The Essays
The Gist of It™ is a weekly essay series that exposes what high functioning actually costs. It gives capable people language for what they've been carrying, and clarity about what to do next.
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The Gist of It™ Library is organized in six categories - click for descriptions of each and links to related essays:
Browse the title carousel for each category by using arrows to the top right of the images. Or click on the category’s title and pull up all essays in that filter.
Start anywhere that calls to you.
Leadership From The Inside
Leadership at the senior level demands more than competence, vision, or strategic clarity. These essays show what leadership requires from the inside: staying grounded and ethically clear when systems pressure you toward conformity, using power in ways that expand your information field, and leading with the kind of deep regard for others that builds trust. Drawing on more than 25 years of research with executives and senior leaders, this is the work no leadership program ever quite taught.
The Hidden Cost of High Functioning
Competence is a gift. It is also, for many capable people, a kind of shield. these essays show what competence, restraint, and responsibility actually cost. And what it takes to stay effective without hollowing yourself out in the process.
Staying Intact Under Pressure
When systems, groups, or other people pull you away from your own center, staying yourself requires more than good intentions. These essays explore boundaries, self-betrayal, agency, and the discipline of remaining yourself when everything around you is pulling in other directions.
Repair and Relational Courage
Every meaningful relationship involves misunderstanding or hurt and the need to find a way back. These essays address the harder relational moments: accountability, power, loss. They show what it takes to stay connected without losing yourself in the process.
Knowing and Being Known
Most of us are more skilled at managing how we appear than at letting ourselves be genuinely seen. These essays explore what it actually takes to be known, and why that vulnerability is the foundation of every relationship worth having.
The Self Beneath the Self
Beneath every role, every identity, and every story you tell about yourself, something remains constant. These essays explore awareness, inner authority, and the relationship with yourself that underlies everything else. This is the foundation from which genuine leadership and genuine living both begin.
