the way—thank you! Your support, curiosity, and trust made all the difference. I can’t wait to see where the next chapter takes us.

Until then, have a warm, restorative, joy-filled holiday season. Here’s to the year behind us and the possibilities ahead.