This was written by my oldest daughter and it was too good not to share. I hope it encourages you and comment below and share it!

The world has always been messy.

My whole life I’ve heard the same thing: be prepared for the day Jesus comes back. When I was younger, I didn’t fully understand what that meant until I read that no one knows the day or the hour (Matthew 24:36). It was never about packing an emergency bag or creating a plan. It’s about trusting God’s timing and building a relationship with Him in the meantime.

But if I’m being honest, Christians can get so stuck on the “end times” that we lose sight of what God has already given us right now.

For generations, people have talked about the end times. And almost every time I hear it, it comes from a place of fear and urgency. Don’t get me wrong, the Bible does call us to be ready and spiritually awake (Matthew 24:42). But readiness is different from panic. Lately, I’ve been thinking about this because of everything going on in the world. Anytime something serious happens, people seem to immediately jump to “this must be the end.”

I’m not a biblical expert, but I do know this: God will not leave us or forsake us. He is kind. He is just. And from what I’ve learned in my relationship with Him, He doesn’t give us a spirit of fear or timidness, but of power, love, and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7).

When Jesus returns, Scripture describes it with a loud command and the sound of a trumpet (1 Thessalonians 4:16). It’s powerful and clear. Not something hidden or uncertain. Which makes me wonder why we live like it’s something we’re supposed to fear every day instead of something we trust God with.

As a Christian, it’s honestly exhausting to see how much focus gets placed on the end. It can create this mindset that everything is just leading up to pain and suffering. And yes, there will be hard things, but Jesus coming back is also the most hopeful promise we have. A new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:1). That matters too.

So why are we putting so much weight on the fear? Why are we acting like the timeline is the main point? Why are we letting it pull us out of the present?

Something about that doesn’t sit right with me. It makes me think about how easily fear and distraction can take our focus off God. Scripture is clear that the enemy looks for ways to do exactly that (1 Peter 5:8). When we’re consumed with fear about the future, it’s easy to lose sight of what God is doing right in front of us.

The world has always been messy. Ever since the beginning, there has been sin, pain, and brokenness (Genesis 3). Wars, sickness, suffering, and chaos aren’t new. Even Jesus said there would be wars and rumors of wars (Matthew 24:6). Every generation has had moments where they thought, “This must be it.”

Does God want us to focus on the end above everything else? I don’t think so. Scripture points us to something simpler and deeper. We were created to live for Him, to glorify Him, to serve others, and to walk humbly with Him (Micah 6:8). We were made to build a real relationship with Him and to live that out daily.

God didn’t create us just to wait in fear. He calls us to be ready, yes, but also to live faithfully in the moment.

And when people claim they know when Jesus is coming back, or say they can feel that it’s about to happen, I don’t believe that lines up with Scripture. The Bible is clear that we don’t know the time (Matthew 24:36). And it also reminds us not to worry about tomorrow, because today already has enough to hold (Matthew 6:34).

It’s so easy to get pulled into thinking about the past or worrying about the future. But when we do that, we miss the present moment, the place where God is actually trying to meet us.

When we slow down and stay present, our hearts and minds start to settle. And we’re able to listen and be in the presence of the Lord.

Maybe the point is not to live in fear of what’s coming, but to be faithful with what’s right in front of us. To be ready, but not anxious. To trust God’s timing, while fully living the life He’s given us today.

Are you still willing to serve My people?

When a few mentors started nudging me toward Substack many months back, I recognized it as more than practical advice because I had heard that kind of nudge before.

It tends to arrive wrapped in other people’s words, but the source is consistent, and I knew this was God pressing on something He hadn’t stopped asking me for a long time.

The honest answer? I wasn’t sure if I was still willing.

What Twenty Years in Ministry Teaches You

I’ve served in dozens of ministry roles for over twenty years, and I want to be careful here, because I mean what I’m about to say with real tenderness: pastoring people is some of the most fruitful, life-giving work I’ve ever done, and it is also genuinely costly in ways that don’t show up in any job description.

We are all, on our best days, difficult to lead. Ministry indexes heavily on damage control. You walk with people through their hardest and darkest moments, and sometimes the help you offer is not wanted, and sometimes offering it costs you the relationship. Twenty-plus years of that teaches you something about what it means to give without guarantee of return, and somewhere in me, I had grown quietly tired of betrayal and pain that hits deep.

So I sat with the question honestly. Was I still willing to do this? Or had I earned the right to fade into the background?

“Ministry indexes heavily on damage control. You walk with people through their hardest and darkest moments, and sometimes offering help costs you the relationship.”

The Convergence That Changed the Direction

What I recognized in that long, ongoing prayer between me and God was a genuine dissatisfaction. Not just the restless kind, but a deep sense that the status quo, in corporate America and in the structure of the church I had known, was no longer the lane I was meant to occupy. If I was putting my chips back on the table, I wanted fresh vision not to be different, but because I felt that was where my calling resided.

That inner work hit at the same time my second daughter was heading to college, and we were staring at the reality of both girls in school simultaneously. The financial weight of that was real. I started praying specifically about what I was building, whether it would be ministry or a coaching business, and I believe I got a firm answer: this is a coaching business.

So I joined Substack and started writing.

What Six Months Has Actually Looked Like

Nearly 1,200 subscribers. A handful of paid supporters. Twelve clients at various stages of career transition and pressure. Most of them are job displaced or at a serious crossroads, which puts me right at the intersection I’ve walked for thirty years, enterprise technology and pastoral presence.

And I’ll be honest with you the way I would with a close friend: I am not good at making money from this. Actually, I suck at it… lol.

When you have pastored for most of your adult life, you get used to giving help away freely, without invoice, because that is what service has meant to you. It is genuinely hard to turn around and attach a price to something that has, for most of your life, been an act of service and giving. The last thing I want to do is add financial burden to someone who already feels like they’re carrying too much.

But I’m learning something. Sustainability is not a compromise of calling. Building something that can actually last, something that doesn’t quietly ask my family to absorb the hidden cost of my willingness, is itself an act of faithfulness. I’m still working out what that looks like in practice.

“Sustainability is not a compromise of calling. Building something that can actually last is itself an act of faithfulness.”

Still Here. Still Willing.

Six months in, I can say this with more clarity than I had when I started: the question God kept asking was not rhetorical. He was not checking whether I was spiritually enthusiastic enough. He was asking whether I trusted Him enough to stay in the tension, to serve people in a new form, and to believe that building something sustainable was not a betrayal of the pastoral instinct that got me here.

For the love of God… I’m still here. And I’m still willing.

If you’re in that tension too, feeling the pull to give more than you can sustain, wondering whether calling and livelihood can actually coexist, you are not alone in it. That question doesn’t have a tidy answer, but it’s worth sitting with honestly. The honest conversation is usually where the real clarity starts.

So that’s where I am right now. Still called. Still willing. Still learning. Not trying to build a platform, not trying to impress anyone… just trying to be faithful with what God has put in my hands, and wise about how I carry it, because service that isn’t sustainable eventually fades, and I don’t want that to be the fruit of my life.

Much Love,
Chris

If you’re new here, subscribe free and stay close. I’m going to keep writing for people carrying real responsibility, and I’m going to keep telling the truth about what it costs and what it takes to finish well.

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Confidentiality, Integrity, and Rights

I take my commitments to Microsoft seriously, including all non-compete and conflict of interest obligations. Nothing I write here competes with or compromises my responsibilities there.

All opinions and stories shared here are my own and in no way represent Microsoft or any other current or past employer. Nothing in this publication should be taken as official company views or endorsements.

All content on Leader Unlock is for personal use only. Please do not copy, repost off platform, or republish substantial portions of this work without permission. If you want to quote or share something, link back to the original post so people can read it in full and in context.

I do that less and less now. Not because I stopped being curious, but because I discovered what happens when you bring that same curiosity to a real conversation instead of a search engine. That shift changed how I work, how I plan, and how I think about the next decade of my career.

It did not happen overnight. It happened through four steps — a framework that took me from AI curious to genuinely AI fluent. Not fluent in the technical sense. Fluent in the way that actually matters for leaders: knowing how to bring AI into your work as a thinking partner, a research engine, a process consultant, and a builder.

Thirty years in enterprise technology and I still had to build this from scratch. That alone tells you where most people are starting from.

Step 1: Research

Stop using search engines as your primary research tool and start using AI models. Not one model — four. Download ChatGPT from OpenAI, Claude from Anthropic, Copilot from Microsoft, and Grok from X. Put them on your desktop and your phone. Then take the same question and run it through all four.

This matters because each model has a different personality, different training, and different strengths. ChatGPT tends to be comprehensive and affirming. Claude tends to push back and help you think through tradeoffs. Copilot connects into the Microsoft ecosystem. Grok pulls from a different information stream entirely. Using one model is like reading one newspaper and calling yourself informed. Using four is how you start to see the full picture.

Try this with something low-stakes first. Planning a trip. Thinking through a career move. Evaluating a business idea. Type the same detailed prompt into all four and watch what comes back. Then have a real conversation in each one — not just a query, an actual back and forth. That conversation is where the value lives.

Using one AI model is like reading one newspaper and calling yourself informed.

Step 2: Process Reengineering

Once you have started using AI as a research tool, the next step is bringing it into your actual work.

Take the things you do every week — the recurring tasks, the reports, the communications, the decisions — and before you do them, ask an AI how you should think about doing them differently. Not for the sake of change. With a specific goal: identifying which parts of that task are truly irreplaceable and which parts could be automated, accelerated, or redesigned.

This is what process reengineering means in practice. You are not asking AI to do your job. You are asking AI to help you see your job more clearly — to find the manual painful steps that could become repeatable mechanisms, and eventually, automations.

The leaders who do this well are going to separate themselves over the next two to three years. The ones who do not will still be doing manually what the others handed to AI in 2025. That gap will compound faster than most people expect.

The leaders who reverse engineer their work with AI now will separate from those who wait. That gap will compound faster than most people expect.

Step 3: Build

This is the step most people skip. It is also the one that matters most for actual fluency.

At some point you have to stop reading about AI and start building with it. Not building in the engineering sense — building in the sense of taking an idea and using AI to make it real.

I had never opened GitHub. I did not know what Vercel was. I had no traditional development background. But I had an idea — a platform to help leaders like me become more AI fluent — and I started having conversations with Claude about how to build it. On an external account, with no internal information involved.

Claude walked me through everything. Setting up a GitHub account. Deploying on Vercel. Pointing my DNS. Connecting an API to my Substack. Every time I got stuck I came back with a screenshot and said “this isn’t right — do you see what’s wrong?” and it helped me fix it.

That platform is BecomeAIFluent.com. It is real, it is live, and I built it without a developer. That is what AI fluency looks like in practice.

Step 4: The Learn-It-All Mentality

The fourth step is the one that sustains everything else — and you are already doing it by watching this.

Becoming AI fluent is not a destination. It is a posture. A commitment to keep learning, keep asking, keep having conversations — with AI, with colleagues, with people who are further along than you are.

Ask the people around you what they are learning. Find the leaders in your organization who are building AI fluency and have real conversations with them. Seek out content, coaching, community — not passively, actively. The people who grow fastest in this space treat every week as another opportunity to learn something they did not know before.

Becoming AI fluent is not a destination. It is a posture. A commitment to keep learning, keep asking, keep having conversations.

Episode Chapters

00:00: The Confession Every Tech Leader Needs to Hear
01:00: What AI Fluency Actually Looks Like in Enterprise Tech
02:30: The Sticky Note That Started Everything
04:30: How to Reinvent Yourself When You're Already the Expert
06:00: Chaos to Process to Automation: The AI Readiness Ladder
08:30: How a Non-Coder Built a Web App Using Claude and Vercel
10:30: Welcome to Become AI Fluent

You can do this. I am in my mid-fifties with 30 years in tech and I still had to build this from scratch. The dots connected faster for me than they might for you — but they will connect. The question is whether you start.

Research. Reengineering. Build. Learn. Four steps. Ninety days. That is the path.

If this episode connected with you, leave a comment. I read every one and try to respond to all of them. And if you know a leader who is quietly falling behind on AI, share this with them. The window is still open — but it does not stay open forever.

Subscribe free at LeaderUnlock.com, or join the community for as little as $7 per month.

Much Love,
Chris

I take my commitments to Microsoft seriously, including all non-compete and conflict of interest obligations. Nothing I write here competes with or compromises my responsibilities there.

All opinions and stories shared here are my own and in no way represent Microsoft or any other current or past employer. Nothing in this publication should be taken as official company views or endorsements.

All content on Leader Unlock is for personal use only. Please do not copy, repost off platform, or republish substantial portions of this work without permission. If you want to quote or share something, link back to the original post so people can read it in full and in context.

That might sound strange coming from someone who has spent thirty years in enterprise technology. I have navigated the internet age, the dot-com era, the shift from on-premise to cloud, Smart Home at Amazon, and seven years building AI enablement programs. I know how to reinvent myself when the ground shifts. I have done it before.

But this one was different. And I was behind in a way I had not expected.

“The gap between using AI and becoming AI fluent is wider than most leaders in technology want to admit.”

This is the first episode of Become AI Fluent — a show built for senior leaders, directors, VPs, and executives who are technically literate but quietly falling behind on AI. Every episode shares what I am actually doing, not what sounds good in theory. And this first one starts where every honest conversation starts: with a confession.

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What I Had to Admit to Myself

I was using AI on a daily basis and calling it productivity. Summarizing transcripts. Cleaning up emails. Running research queries. All of it useful. None of it transformative. And at the time, I genuinely believed I was keeping pace.

I was not. The people around me who were building real AI fluency were not using it as a text editor. They were designing workflows with it. Building tools with it. Using it as a thinking partner, not a finishing tool. That gap — between using AI and becoming AI fluent — is wider than most leaders in technology want to admit. And the longer you wait to look at it honestly, the harder it becomes to close.

Nobody in this space is a complete expert. The models are evolving too fast, the use cases moving too quickly. But that is actually the good news — it means the window is still open. The question is whether you are willing to walk through it.

“The people building real AI fluency were not using it as a text editor. They were using it as a thinking partner.”

Chaos to Process to Automation: The AI Readiness Ladder

The biggest mistake I see companies make when implementing AI is skipping the steps. They have broken processes — manual, inconsistent, held together by tribal knowledge — and they try to automate them. What they get is automated chaos. Faster output, no better results. Sometimes worse.

The ladder works like this. First, you take chaos and turn it into a process. You document what actually happens, not what is supposed to happen. You clean the inputs and define the outputs. That alone is harder than most organizations expect.

Once you have a real process, you build mechanisms around it. Repeatable steps. Consistent inputs. Quality checks. A mechanism is a process your team can run without you explaining it every time.

Only after the mechanisms exist do you move toward automation. At that point, AI is not replacing a broken system. It is accelerating a working one. The results are different in kind, not just in speed.

“AI is not replacing a broken system. It is accelerating a working one. The results are different in kind, not just in speed.”

What Building AI Fluency Actually Looks Like

The most concrete example I can give you is BecomeAIFluent.com. I am not a coder. I had never touched GitHub. I had never heard of Vercel. I did not know what deploying a web app meant in practical terms.

What I had was a clear vision, a willingness to iterate, and Claude. I started with a conversation. Then another. Then another. Each one pushed the idea further until I had something real — a platform with API integrations, a live subscriber connection to my Substack, and a fully deployed web application I can point people to.

That is what AI fluency looks like in practice. Not mastering a tool. Not memorizing prompts. Knowing what you are trying to build well enough to describe it, and trusting the process enough to keep going when it gets complicated. The technical barriers that used to stop non-technical leaders are not what they were. What remains is the willingness to start.

Episode Chapters

00:00 — The Confession Every Tech Leader Needs to Hear
01:00 — What AI Fluency Actually Looks Like in Enterprise Tech
02:30 — The Sticky Note That Started Everything
04:30 — How to Reinvent Yourself When You're Already the Expert
06:00 — Chaos to Process to Automation: The AI Readiness Ladder
08:30 — How a Non-Coder Built a Web App Using Claude and Vercel
10:30 — Welcome to Become AI Fluent

If this resonated with you, I would love to hear where you are in your own AI journey. Leave a comment below — that conversation is worth having.

And if you know someone in leadership who is quietly wondering whether they are falling behind on this, share this episode with them. The window is still open. But it does not stay open forever.

Subscribe free at LeaderUnlock.com, or join the community for as little as $7 per month. New episodes drop consistently, and every one is built around what I am actually doing — not what sounds good in theory.

Subscribe now

Confidentiality, Integrity, and Rights

I take my commitments to Microsoft seriously, including all non-compete and conflict of interest obligations. Nothing I write here competes with or compromises my responsibilities there.

All opinions and stories shared here are my own and in no way represent Microsoft or any other current or past employer. Nothing in this publication should be taken as official company views or endorsements.

All content on Leader Unlock is for personal use only. Please do not copy, repost off platform, or republish substantial portions of this work without permission. If you want to quote or share something, link back to the original post so people can read it in full and in context.

A role. An opportunity bigger than you’d choose. And every reasonable instinct you have will tell you to wait until you are more prepared, more credentialed, more certain.

I want to tell you why that instinct is going to cost you.

I still remember sitting down to deliver a five-year strategy document I wrote to one of the most senior executives at Amazon. The room was quiet and my preparation was solid, but my credentials would happily point out I wasn’t qualified to be there. No college degree and honestly I barely graduated high school.

My team was nervous, but I was calm and excited because I have spent most of my life slipping through the back door on instinct, nerve, and a willingness to figure it out once I was inside.

My whole career has been this way.

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The Back Door

I keep finding myself in places where I am not naturally gifted enough, don’t have the required credentials, and rooms I have no business being in by any reasonable human measurement… yet I keep saying yes anyway.

A friend who has watched my life for a while said something that struck a chord.
“You backed your way into it. You came in the back door.”

He was right. Somewhere in thirty years of backing through doors, I have learned something I wish someone had told me earlier.

The equipping almost never happens in the hallway. It happens inside. The confidence and clarity comes inside. The skills come inside, and none of it reaches the person still standing outside waiting to feel ready.

Say Yes Anyway

Almost every role I have held the last fifteen years requires a bachelor’s degree at minimum and strongly prefers a master’s degree. By every standard measure, the lack of these alone should have kept me in the hallway.

But early on I learned to just keep saying yes. When people asked me to take on things beyond my skills and abilities, I said yes. Not out of bravado or because I was unaware of the gap. I said yes because I figured the only way to close the gap was to get inside the room and figure it out.

You don’t always have to be equipped. You need to be available, and available is a decision you can make right now regardless of what you are carrying.

Deeper Than Doubt

Sure, I still deal with imposter syndrome. Most days, in most rooms, some part of me is aware of everything I am not. The degree I never earned or the standard paths I didn’t take.

That awareness has never fully gone away, but I have stopped believing this is a disqualification.

What I have learned is that underneath the doubt there is something that does not move. I know what I am built for. I know who I am here to serve. I could sit with a CEO tomorrow, ask hard questions, speak honestly, and not flinch. Not because the imposter syndrome is gone, rather because something underneath it is more settled than the fear is loud.

You don’t have to resolve the doubt before you walk in. You just have to know why you’re walking in. That is what carries you through the door when every feeling you have is telling you to stay outside.

This One’s For You

I want to speak directly to you if you are in a season of transition right now.

Maybe you have been laid off. Maybe you are chasing something that does not have a guaranteed outcome. Maybe someone handed you an opportunity that is clearly bigger than your current resume and you are not sure you should take it. Maybe you are standing at a fork with two or three doors and no sign telling you which one to walk through.

That uncertainty is its own kind of hallway. And the hardest thing about it is that you can convince yourself you are still deciding when really you are hiding.

Here is what thirty years taught me about those moments.

The room is not what you think it is. The version of it you have built in your imagination is constructed from fear, from your history, from the parts of you that have learned to stay safe by staying put. The actual room is different. It has things in it you cannot see from where you are standing, things that will not reach you until you walk through the door.

Walking in scared, truly scared, is not a sign you are in the wrong place. It is often the clearest sign that you are in exactly the right one.

The Pattern Holds

I have spent a lot of my life walking into rooms I was not fully ready for. That has been the pattern more times than I can count.

You say yes. You walk in with what you actually have, not what you wish you had. Then something happens once you are in the room that never would have happened standing outside of it.

You are not too far gone.
You are not too late.
What you have been does not get the final word on what you can still become.

Walk into the room.

If this found you at the right moment, you belong here. Subscribe to Leader Unlock and join a growing community of leaders doing the hard and honest work of becoming.

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SEO Tags: leadership transition, career change, imposter syndrome, leadership courage, showing up before you’re ready, available not equipped, personal reinvention, how to start over, leadership development

They command a room. Their teams deliver fantastic short-term results. But it comes with a hidden cost. They are so laser-focused on the outcome that they grind through people like a wood chipper, and they end up sacrificing the one thing they’ll eventually need most: trust.

Leaders who break trust in the process of “success” are trading long-term strength for short-term output. They usually don’t realize what they broke until the best people quietly leave, hard-earned knowledge walks out the door, and the culture turns transactional out of fear.

I’ve watched it happen too many times to stay quiet about it.

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30 Years of Watching the Difference

For more than 30 years, I’ve worked alongside wood chipper leaders and world-class ones, sometimes in the same organization. What separated the great ones wasn’t talent, or vision, or even experience. It was the way they carried responsibility.

That’s the heart of servant leadership, and I won’t go deep on the framework because you’ve likely heard it before. The punchline is this:

Servant leadership is love expressed through responsibility. It’s choosing to carry the weight so the people around you can do their best work without living in fear.

That’s why a moment from Simon Sinek’s 2014 TED Talk still sticks with me. He opens with Captain William Swenson, a moment caught on a GoPro in the middle of a firefight. Swenson bends over a wounded soldier, and before turning back into the chaos, he pauses and kisses him on the forehead.

A small act. Everything communicated: you are not just a tool to me.

Sinek’s point is that safety changes everything. And he’s right.

But I remember thinking, that kind of safety doesn’t come from a process or a framework. It comes from love. Not love as a Hallmark word. Love as a real posture that says, “I will not abuse you to get what I want,” and “I am going to find ways to help you succeed.”

Safety is the fruit. Love is the root.

Leadership Is Under Attack, and Almost Nobody Is Stopping It

Leaders and companies are accelerating in the wrong direction, chasing short-term outputs by grinding people down, quietly sacrificing the one thing that sustains real long-term results in any organization: trust.

You can watch it play out in every org that keeps “winning” while silently bleeding its best people. When those people leave, they take with them the institutional knowledge, the earned credibility with customers, and the resilience that carries a team through hard seasons. That reservoir of trust takes years to build and minutes to destroy.

Gartner found that employees are 4.3x more likely to trust leaders who explain their decisions, and 6.5x more likely to trust leaders who genuinely care about their concerns. In that same research, 79% of employees reported low trust in change.

So when people say psychological safety is a soft concept, I just shake my head. Harvard Business Review has made it a serious performance conversation because teams don’t take smart risks, admit mistakes early, or challenge bad ideas when they’re afraid of what happens if they do.

The research is consistent: creativity, honesty, and real collaboration are significantly higher where safety is present.

Safety is table stakes. When people believe you won’t punish them for telling the truth, and that you will protect them from unnecessary harm even if it costs something short-term, they stay in the game. They speak up early. They protect customers. They solve problems before those problems become crises.

That’s not soft. That’s the foundation every high-performing team is actually built on.

The System Forces the Wrong Choice

I’ve talked to a lot of executives who are genuinely discouraged right now. They’re being asked to make decisions that cost real people real stability, and sometimes those people aren’t poor performers. They’re your best ones.

Leaders who actually care don’t want to treat humans like inventory. Some are hitting a point where the internal friction is too high, because they’re being told to prioritize the business ahead of people and ahead of customers, and everything starts to feel transactional.

When you live inside that long enough, it doesn’t just tax your calendar. It taxes your soul.

This is why some leaders resign without knowing what’s next. They can feel what the culture is becoming, and they don’t want to be shaped into someone they don’t respect.

And here’s what most companies miss: when you force a leadership culture to choose between results and people, you don’t actually get results. You get results-shaped activity, and a trail of quiet damage that shows up later as attrition, silence, risk aversion, and a customer experience that slowly decays because the people closest to the customer stopped feeling safe enough to speak up.

Three Things You Can Do This Week

No big program. No new tools. Just a simple test you can run right now.

1. Pick one decision and explain it clearly. Not PR language. Not vague leadership fog. The real reason. The real tradeoffs. The real “why.” Trust is built in the moments when leaders are honest about what’s actually happening.

2. Ask one question that proves you care about people, not just output. “What is this costing you right now?” “What are you carrying that I’m not seeing?” “What do you need from me to do your best work without burning out?”

Then listen without fixing, defending, or rushing.

3. Make one protective move. Remove one unnecessary pressure point. A meeting that doesn’t need to happen. A deadline that isn’t real. A policy that’s crushing people. A standard that nobody can clearly explain.

Do one thing this week that signals: you are not just a tool to me.

That’s it. That’s where trust begins to rebuild.

The Trade, Named Plainly

Love-based leadership creates safety. Safety creates trust. Trust creates speed. When trust is high, you don’t need constant defensive meetings or political protection. You get clarity, honesty, and ownership. Those are the real performance multipliers.

And to be clear: this is not coddling. Love doesn’t mean lowering standards. Love means raising standards while refusing to dehumanize the people you’re asking to meet them.

That combination is rare, and it’s why the leaders who practice it become the leaders people will follow through anything. If you lead by fear, you may get compliance, but you will lose trust.

If you lead by love, you will build safety, and safety will produce the kind of trust that holds when conditions get hard.

That’s the trade. It’s worth choosing on purpose and this is a true… Leader Unlock!

Ready to go deeper?

You don’t have to carry this alone. If you’re a leader working through the weight of the decisions in front of you, I’d love to connect. Become a paid subscriber to get full access to the Leader Unlock library, join the Founders Circle for a free 30-minute 1:1 call with me directly, or consider working with me on an ongoing basis.

Links referenced above:

• Simon Sinek TED Talk: Why Good Leaders Make You Feel Safe

• Gartner: Trust in Leadership Research

• HBR: Psychological Safety and Performance

God didn’t just pull me out of that season. He redeemed it. Every wrong turn, every year lost, every version of me that should have stayed broken… He used it. What got built on the other side wasn’t the result of my hustle, honestly it was restoration on a firm foundation.

Thirty years in tech. Twenty years of pastoral ministry running alongside all of it. A marriage that has outlasted more than a few versions of me. Customer service to tech support to product management to Director at Microsoft. Again, not because I clawed my way there, but because grace builds something that lasts.

I kept having the same conversations with people on my team, pastoral counseling, and with friends who were stuck but couldn’t name why. I kept giving the same answers.

Things that cost me 30 years to learn.
So I wrote them down. All 31 of them.

I just finished the 2nd Edition. Redesigned, expanded, and the best thing I’ve put my name on in a long time. You’re getting it first because you’re a Leader Unlock subscriber.

Free. No form. Just the book.
Download your copy here → Leader Unlock E-Book

Here’s what readers said about the first edition:

• “Some of the points really hit me hard. I am going to start working on them.”

• “As a person aspiring to grow in life, this is what aligns me in the right direction.”

• “Really good nuggets that can help with my career.”

The 2nd Edition is better. You deserve that.

One more thing.

I have two open one-on-one coaching slots right now.

Not a course or a program. Just you and me working through whatever you’re carrying. A career transition. A leadership challenge or a season where everything looks fine on the outside and something feels off on the inside.

I’ve sat with people in those moments for 30 years, in boardrooms and in sanctuaries. If you’ve ever wondered what it would look like to work together, now is a good time.

See how we work together → Work With Me
or setup a meeting with me: Calendly - Chris Antonelli

Thank you for being here. I don’t take it for granted.

Much Love,
Chris

I had just come out of a week where I synthesized 25 global Teams meetings using M365 Copilot. Distilled hundreds of hours of conversation into leadership-ready insights for my team. It should have taken me weeks. It took hours.

And I remember sitting there thinking: I just did something that would have been impossible twelve months ago, and nobody around me is talking about it. Not at Microsoft, leadership circles, coaching calls, church. Not anywhere.

I picked up a pen and wrote three words.

Become AI Fluent.

I stuck it on my monitor and left it there. It’s still there. Today is Day 134.

What happened in those 134 days is why I’m writing this essay. Because somewhere between that sticky note and right now, I stopped being someone who uses AI and became someone who builds with AI. And the distance between those two things is the entire conversation nobody is having.

Here’s the part most people skip.

When I say I’ve been in tech for nearly 30 years, people hear success. They hear Microsoft Director. They hear x-Amazon, EMC, Cisco, 20 years leading technical teams, the trajectory.

What they don’t hear is the part where I was homeless, sleeping in a truck with a pet rat named Merlin, living in my addiction, and waking up every day wondering if this was the day it would all end, and not particularly caring if it did.

In 1994 I walked into a church and something broke open. Not the polished kind of breakthrough you see on Instagram and socials. The ugly kind. The kind where you’re standing in the back row with nothing to your name and you raise both hands because you have literally nothing left to lose.

I rebuilt everything from there. Customer support to escalation engineer to product manager to director at one of the largest technology companies on the planet. Thirty years of building, one brick at a time.

I’m telling you this because it’s the only way you’ll understand what happened next.

The moment the trajectory changed.

Sometime around Day 40, I realized I wasn’t just learning AI. I was thinking differently. I was looking at every meeting, every document, every workflow and asking a question I’d never asked before in three decades of work:

What if I designed a system where AI does the heavy lifting and I do the thinking?

Not “how do I prompt this better.” Not “what tool should I use.” Something fundamentally different.

I started calling it AI fluency. And I defined it like this:

AI fluency is the ability to take messy, high-context business challenges and design repeatable workflows that produce leadership-ready outputs faster.

Read that again. It’s not about prompts or tools. It’s about systems. It’s about looking at the actual work you do and rebuilding the operating system underneath it.

The leaders who understand this will run the next decade. The ones who don’t will spend the next three years learning prompt tricks while the ground shifts underneath them.

So I built something to prove it.

Last week I sat down and built a production website from scratch.

BecomeAIFluent.com
A Leader Unlock production.

A cinematic, single-scroll experience with real photography, scroll-triggered animations, a live day counter tracking those 134 days, and a full subscribe integration wired to my Substack.

I designed it, coded it, deployed it to Vercel, connected a custom domain, configured DNS, wired the subscription flow, and polished the visuals across multiple rounds of iteration.

I am not a developer. I have never written a React component. I have never deployed a Next.js application. I have never configured Vercel or GitHub Actions or DNS records for a production site.

I did all of it in a single conversation with Claude over a couple of days in the evening.

Let me say that differently so it lands.

A non-technical executive with zero frontend development experience shipped a production-grade website to a custom domain in one sitting. The site is live. You can visit it right now. It works. It’s not a demo. It’s not a prototype. It’s a real site connected to a real publication with over 1,100 real subscribers.

That’s not a flex. That is the entire argument for AI fluency, compressed into a single proof point.

What’s coming next.

The website is the foundation. Here’s what’s being built on top of it.

The Podcast: “Building AI Fluent”

A video podcast launching on the Leader Unlock Substack and simulcasts to YouTube, Apple Podcasts, and Spotify. Every episode documents a real challenge I’m working through as I build AI fluency inside one of the largest enterprises on earth.

This isn’t a tutorial show. It’s not “10 prompts that will change your life.” It’s a working executive sitting in front of a camera and showing you what it actually looks like to transform how you work with AI, in real time, with real stakes.

Episode 1 is called “I Have a Confession.” Because the most important thing I can do before teaching you anything is tell you the truth about where I started.

The Daily AI Briefing: An Autonomous Agent

This is the part that matters most for where the industry is going.

I’m building an AI agent that runs every night at midnight with zero human authoring. It reads the day’s AI news, filters it through MY leadership lens, writes strategic takes in my editorial voice, curates relevant job postings where AI fluency is the differentiator, and surfaces practical training resources.

Every morning you’ll wake up to a fresh briefing that sounds like me, thinks like me, and focuses on what matters to the leaders I serve. Not because I stayed up all night writing. Because I built a system that does it.

The agent reads from what I’m calling an Editorial DNA file. A living document that captures my perspectives, hot takes, current focus areas, and editorial voice. It’s essentially an ongoing conversation between me and the AI that steers everything it produces.

There’s a human-in-the-loop approval step at launch. I wake up, review the draft, click Approve, and it publishes. Over time, as the system learns what I approve and what I reject, it earns more autonomy.

That is AI fluency. Not a clever prompt. A system, workflow, and architecture that produces leadership-ready outputs while I sleep.

Why I’m building all of this in public.

Because I’m tired of the gap.

The gap between what AI can actually do inside real work and what most leaders think it can do. The gap between the executives who are quietly transforming their workflows and the ones who are still asking their teams to “explore AI.” The gap between knowing something is important and actually doing the work to get fluent.

I’ve lived in that gap. I was in that gap 134 days ago.

Building in public means you see the messy parts, false starts, and the broken deploys where the DNS takes 30 minutes to propagate and you’re refreshing Vercel like a kid waiting for Christmas morning. I’m not going to polish this into a highlight reel.

This is what real transformation looks like and honestly if you are a leader where I was 134 days ago… it’s uncomfortable. But it changes everything.

If you lead people, build things, or make decisions that matter, this is for you.

BecomeAIFluent.com is the front door for fluency. Leader Unlock is the engine behind it. Here's what you get as a subscriber:

Every week on Leader Unlock, one leadership essay that cuts deep that I personally write, not AI. The kind that makes you put your phone down and think deeply in a good way. Personal stories, hard-earned frameworks, and the kind of honesty most people save for their therapist.

Plus the podcast, the daily AI briefing, and first access to everything I build here and on Become AI Fluent.

Free to start. Premium subscribers ($7/month or $77/year) get full archives, bonus content, and early access to everything. Founders Circle members get direct access to me, including private mentorship and priority coaching.

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The sticky note is still on my monitor.
Day 134.

And we’re just getting started.

I once slept in my truck with a pet rat named Merlin because I was homeless and had nowhere else to go. A couple of weeks ago, a senior executive called me to talk about the parts of their story they rarely speak about.

I have been thinking about the distance between those two moments ever since.

When I published my recent essay about that season of my life, the addiction, the homelessness, the truck, I also decided to share most of it on LinkedIn. Not the polished watered down version, but the real one, including the drug addiction, the homelessness, and how in the middle of all of it I came to accept Jesus.

That is not normal content for LinkedIn, where people post promotions and thought leadership and carefully curated professional milestones. It is not typically where someone admits they once had nothing, real problems, nowhere to go, and only a rat for company.

But I posted it anyway and then honestly held my breath and waited.

The response was unlike anything I expected. Messages came in from people I had not heard from in years, comments from strangers, readers here reaching out privately, all of them saying the same thing in different words: I needed to read this today. I thought I was the only one.

But the moment that stopped me completely came a few days later when a senior leader called me. Not a comment, a like, or an instant message. A phone call.

They told me the piece had impacted them deeply, that it had reminded them of parts of their own story, parts they had not talked about in a long time, parts that lived underneath the title and the responsibility and the carefully maintained exterior that senior leadership requires.

I did not know what to say. I still don’t have fully adequate words for it.

What follows is what that phone call reminded me about the leaders at the top of every room you will ever walk into, and why you need to hear it.

What Titles Actually Do to People

I have spent decades in rooms with executives and senior leaders, watching people manage up, manage across, and manage perception. I have seen the performance that happens around power: the careful language, the guarded posture, the way people become overly agreeable or quietly intimidated in the presence of authority. And after all of it, one thing remains consistently true. People are still people.

The title changes the room. It does not change the human being sitting inside it.

Harvard Business Review reports that more than half of CEOs experience loneliness in their role, and two-thirds of senior executives never receive coaching or outside perspective at all. The most powerful people in the room are often the loneliest and most isolated people in the room. They just learned not to show it.

Behind the authority is still someone carrying private pressures, quiet insecurities, family weight, disappointments, and fears that very few people ever see. The higher someone rises, the fewer honest conversations they tend to have. People become careful around them, the warmth gets replaced by politics, and the humanity gets replaced by posture.

The senior leader who called me did not need my encouragement that day. I needed theirs. But what happened in that conversation was something neither of us planned. Two people, different titles, different seasons, recognizing something true in each other’s story. We all come into this world the same way. We all leave it the same way. Everything in between is just the life we carry and it is better with others.

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The Word That Cuts Through

This is why a timely word can land with such unusual force in the most powerful rooms. Not flattery or calculated encouragement designed to advance your position, just a real honest word that sees the person instead of the title.

Solomon understood this long before any of us sat in a boardroom. “A man finds joy in giving an apt reply, and how good is a timely word.” Proverbs 15:23.

We are all carrying more than we show, and we are all waiting, more than we admit, for someone to see us clearly and speak to what they see. A timely word cuts through the distance and reminds people they are not as alone, and it opens doors that no amount of strategy or positioning ever could.

Never assume the person at the top of the room needs it least. They often need it most. They just stopped asking for it a long time ago.

Before you get to this week’s plan, think of one person. A leader you know, someone carrying more than they show, someone who probably hasn’t heard an honest word in a while. This essay exists for them as much as it exists for you. Forward it. That might be the timely word they have been waiting for.

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The 7-Day Baseline: See the Person Again

Once per day this week. One minute. That’s all.

Day 1: Look past the title

Who am I seeing primarily through their role instead of their humanity? Identify one person you tend to view through their position or authority and make a conscious decision to see the person again today. “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

Day 2: Notice the distance

Where have titles or authority made me more guarded than human? Pay attention to one room today where you become overly careful or performative and notice what the title is doing to your posture. “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.” Proverbs 25:11

Day 3: Offer real encouragement

Who around me may need a timely word more than I realize? Encourage one person specifically today, not flattery, but something thoughtful, sincere, and true. “Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.” Proverbs 16:24

Day 4: Speak with warmth

Am I speaking around power, or am I speaking to the person? In one conversation today, lower the performance and increase the humanity. Be direct, kind, and fully present. “Let your speech always be with grace.” Colossians 4:6

Day 5: Listen beneath the surface

What might someone be carrying that I cannot see? Slow down enough to listen past the title or exterior and assume there is more weight there than is visible. “Know well the condition of your flocks, and pay attention to your herds.” Proverbs 27:23

Day 6: Build someone up

Where can I use my words to strengthen instead of simply observe? Do not keep the good thought to yourself. If you see something worth affirming, say it. If you sense someone is carrying weight, acknowledge it. “Therefore encourage one another and build up one another.” 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Day 7: Carry it forward

What would it look like to consistently see the person behind the position? Choose one relationship or room you want to approach differently going forward and commit to bringing more warmth and timely words into that space. “So then we pursue the things which make for peace and the building up of one another.” Romans 14:19

If this resonated and you are carrying something heavier than a weekly essay can address, I have a Momentum coaching slot open this month. You do not have to sort it out alone. Work With Me

Here is my story I referenced above:

The Signal

Butterflies do not just change… they transform.

Butterflies are magnificent creatures, and their entire life they are transforming from what they are into what they will become.

In metamorphosis the caterpillar dissolves inside the chrysalis and is reorganized into something entirely new. From crawling to flying, from consuming to giving life, from limited range to wide horizons. It is not a better caterpillar. It is a new creation.

This process is a powerful picture to help us understand there is a significant difference between change and transformation.

It is a well documented fact that most people are not very fond of change and avoid it whenever possible. But as much as people dislike change, they practically abhor the thought of transformation.

Transformation goes against the basic human instinct to protect, defend, and preserve what is already in existence.

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” Romans 12:2 (NIV)

The Pressure Point

In this AI-shifting market, the companies that win are not looking for administrators… they are looking for transformation agents. The market isn’t killing Program Managers… it’s killing administrative PMs and elevating strategic operators… leaders who can take ambiguity, design mechanisms, align people, and turn vision into execution rhythm.

Driving transformation is different than simply driving change, because true transformation requires more than incremental repackaging of the old. It requires being willing to evaluate the current state, being willing to start over from scratch if necessary, and charting a course to the preferred future… which might even be unknown and uncharted.

True transformation cannot happen unless there is a willingness to do whatever is needed to be successful. That means nothing, or at least very little, is sacred.

I have worked for large corporations and small startups and although there are numerous differences in these environments, there is a commonality. People want to rely on what has already been done rather than what could be.

I have heard “but we have always done it this way” more times than I care to remember. And I have had to have those difficult conversations to help move people from their embattled positions to being willing to consider and entertain how transformation could actually improve things… sadly, not all of them made the switch.

The bottom line is this. If the cause for transformation is worth it, do not be satisfied by just being a change agent. Be a transformation agent.

The Leadership Move

Stop Protecting What No Longer Serves the Mission.

Most leaders can manage change, but transformation requires something deeper. It requires the humility to admit what is no longer working, the courage to challenge what feels safe, and the discipline to rebuild what needs to be rebuilt.

This week is not about becoming reckless, but it is about becoming honest because sometimes the greatest risk is preserving what is already in existence simply because it is familiar.

The 7-Day Practice

Once per day this week, take one minute and do this.

Day 1: Name the resistance

Question: Where am I resisting change out of fear?
Baseline: Identify the area you are protecting most. If the fear is real, name it.
Truth: “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid…” 2 Timothy 1:7 (NIV)

Day 2: Separate change from transformation

Question: Am I making improvements… or avoiding a rebuild?
Baseline: Identify one area where you keep repackaging the old instead of addressing the root.
Truth: “Do not conform… be transformed…” Romans 12:2 (NIV)

Day 3: Challenge the sacred cows

Question: What have we labeled “untouchable” that needs to be evaluated?
Baseline: Choose one assumption, process, or approach and re-examine it honestly.
Truth: “Test everything. Hold on to what is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (NIV)

Day 4: Define the preferred future

Question: What outcome are we actually trying to achieve?
Baseline: Write a one-sentence definition of success that is clear enough to align people.
Truth: “Write down the revelation and make it plain…” Habakkuk 2:2 (NIV)

Day 5: Identify what must change first

Question: If we were starting from scratch, what would we stop doing immediately?
Baseline: Identify the first thing you would remove, simplify, or reset.
Truth: “Let us throw off everything that hinders…” Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)

Day 6: Have the hard conversation

Question: Who needs clarity, alignment, or challenge right now?
Baseline: Schedule or have one direct conversation that moves someone from “we have always done it this way” to “what could be.”
Truth: “Speak the truth in love…” Ephesians 4:15 (NIV)

Day 7: Decide what you are leading

Question: Am I willing to lead real transformation, not just incremental change?
Baseline: Write one sentence you can stand behind: what you are committed to transform, and why it matters.
Truth: “Commit to the Lord whatever you do…” Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)

If this helped you recalibrate how you lead change, consider sharing it with someone who is carrying transformation pressure right now.

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The Anchor for the Week

“Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.” Proverbs 15:22 (NIV)

Isolation does not just make leadership harder… it makes it incredibly risky.

Strong leaders are often decisive. But decisiveness without perspective can quietly become a liability. If you are making decisions in isolation, you are missing one of the greatest advantages available to you… perspective beyond your own.

Even experienced leaders can misread situations when past experiences, wounds, assumptions, pressure, or environment begin to narrow the lens.

The question is not whether you are capable of navigating on your own most of the time. The question is whether you have trusted voices around you when the waters get difficult.

Strong leaders need trusted voices. This week is an opportunity to examine and, if needed, strengthen your board of advisors.

The Baseline

Often times I find that my perspective on current situations, my future, and even my past can be skewed by the particular lenses I am looking through. Those lenses are shaped by past wounds, experiences, assumptions, brokenness, and even my current environment.

Because of this, I have consistently chosen to be mentored and discipled by people I trust to speak truth, wisdom, and even challenge into my life… both professionally and personally.

I have learned that clarity often lives just outside my own field of vision. Especially in seasons filled with pressure, blind spots, and moments when our internal narrative gets louder than reality. Trusted voices help me:

• Affirm when I am on track

• See what I am missing

• Adjust when I may be drifting

• Consider wise next steps when momentum is fast

I continue to need outside perspective in my life and I am deeply thankful for the people who have been willing to speak into it.

The Reset: Stay Teachable

There is a quiet shift that can happen as leaders gain experience.
Competence grows. Confidence grows. Responsibility grows.

But if we are not careful… teachability can also slowly shrink.

This week is an opportunity to examine something honestly.

Not whether you are strong and capable, but whether you are still open to perspective beyond your own.

Discipleship and mentorship were never meant to be rigid hierarchies built around authority and control. At their best, they are relationship-based structures built on mutual respect, trust, and care… designed to help both people move forward more wisely.

Strong leaders do not just build in isolation, they build feedback loops that are deep rooted in strong relationships.

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The 7-Day Baseline Plan

Once per day this week, take one minute and do this.

Day 1: Check your lens

Question: Where might my current view be incomplete?
Baseline: Identify one decision or situation where you may be too close to see clearly. Simply naming it increases awareness.
Truth: “Plans fail for lack of counsel…” Proverbs 15:22 (NIV)

Day 2: Identify your voices

Question: Who currently has permission to challenge me?
Baseline: List one trusted person who can speak honestly into your decisions. If the list is empty, that is useful data.
Truth: “The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.” Proverbs 12:15 (NIV)

Day 3: Invite perspective

Question: Where would outside input strengthen my thinking?
Baseline: Ask one trusted person for input on something you are currently navigating. Listen fully before responding.
Truth: “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak…” James 1:19 (NIV)

Day 4: Watch your reactions

Question: How do I internally respond when challenged?
Baseline: Notice your first reaction to feedback today. Defensive? Curious? Dismissive? Awareness builds maturity.
Truth: “Whoever heeds life-giving correction will be at home among the wise.” Proverbs 15:31 (NIV)

Day 5: Separate signal from noise

Question: Am I ignoring helpful input because of the source or the tone?
Baseline: Revisit one piece of feedback you may have dismissed too quickly. Look for useful signal inside it.
Truth: “The prudent give thought to their steps.” Proverbs 14:15 (NIV)

Day 6: Strengthen the loop

Question: Where do I need more consistent perspective in my life?
Baseline: Consider one relationship you could intentionally deepen for ongoing mentorship or wise counsel.
Truth: “Walk with the wise and become wise…” Proverbs 13:20 (NIV)

Day 7: Recommit to teachability

Question: What would it look like to stay fully teachable this next season?
Baseline: Write one sentence that captures the posture you want to carry forward. Keep it somewhere visible this week.
Truth: “Let the wise listen and add to their learning…” Proverbs 1:5 (NIV)

If this helped you sharpen your leadership perspective, consider sharing it with someone who is carrying weight and making decisions under pressure right now.

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Carrying a lot right now? I offer a few ways to work together, from a one-time Leadership Clarity Session to monthly mentoring and a selective Trusted Advisor retainer. If you want clearer decisions, stronger rhythms, and real momentum, visit my Work With Me page 👉 HERE

People are freaking out after reading an article recently posted on X titled “Something Big Is Happening”. It has over 82 MILLION views and 6K comments. You should read the article, it’s important because it highlights some challenges of the evolution of AI and it is thought provoking for things we should all consider.

But it’s far from the only one. Mainstream outlets pile on daily with hopeless takes, like Fortune’s recent piece warning an “AI doomsday where many workers are ‘essentially unemployable’ is totally possible.” No wonder friends, family, and mentees are reaching out, asking if things are about to go sideways fast.

The fear-mongering is fueling unnecessary panic... and that’s exactly why I’m calling my response “Something Stupid Is Happening.” This fear-infused narrative is stopping people from doing the one thing that matters most right now: learning and adapting.

Don’t get me wrong... real challenges lie ahead as AI advances. But many stem from self-inflicted anxiety (humanizing AI too much) and gaps in governance, not inherent flaws in the technology itself.

Being optimistic and calm amid change is one of the greatest acts of leadership you can demonstrate. With 30 years in tech and my current role as a Director at Microsoft in AI Business Solutions, I’ve seen waves of disruption come and go. I firmly believe contagious optimism (paired with action that drive results) makes leaders truly future-proof.

Below I will show you why and how we can do this.

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The Viral AI Panic: What’s Really Behind the Headlines?

Let’s get real. I actually work to enable AI Globally at massive scale, have been in tech for 30+ years, and I know the people that “know things” throughout the industry... most people with strong opinions in the news media and online do not.

There are a things I love about social media... but let’s just say that comes with some... “challenges”. I encourage people I advise to “curate” who they listen to in most areas... but especially emerging areas like AI.

The article by Matt was insightful and in many ways brilliant, BUT I think there is so much sensationalism going around about AI that his article gets twisted into fear instead of wisdom and intrigue. If you haven’t read his article, here is a super brief synopsis:

Matt’s essay compares the current AI surge to early COVID warnings, claiming recent 2026 models (like GPT-5.3 Codex) have crossed a threshold: they now build and refine complex apps autonomously, show judgment-like decisions, and even help improve themselves in a fast-accelerating loop. He predicts swift disruption to many white-collar jobs (coding, law, finance, etc.) within 1–2 years and urges people to start using top paid AI tools seriously now to adapt and get ahead... framing it as an opportunity, not just alarm.

Scary, huh?!

You have to realize that much of the reposts, comments, and media coverage are meant to make your fearful for one main reason... to farm your clicks and attention. X’s algorithms as an example thrive on emotions and prioritize emotion-rich content that sparks responses, outrage, or anxiety... over balanced takes. I am certain this article I am writing in comparison that is primarily optimistic... will not go viral.

We’ve seen this playbook before with overhyped tech panics like the Y2K bug (yep... I was there too), which promised global catastrophe but fizzled into minor glitches after trillions in preparations, or the early 1990s internet doomsday predictions of societal collapse that instead birthed unprecedented connectivity and prosperity.

Over 80 million views sound massive, but they are masked by the reality... a huge chunk comes from bots inflating impressions, automated reposts farming engagement, and users skimming headlines without reading the full piece... meaning far fewer than 82 million people truly engaged or understood the nuance... nor did they read the punchline.

If you actually read the whole article you will see near the bottom one of the most important paragraphs in the entire piece...💡

“I’m not writing this to make you feel helpless. I’m writing this because I think the single biggest advantage you can have right now is simply being early. Early to understand it. Early to use it. Early to adapt.”

Yes, major breakthroughs have happened with some of the latest AI models and YES they are game changers long term for the trajectory of AI... but as someone who works to enable customers globally to implement and utilize AI at scale... we need to dial back a bit of the fairytale and understand we are at the start of this journey... not at the end of it.

On-Prem - Cloud Industrial Revolution

The reality is AI is bringing amazing value to customers who implement it by making their employees more productive to cut down on administrative burden and think through automation in new ways, but they are also a lot of complexities just like there were with the last industrial revolutions of PC emergence and On-Prem to Cloud emergence.

Remember those? I do!

You’re not too late to learn and utilize these technologies. Are you willing to learn and dream, or will you get left behind?

Do you remember the progression of ON-PREM to CLOUD revolution? I was actually there when it started working for Seagate Technology as a Senior Tech Support Engineer helping Customers with their backup tape drives.

Then cloud computing came along and people started freaking out that On-Prem was doomed to fail fast... well, more than 25 years later, it’s still evolving and even after trillions in transformation... on-prem is still alive.

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The AI Industrial Revolution is likely going to dwarf On-Prem - Cloud in both scale and speed of emergence, but make no mistake that there is still a lot of work to be done and complexities will not automagically be resolved without humans actually building, utilizing, implementing, servicing, and more.

AI will not replace leaders...

Well, I’m going to be direct with you.

I don’t believe AI will replace leaders. But leaders who learn to work with AI will likely replace those who do not.

I am not a proponent of FOMO (fear of missing out) in most areas of life. Fear-based decision-making usually leads to shallow thinking, bad habits, and unnecessary anxiety.

But there are rare moments when refusing to engage becomes self-sabotage. Artificial intelligence is one of those moments. This is not about speed. It is about moving in the right direction. If you begin now, even imperfectly, you will build confidence, competence, and discernment over time. That combination is what future-proof leadership actually looks like.

AI fluency is not about chasing the future. It is about leading responsibly in the present by having a learn it all mentality.

Why This Matters

For leaders and emerging leaders across every industry, learning how to work with AI is no longer optional. It is not a trend or a tech hobby. It is a foundational skill that will define who remains relevant, trusted, and influential over the next decade. This is about becoming future-proof.

I have spent more than 30 years in technology, long enough to see multiple waves of innovation come and go. I worked in cloud computing before most people understood what the cloud actually was, and I watched it move from skepticism to infrastructure to table stakes over the course of two decades. The leaders who leaned in early were not just more employable, they helped shape how the technology evolved and how it is used today.

Today, I serve as a Director of Business Strategy at Microsoft in the AI Business Solutions division, where I enable our frontline customer success teams to help customers around the world implement and maximize their use of AI, Chat, and Agents.

I am not watching this from the sidelines. I am in the middle of it, and its emergence is fascinating and exciting.

Here is the reality that leaders need to understand.

Every major research firm agrees that AI adoption will accelerate dramatically over the next five years. Productivity gains will not be evenly distributed. Roles will not disappear overnight, but expectations will shift quickly.

Those who understand how to work with AI will outperform those who do not, even when they hold the same title, education, or experience. That gap will compound.

If you learn AI now, you will be ahead of the vast majority of the workforce. Not because you are more technical or even smarter, but because you are FLUENT.

Fluency creates confidence. Confidence creates influence. Influence creates opportunity.

Becoming Fluent: Utilizing Microsoft Copilot Example

I recently organized and led a massive global enablement initiative with hundreds of people to help our teams prepare for the second half of our fiscal year. This consisted of 25+ one-hour Microsoft Teams meetings that I facilitated with each area leader, key leaders from their region, and corporate senior leaders.

The goal was to come away with key themes and precise actions of what is working and what is challenging at the area level, the region level, and globally so we can best support our customers.

I set up Researcher and Analyst in Microsoft 365 Copilot ahead of time, and because I knew we would record each of these meetings, I told researcher that I wanted themes in those three categories as well as a consolidated action tracker.

Prior to AI, this would have been a massive undertaking with multiple note takers, consolidation of themes, and then a multi-stage analysis across the three buckets.

That likely would have taken two weeks to deliver and let’s be honest the value proposition of program managers sitting in meetings simply to take notes is not high value.

Instead, this was about four hours of work with an immediate deliverable. It was de-duplicated, nearly immediately implementable, and each task had a named action owner pulled straight from the transcript.

That is just a small example of the power of harnessing AI in the midst of HUMAN work and learning as you go.

I had extensively utilized AI for other tasks ranging from creative, administrative, research, and communications... but I had never utilized researcher at this level to bring over 25 bifurcated meetings together into a single output... it was remarkable.

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Don’t Surrender YOUR Influence

There is also a deeper reason learning and growing your influence in AI matters, especially for faith-oriented or values-driven leaders who want to ensure their perspectives are considered as AI starts to further permeate into society.

If thoughtful, ethical, faith-grounded people avoid AI because it feels uncomfortable or unfamiliar, then AI will be shaped without those voices.

Technology does not form itself. It reflects the inputs, assumptions, and values of the people who build and use it. Opting out does not preserve virtue. It surrenders influence.

The framework I developed below is how to do that without overthinking it and just get started on the journey. You do not need to become technical. You need to become fluent.

The AI Fluency Framework for Leaders

You do not need to become an engineer or understand how models are built to lead well in an AI-driven world. What you need is practical fluency, built through consistent, real-world use. Knowledge will build quickly if you implement repetitive learning.

This framework is designed for busy leaders who want to learn AI the same way they learn anything… by using it, refining it, and applying it to real decisions that matter.

1) Replace Search With Conversation

What you do

• Install the M365 CoPilot (or ChatGPT) app on your phone.

• Use it instead of Google Search once per day.

• Ask at least one follow-up question every time for more granularity.

• When you want credibility, ask for sources and click one.

Why it works You build comfort quickly and learn how to refine questions through conversation, not keywords.

Use this prompt “Explain this simply. Then give me the adult version in five bullets. Include source links.”

2) Turn AI Into a Planner

What you do

• Plan a date, trip, weekend, or work offsite using AI.

• Give constraints like budget, time, location, and preferences.

• Ask for five options, narrow them down, then choose one.

• Ask it to turn the final plan into a clean itinerary.

• Ask it to produce a printable version.

• Then ask it to turn the itinerary portion into an image for your phone.

Why it works You learn collaboration, not just question and answer. This is where AI starts saving real time.

Use this prompt “Give me five options based on these constraints. Ask me three questions to narrow it down. Then create an itinerary.”

3) Use AI to Understand Complex Things

What you do

• Upload a long document, medical result, or dense material. NOTE: Not internal company documents of course

• Ask for a summary first.

• Ask for risks, decisions, and next steps.

• Set parameters like “keep it concise” or “explain it like I am 10.”

Why it works AI reduces overwhelm and helps you see what actually matters without drowning in detail.

Use this prompt “Summarize this in plain English. Tell me what matters most. Give me next steps. Keep it concise.”

The 14-Day AI Fluency Challenge

Fluency is built through repetition, not theory. This simple two-week challenge is designed to move AI from something you read about into something you confidently use. If you follow this progression, even imperfectly, you will develop intuition, comfort, and momentum faster than most people in your organization.

Days 1–5: Build the habit

• Replace Google Search with M365 Copilot (or ChatGPT) once per day.

Days 6–10: Learn collaboration

• Use AI to plan one real thing and have it produce a usable itinerary.

Days 11–14: Build clarity under complexity

• Upload one complex item and ask for summary, risks, and next steps.

Principles to Remember

A few principles I repeat often when coaching leaders through this shift:

• Do not treat AI like an autonomous human. Use it like a hive mind alongside you. Agents can help with automation, but that is a deeper learning tract.

• Do not outsource your thinking. Use AI to sharpen judgment, not replace it.

• Do not fear basic questions. Curiosity is a leadership strength, not a weakness.

• Do not wait for permission to learn. Leaders move first, then bring others with them.

• Do experiment and you can also give AI multiple commands at once, even a few bullet points

Final Thoughts

Last but not least, do not let your heart be troubled. There is so much fear and hopelessness in the world, and we have learned that rapid changes like the rise of AI can stir deep anxiety.

Yet as followers of Christ, our hope is anchored not in technology’s promises, but in the unchanging truth: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me” (John 14:1).

Jesus spoke these words to prepare His disciples for uncertainty, reminding them (and us) that true peace comes from trusting in God’s sovereignty, not from controlling the future.

In this era of disruption, we are called to engage wisely with curiosity, ethical discernment, and unwavering faith while knowing that God remains on the throne, using even human innovations for His purposes while guiding His people toward greater love, justice, and hope.

Lean into that peace, and lead forward without fear.

Drop your biggest AI win or worry in the comments... let’s build fluency together.👇

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About the author: Chris Antonelli is the founder of Leader Unlock, an online leadership publication and community where he helps leaders cut through chaos, lead with clarity, and build a legacy. Subscribe to Leader Unlock for practical leadership and future-proof career insights.

For more in-depth and thoughtful articles to help you lead well... visit: Leader Unlock

Confidentiality, Integrity, and Rights

Opinions are my own. I take my commitments to Microsoft seriously, including all non-compete and conflict of interest obligations. Nothing I write here competes with or compromises my responsibilities.

All opinions and stories shared here are my own and in no way represent Microsoft or any other current or past employer. Nothing in this publication should be taken as official company views or endorsements.

All content on Leader Unlock is for personal use only. Please do not copy, repost off platform, or republish substantial portions of this work without permission. If you want to quote or share something, link back to the original post so people can read it in full and in context.

• A Weekly, Members-only reset for people carrying leadership, family, and life

• One anchor truth, a grounded reflection, and a 7-day baseline plan

• Written prayerfully and curated with care, the way a pastor would prepare something meant to steady people, not impress them

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One quick note

My faith shapes how I think and lead. These baselines draw from Scripture, but the practices are designed to strengthen anyone leading under real pressure.

The Anchor for the Week

“The LORD is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18 (NIV)

The tension between wanting to lead… and being called to serve is where a lot of leadership maturity is quietly formed.

Most leaders want to make an impact… want to build, influence outcomes, and move things forward.

There is nothing inherently wrong with that, but the real test of our posture often shows up in moments that are small, inconvenient, and completely unnoticeable most of the time… and most powerful when the moment holds no true value for ourselves.

The Baseline

Years ago we had an encounter with a young homeless man named Matthew. He was probably in his early twenties. He was dressed in multiple layers of dirty clothes, his hair was disheveled, and there was a deep hopelessness in his eyes.

He approached me in front of the Union Gospel Mission where my family, a friend, and I had just handed out our care packages to people experiencing homelessness on Valentine’s Day. He asked if we had any more. Sadly, we had already passed them all out to the crowd. He looked so desperate and lost.

I started talking with him and asked about his life. He told me he was from the Burbank, California area and had been in Seattle for about five years, homeless the entire time. He admitted he had struggled with substance abuse, but the phrase he kept repeating was this: “I have let so many people down”. I could discern this was not a sales pitch or emotional manipulation, but a deep routed pain from his soul.

I told him I understood more than he probably realized. I shared that I too had let many people down in my life, had made numerous bad decisions, had been homeless for a period of time, had battled addiction, and had experienced seasons where hope felt very far away. But I also told him that every day is an opportunity for something new. A new beginning. A new measure of hope.

We talked briefly about the Lord, and I asked if he had received Jesus. He said that he had. I asked whether he had any family back in Burbank he could reconnect with while getting back on his feet. He mentioned an aunt he might be able to live with and that he could try to find work.

I encouraged him not to be ashamed of where he had been and not to be afraid to ask for help. We have all fallen short. Tomorrow can look very different from today.

As he stared directly into my eyes while we talked, I had the distinct sense that he wanted to hope again. He wanted to be rescued. He wanted to be loved. He wanted to not only be safe, but to be useful again.

Even though we were out of care packages, I gave him a couple of dollars that was in my pocket and my half-finished coffee and said goodbye.

I do not know what happened to Matthew that night. I do not know what happened in the months or years that followed. But I know that for a brief moment in time, I was able to speak encouragement and hope into someone who desperately needed it.

That evening was a powerful opportunity to serve people in need and to teach my girls who were quite young at the time about the privilege of helping others.

I will never forget Matthew.. not the impact he made on me, that people are looking for a lighthouse to shine the way away from danger and into safety.

Leadership often looks much quieter than we expect. It is not always the visible win, the clean metric, or the moment that gets recognized. Sometimes it is simply being willing to stop, listen, and serve when there is nothing obvious in it for you.

I have had these types of moments at work, in the grocery store, and some of the most random places… just by making myself available.

The Reset: Choose Service First

Being willing to serve others and speak to place in their lives does not diminish leadership. It strengthens it.

There is a version of leadership that is driven primarily by visibility, scale, and recognition. And there is another version that is grounded in presence, humility, and responsiveness to the person in front of you. The best leaders know it is a mixture of both.

This week is an opportunity to examine your posture honestly.

Not whether you are effective.
But whether you are still interruptible.

Because many of the moments that matter most in leadership will never show up on a dashboard or in a meeting.

Some of the most powerful moments happen at work when the laptops are closed, at home when the television is off, and out in public when the phones are put away

The 7-Day Baseline Plan

Once per day this week, take one minute and do this.

Day 1: Check your posture

Question: Where am I more focused on being seen than being helpful?

Baseline: Identify one situation where your first instinct is recognition instead of service. Simply being aware of it, often changes the dynamic.

Truth: “Whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant…” Matthew 20:26 (NIV)

Day 2: Notice the interruptions

Question: Where have I been too busy to be interruptible?

Baseline: Pay attention to one moment today where someone needs your attention. Slow down enough to see it.

Truth: “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted…” Psalm 34:18 (NIV)

Day 3: Serve without the spotlight

Question: What is one small act of service I can do that no one will track?

Baseline: Do one helpful thing quietly today. Do not announce it. Do not optimize it. Just do it well.

Truth: “Your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” Matthew 6:4 (NIV)

Day 4: Stay present

Question: Am I fully listening when people speak to me?

Baseline: In your next conversation, resist the urge to rush. Give the person your full attention, don’t allow yourself to be distracted by other thoughts or electronics. One effective way is to turn them over, off, or turn off notifications.

Truth: “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak…” James 1:19 (NIV)

Day 5: Remember your own story

Question: Where has grace met me in my past?

Baseline: Reflect briefly on a time when someone extended patience or kindness to you. Let that shape how you show up today.

Truth: “Be kind and compassionate to one another…” Ephesians 4:32 (NIV)

Day 6: Release the need for credit

Question: Where am I subtly looking for acknowledgment?

Baseline: Do the right thing today without checking whether anyone noticed.

Truth: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart…” Colossians 3:23 (NIV)

Day 7: Recommit

Question: What would it look like for me to lead by serving this week?

Baseline: Choose one area of responsibility where you will intentionally lead with humility and presence.

Truth: “The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve…” Matthew 20:28 (NIV)

If this helped you recalibrate your leadership posture, consider sharing it with someone who is carrying weight quietly right now.

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Have we allowed commercialism to reduce Valentine’s Day to a receipt?

A heart-shaped box that costs more in February than it did in January. It feels predictable, almost scripted, as if love requires fanfare more than it does substance.

Across cultures, the instinct persists. In Japan, chocolates are given to friends and colleagues. In Mexico, it is a day for love and friendship. We want to say what we often leave unsaid. You matter to me. I choose you.

But that is not where this began…

The Priest Who Defied an Empire

Read more

A few people have told me recently that I’m too old to be starting a new publication.

I turned 54 this last weekend…
I laugh, because… I fully believe I am just getting started!

Ageism is a problem in society, and it’s breaking the mentorship structure for leaders (writers, managers, innovators, or even Substack creators) between the older generations and the emerging generations… in real time.

I’ve watched younger leaders get held back because they were “too young”.
I’ve watched older leaders get pushed aside because they were “too old”.

Different labels, same outcome. The flywheel slows, mentorship fractures, and the transfer of wisdom and perspective gets interrupted because it creates division between these generations. And when that happens, people stop building. They stop creating. They stop writing their stories.

In this article, I want to expose how ageism quietly mutes generations to one another and show how both younger and older leaders can make room for one another again, so wisdom and fresh perspective get passed down… instead of pushed out… and so people have the courage to write their story… with a robust support system.

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Was C.S. Lewis Too Old?

When a culture is always chasing young, it starts muting wisdom. And when a culture only trusts the old, it starts muting fresh vision.

When either gets muted, everyone pays for it and it stops them from building, creating, and writing their stories.

And that’s why I keep coming back to Narnia…

C.S. Lewis published The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe when he was 51 and The Last Battle when he was 58… most of us would agree it worked out. He published TWENTY books total after the age of 50.

Here are eight amazing authors that wrote meaningfully in their 50s, 60s, and 70s!

This is just a small sample of amazing authors who wrote meaningful books well after the age of 50 and many of them didn’t publish anything before the age of 50.

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Was Charles Dickens too Young?

And I keep thinking about all the famous authors we would never know if they gave into such lies about being too young…

Charles Dickens was 24 when The Pickwick Papers took off. Mary Shelley published Frankenstein at 20. S.E. Hinton published The Outsiders at 18

Which is the point.
The lie changes depending on your season…
But it’s still the same lie.

C.S. Lewis had a name for the instinct underneath ageism. He called it “chronological snobbery,” meaning “the uncritical acceptance of the intellectual climate... and the assumption that whatever has gone out of date is discredited.” Meaning, we don’t weigh ideas, people, or wisdom based on truth and fruit. We weigh them based on what feels current. And that is exactly how a healthy relay breaks. Older leaders get treated like they’re obsolete. Younger leaders get treated like they’re automatically ready. The flywheel slows because counsel stops transferring, perspective stops being trusted, and whole generations get muted.

When the right order breaks, the world goes cold. Momentum stalls. People stop making room for one another and it becomes “always winter and never Christmas” in the places that were meant to produce safety to create, build, and innovate.

Are You Ever the Right Age?

My wife and I have been part of a particular church denomination for over 30 years… and still are.

When we were young, we were often considered emerging leaders with a bright future, but too young to be senior or lead pastors. So, we kept showing up, serving, and not focused on position.

Then in our 40s, something shifted suddenly. The denomination became obsessed with young “emerging” leaders. And it felt like overnight, we were now considered too old. What made me even sadder was watching the pattern repeat. Older, faithful leaders who had been “emerging” for a decade were told their time had passed.

And here’s what this did to younger leaders too. Some of them were thrust into responsibility before their time, or at least without the council of the older generation. Not because they were bad people or lacked talent, but because the system started valuing the label “young” more than the process of becoming ready.

That is how everyone loses.

When those whispers in our ear make us start to believe the lies… it often stops us from doing the very thing we are called to do in the first place.

If you are called to lead then lead. If you are called to write then write.

Ready to Write Your Story?

Here is the real secret. You’re never the right age… so don’t give into the lie. The goalposts will keep moving, and if you wait for the world to approve your timing, you will be waiting forever.

Make room for someone older, and make room for someone younger, because God designed the relay to work between generations. Wisdom and fresh perspective were meant to strengthen each other, not compete.

And if you need a deeper anchor than motivation, here it is. God wove you together in your mother’s womb for something great. He did not make a mistake with your season, your story, or your timeline.

So do the thing you keep hesitating to do, with the support of others who will make you better and encourage you to take the next step… Write your story.

The Anchor for the Week

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for human masters.” Colossians 3:23 (NIV)

There are stretches in leadership where you are doing the right things, showing up consistently, carrying the responsibility entrusted with you… and yet the feedback is quiet.

No affirmation.
No correction.
Nothing that tells you whether what you’re doing is landing or not.

This is where leaders can quietly lose their footing because they start interpreting silence as a signal to perform differently.

You’re not off track, but the silence can start to mess with you if you’re not careful. Here is how to stay grounded and deliver when things go quiet.

The Baseline

This can show up in seasons where you’re carrying weight that very few people see until it delivers results and often conversations and meetings we have can instill a sense that we need to provide a place for ourselves.

I’ve lived through many of these stretches in my career. Times when expectations were clear and the work mattered… but there was little to no feedback coming back the other direction.

When feedback goes quiet, the work doesn’t change… but your posture has to.

So here is what I do to move through these times, and come out stronger on the other side.

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The Reset: Stay Steady

Staying steady means refusing to fill silence with unnecessary movement. It means continuing to do the work in front of you with care, clarity, and consistency, even when there is nothing reinforcing your effort.

I’ve learned that the fastest way to lose trust is to overreact to silence. The fastest way to gain depth is to stay faithful when no one is commenting on your work.

This week is about resisting the urge to perform, adjust, or self-correct prematurely, and instead returning to steady, grounded leadership.

The 7-Day Baseline Plan

Once per day this week, take one minute and do this.

Day 1: Notice the silence

Question: Where has feedback gone quiet in my life or leadership right now?

Baseline: Name it without assigning meaning to it. Don’t label it as failure or success. Just notice it and then begin to think optimistically about it and what value it will bring when delivered.

Truth: “Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him…” Psalm 37:7 (NIV)

Day 2: Separate silence from worth

Question: Where am I tying my sense of value to external response?

Baseline: Remind yourself what you are responsible for… and what you are not. You are responsible for faithfulness, not applause.

Truth: “A person finds joy in giving an apt reply—and how good is a timely word!”
Proverbs 15:23 (NIV)

Day 3: Resist the urge to perform

Question: What am I tempted to change just to feel comfortable?

Baseline: Do not adjust your message, tone, or direction today. Stay consistent with what you already know is right.

Truth: “Do not despise these small beginnings…” Zechariah 4:10 (NIV)

Day 4: Return to the work

Question: What responsibility is clearly in front of me today?

Baseline: Put your energy there. Do the work thoroughly, quietly, and without expectation of recognition and believe the value will land in it’s time.

Truth: “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart…” Colossians 3:23 (NIV)

Day 5: Strengthen what’s already working

Question: What is stable right now that I’ve been overlooking?

Baseline: Reinforce something healthy instead of chasing something new. Depth almost always beats novelty.

Truth: “Let us not become weary in doing good…” Galatians 6:9 (NIV)

Day 6: Re-anchor

Question: Where am I feeling the pull to force clarity or control?

Baseline: Pause. Take a breath. Return to your anchor. Let restraint do its work.

Truth: “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart…” Psalm 27:14 (NIV)

Day 7: Carry it forward

Question: What does steady leadership look like heading into next week?

Baseline: Decide what you will keep doing even if feedback remains quiet. Then commit to that with consistency.

Truth: “Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and he will establish your plans.” Proverbs 16:3 (NIV)

If this helped steady you, consider sharing it with someone who’s carrying weight quietly right now.

Author’s note: This is Chapter Three of my new novel, Watching from the Hill. It is a frontier story set in California’s gold country, about a quiet homesteader who gets drafted into leading his town after turmoil unfolds. I am writing it in public here on Substack so you can follow the story as it unfolds.

New chapters publish monthly as the story continues. If you want to follow Mason’s journey in real time, make sure you are subscribed to get early access.

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“Sergeant, come quick!”

The shout came from behind me. I spun around and saw two of my men stumbling through the mud, boots slipping, carrying another man between them. His uniform was soaked dark with blood.

I ran to meet them and got my shoulder under his arm to help take the weight. As I looked up at his face, my stomach dropped. It was my second in command, Bill Rudd.

“What happened?” I snapped, as we half dragged, half carried him toward the infirmary tent.

“Sorry, Mason,” Bill groaned, head hanging, breath shallow.

We pushed through the canvas flap and the smell of medical alcohol, sweat, and old blood filled the room. The doctor was already moving, clearing a rough wooden table with the back of his arm. Together we got Bill laid out flat.

The Doc grabbed a knife, cut the shirt away from Bill’s chest, and peeled the fabric back. A knife wound glared up at us from just below his shoulder… deep, ugly, pulsing bright red and then oozing dark.

“Hold him,” the Doc said. He pressed a wad of cloth hard against the wound and leaned in close. After a moment he grunted. “You’re lucky. Looks like it just missed what would have finished you.”

Bill winced and turned his head toward me, eyes cloudy but still focused.

“You were right,” he whispered. “There are spies in camp. Caught one near the supply wagons.”

Around us the tent kept churning… men breathing, someone calling for water, metal clinking in a basin. All I could see was Bill, bleeding because I had trusted my gut and sent him to check the shadows around our food and powder.

“I’ve got you,” I said quietly. “We’ll take care of it.”

The Doc pushed me back a step so he could work. I stood there, fists clenched at my sides, already thinking through who I would question, where the weak places were in our lines, how I would close every gap that had let an enemy slip in among my men.

A wagon rattled somewhere close and the sound shifted. Canvas and lamplight faded. The smell of alcohol and blood thinned into dust and cold air.

I blinked and suddenly, I was back on the front porch of the council hall, boots on rough boards, looking down the main road of Cedar Hollow toward Bill’s house. My jaw was tight, my hands still half clenched from the vivid memory of my dearest friend.

Bill had trusted my judgment in the war. Now he was gone because this town had trusted him with theirs.

I drew a slow breath.

“All right, old friend,” I said under my breath. “First things first.”

I stepped off the porch, slow at first, then more determined, and headed down the road toward Annabeth Rudd’s house.

On the short walk I caught a few eyes here and there. People nodded or gestured toward me, then looked away. It was clear there was still a deep sense of fear in town, and also curiosity of what would come next.

I knew I would soon have to gather the whole town together to settle nerves, but even more importantly, to become united again in our resolve to overcome this chaos and fear.

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As I approached the Rudd’s home, a hefty weight settled on my heart. I knew there was nothing I could say to Bill’s widow that would ease the deep pain of losing not only her husband and provider, but her closest friend in the world.

Their relationship reminded me a lot of mine and Elle’s… founded on more than fleeting emotion and young love, built on a foundation of friendship and, even more importantly, their love and dedication to God.

They had walked through so much over the years. Good and bad, happy and sad, but one thing always remained constant… they would tackle it all together. Now she would have to find a new way forward and sadly tackle a lot of it on her own.

I stepped up onto the porch, took off my battered cowboy hat with my left hand, and knocked on the front door with my right.

The door swung open, and to my surprise and relief it was my wife, Elle. Her eyes were red, but there was a softness there when she saw me.

“What are y’all doing here?” I asked gently.

Elle gave a tired little smile. “The girls and I wanted to come sit with Annabeth,” she said. “Didn’t feel right leaving her alone.”

Over her shoulder I could see into the main room. Sierra and Natalie were on the floor with the Rudd children, who were much younger, stacking worn blocks and trying to coax a giggle out of them. Our girls caught my eye for just a brief moment and gave me a small, knowing smile. They understood I was there to talk with Annabeth, and that the best way they could help was to keep the little ones busy while we did.

The room was small but familiar… a wood-burning stove glowing in the corner, a simple table with four mismatched chairs, Bill’s worn coat still hanging on the peg by the door.

Annabeth looked up from where she’d been sitting and caught my eye. She stood quickly and hurried toward me.

“Oh, Mason!” she cried as she reached the doorway. She threw her arms around me and began to weep into my shoulder. “How is this God’s plan?”

I held her tight, letting her shake and sob for a moment, giving her space to feel the full weight of it. “I am so sorry, Annabeth,” I said quietly. She only squeezed tighter. Elle stepped up beside her and rested a hand on her back, stroking her shoulder in slow circles.

After a while, Annabeth drew in a long breath, pulled back, and wiped at her eyes with the heel of her hand. She cleared her throat, and there was a hint of that familiar stubbornness under the grief.

“I may not know the plan,” she said, voice still trembling, “but I am sure glad you and Elle and the girls are here right now. Come on in, Mason.”

I stepped inside a room I had been in dozens, if not hundreds, of times… cups of coffee at that table, long talks with Bill about land and weather and this little town of ours, babies passed around the room when each of their children were born.

I moved over near the stove and took a seat at the dining table. Elle sat beside Annabeth on the small settee, the two women close enough that their shoulders touched. The children kept playing quietly on the floor, as if even they knew something sacred was happening in the room.

“Annabeth,” I began, folding my hands together on the table, “I talked with the town council last night. They wanted me to come and speak with you in person.”

She looked up, eyes tired but steady. “I heard some of it,” she said. “Folks talk. They say the men down there have asked you to step in. Sheriff. Mayor. All of it.”

I nodded. “They have asked me to serve for a season,” I said. “Interim. Long enough to steady things and help us find the right man to carry it after. I only agreed on a few conditions. One of those is you and the children.”

She swallowed hard. “Mason, nothing replaces Bill,” she said softly. “Not another leader. Not plans. Not money. You know that.”

“I do,” I said. “This does not replace him. It is simply what we can do on our side of the loss.”

She looked down at her hands, then back at me. “What did they decide?” she asked.

I took a breath. “First,” I said, “we agreed that this town will take care of you and the children. Better than if Bill were still here… that was my exact wording.”

Her eyes filled again, but she did not look away.

“The men at that table agreed to find out what debts you and Bill had,” I continued, “and see them paid. We will take stock of what you have on the property and what you lack. We will make sure you and the children do not go hungry and do not go without what you truly need.”

I glanced toward her kids on the floor. “We also talked about their future,” I said. “Work when they are old enough. Maybe schooling, if we can get it. Opportunities so they are not stuck in the shadow of this moment for the rest of their lives.”

She covered her mouth with one hand, and tears slipped down her cheeks again, quieter this time.

“And I told them,” I added, “that as of now, you and the children are to be treated as our own kin. Not charity. Family. That is what we agreed.”

For a long moment she did not speak. Elle reached over and took her hand.

“Do you believe them?” Annabeth asked finally, her voice barely above a whisper. “Men say a lot of fine things in meetings when the hurt is fresh.”

I nodded slowly. “I know,” I said. “Talk is cheap when the room is warm and no one is out in the dust yet. But I looked each of them in the eye. Wally, Tom, Hank, all of them. They agreed. And I told them as long as I am wearing that badge, I will hold them to their word.”

I leaned forward a little. “It will not bring Bill back. It will not erase what happened on that road. But you will not walk this alone.”

She stared at me a moment, searching my face like she was testing each word for cracks. Then she let out a long, shaky breath.

“You know Bill trusted you,” she said. “Even when he did not agree with you, he trusted you.”

“I know,” I said quietly. “I trusted him too.”

She nodded, more to herself than to me. “All right,” she said. “If you say the town has agreed, I will believe you. And if they forget…” there was a tiny spark of fire in her eyes now, “I will come down there and remind them.”

A small smile tugged at the corner of my mouth. “I do not doubt that one bit,” I said.

The room fell into a softer quiet. The stove crackled. One of the children laughed at something Sierra did with the blocks. For the first time since I had stepped onto the porch, the weight in the room felt a little more shared.

“We will come by again,” Elle said gently. “Not just today. Often. You are not going to be rid of us that easily.”

“Good,” Annabeth said, squeezing her hand. “I do not want to be.”

I sat there a moment longer, looking at Bill’s coat on the peg, his boots by the door, his children on the floor, and his widow between my wife and the stove, held up by hands that loved her.

Nothing we decided in that council room could ever balance those scales. But this was where it started… with a promise to take care of our own, and the quiet decision to keep that promise when the grief was no longer fresh and the town had moved on to the next thing.

In my mind I heard Captain Harris again. Organize or get eaten.

I looked back at Annabeth. “We will be back soon,” I said. “And in the next day or two, we will be calling a town gathering. When that happens, if you feel up to it, I would like you there. People need to see what we are fighting for.”

She nodded slowly. “If I can stand, I will be there,” she said.

I rose from my chair and picked up my hat from the table. “All right then,” I said. “One step at a time.”

I said my goodbyes to the children, gave Annabeth’s hand a gentle squeeze, and stepped back out onto the porch, the cold air washing over me as the door closed softly behind.

The town still looked the same as it had that morning. But after that visit, I knew for certain… whatever came next with the raiders or the council or my own family, turning away was no longer an option.

As I walked back toward the town hall, the wind started to pick up. I looked past the buildings to the mountain range in the distance and saw dark storm clouds moving in our direction. Before long, the town would be drenched in rain.

And I knew this was not the only storm we would have to face in the weeks and months ahead.

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The Anchor for the Week

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart…” Colossians 3:23 (NIV)

Waiting for what’s next can feel brutal because silence tests our faith… and it exposes how badly we desire control.

This can show up when you’re between roles, waiting on a decision, carrying pressure at work, or doing the ri…

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Here is what we discussed in this livestream:

All the numbers are cool. Great. I hope it grows. But what matters to me are the stories… the PEOPLE!

Leader Unlock Is Not About Me... It’s About You

I have a lot to talk about today... but primarily to talk about you. Really to talk about what God’s doing in your life, and things we’re going to be doing here on our Substack.

If you’ve never met me, my name is Chris Antonelli. I’m an imperfect individual... but I have spent my life traversing it in a way that I’ve learned some pretty powerful lessons. Some of that’s been in corporate tech world. I currently am a director at Microsoft. I’ve worked at Amazon and EMC and Cisco and lots of companies. But I’ve also been a pastor.

And I’m here to help you, whether you’re an executive or a parent.

To me, when I say leader, don’t think that you’re excluded from that... because I would bet that you’re a leader. Are you willing to learn? Are you willing to put in the work, the blood, the sweat, and the tears to truly not only unlock yourself but unlock other people?

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My Origin Story: Pain, A Tailspin, And A Turning Point

If you read a little bit about my origin story, I had a pretty tumultuous upbringing. My mom committed suicide when I was in junior high. I was the only one at home. I had a discernment in my spirit even before I was a Christian that there was something off. I went upstairs to find my mom and see if everything was okay. I saw empty pill bottles on the counter. She came over, kissed me, and said, remember, I love you more than anything in this world. I called my dad, he told me to call 911, and I did. And that day, my mom, unfortunately, didn’t survive.

And that sent me, as a young man, into a tailspin. I started partying. I started smoking marijuana on a daily basis, cutting school, and ended up barely graduating high school.

I got kicked out because I was so far behind. They sent me to a continuation school, and the president of that school sat me down and said, look, you have two choices. Either you can drop out or you can graduate. It’s up to you. I decided, okay, right there, I’m going to stop drinking. I’m going to stop partying. I’m going to graduate. I don’t even know where that came from that early in my life... but I just had this tenacity of like, okay, well, great. So if it’s on me, I’m going to do it. I ended up working so hard, I ended up graduating a half a year early.

But that tailspin didn’t stop. My dad got remarried and he asked me to move out. I had like two weeks to move out and totally understandable. He had a new wife moving in and it was time for me to move on being over 18.

And that just threw me back into a continuation of that tailspin where I became homeless, reverted back to alcohol and drugs, and I lived in my truck for a good six months and couch surfing between friends.

I would sleep in my truck, in the back of my truck with a camper shell. And then for some reason, I don’t even know what I was thinking, I got a pet rat and I named him Merlin. So I often tell the story that I was homeless, drug addicted, alcohol, living in my truck with my pet rat in Santa Cruz, California.

A buddy of mine invited me to church. I said yes. I didn’t go right away. He kept inviting me and he’d call me and I’d be like, I’m sick. He’d call me again, and I’d be like, I’m too tired. The truth was every time he called me, I had forgotten he invited me. And I was high as a kite when he called me. I was thinking, no way am I going to go to church. I know enough about church that I’m not going to go totally stoned out of my gourd to church.

But he kept asking and he actually took me first to a small group. I went to a small group and they were talking about the things of the Lord, talking about the Bible. And he opened it up. And again, remember, I was just totally stoned out of my mind. The person opened it up and said, tell me a little bit about what you think about the Lord and the things of the kingdom of God and what he’s doing in you. So I decided, you know what, I’m going to go ahead and share. I don’t even remember what I said because, again, I was baked. Thinking back now how gracious they were... this guy needs Jesus.

I came out of that small group and I felt different. Something changed in my heart. I felt like, okay, Lord, if you’re real, I want to know you’re real. Prove it. Prove that you’re real and not just some other fantasy because I’ve been hurt and broken in life.

What the primary thing that happened is I lost my appetite for drugs and alcohol overnight. I woke up in the morning and my buddy who I lived with was like, hey, you want to bake out with me? I got some pot. You want to smoke out? And I’m like, no, I don’t think I do. I’m going to just go for a walk.

I went walking on the beach and just thinking about life, thinking about where I had been, thinking about my mom and my dad. I was like, yeah, this isn’t the lifestyle that I’m meant for. I went back and called my buddy and said, yeah, I want to go to church with you this weekend.

He took me to church. I don’t remember what the pastor spoke on. I just remember the feeling. The feeling was safety. The feeling was reconciliation. There was no shame or guilt or anything. There was acceptance and community and an ability and opportunity really for me to decide, is this what I want?

At the end of the sermon, the pastor offered, let’s bow our heads in prayer. Does anyone here want to accept the Lord? If you could just raise your hand. And ironically, because I was stoned, I thought he said hands. So I raised both of my hands as high as I could. Like, I want Jesus. And

I swear he got kind of a chuckle on his face like, man, this kid really, really wants God.

That’s how my life has been since January of 1994. I’ve lived my life forever reconciled that I am broken and Jesus died for my sins. I live in an unperfect world. I’m an unperfect human... but he has been able to redeem me, build me up and restore me. Since then I’ve been on this journey of life.

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30 Years In Tech, 20 Years Pastoring... And The Tension That Wouldn’t Go Away

All this was leading up to how I got in tech. 30 years in tech, I barely graduated high school. A friend said, hey, I heard of this company called Seagate. They’re hiring people that are just willing to learn computers. Through high school, even though I didn’t, the class I didn’t cut was computers.

I had a Commodore 64 and then a Commodore 128 and I was coding (yep, I am old). I’m like, hey, I can learn computers. He got me an interview and I got a job at Seagate Technology.

And then about 10 years into following God, I really felt like I was supposed to help other people navigate life. I had already been leading small groups and pastoring people. I don’t think pastoring is a title. It is a disposition to help others. It’s shepherding. And I talk a lot about that on Leader Unlock because I feel like that is kind of a missing ingredient in leadership in corporate America today.

I’ve had that tension a lot as someone who’s been 30 years in tech and 20 years pastoring people. For me, those have always been separated... siloed. People at church don’t give a rip about my job in high tech. People at work don’t care to hear much about my pastoring life. That’s why I ended up starting Leader Unlock... because I wanted to connect those together.

Because leaders, especially in the world today, are under immense pressure. We’re under pressure to perform and get results and often on the backs of people. Some leaders chew through people as much as a wood chipper chews through wood. They may get great short-term results, but because they chew through those people, they lose long-term ability to deliver. They lose reservoirs of trust. They lose reservoirs of knowledge. They lose reservoirs of momentum and innovation.

For me, that’s why I put Leader Unlock together.

Why Substack... And Why This Community Has Grown

I was on X for about a year. I grew my account from like 4,000 to almost 15,000 in a year. I learned a lot. I learned that X for me was too transactional... and primarily a lot of drama.

and were having a class, and they started talking about Substack. It felt like a missing ingredient for me personally. When I started on Substack, I’ll be honest, I was a little like, we’ll see if this is any better than X… I was skeptical. Man, I was wrong. LOVE IT HERE!

Over the last three months, Leader Unlock has grown greatly. It’s been crazy for me. I’m so blessed. I don’t feel like it’s me. I feel like it’s the Lord... but I also feel like it’s the community willing to embrace diverse thought and consider that you might have something to say that will help them in their journey.

We have grown to a little bit over a thousand. I think today we’re at like 1065 subscribers. 10 of those are paid. And that’s in three months.

I’m always transparent. I imported like 1500 emails accidentally. I meant to import my subscriber list from a previous newsletter. I accidentally imported my entire Gmail contact list. So people I had emailed over the last 15 years got imported. The IRS got an email from me, welcome to Leader Unlock. A bill collector from 10 years ago. Someone within my county government. Friends I hadn’t heard from. People that had cut me out of their lives. And then I decided to trim that list. So at the end of October, I trimmed it down to like 400 people. And then since then we’ve grown to 1065 subscribers today.

I don’t take that lightly. Whether you’re a free subscriber or paid subscriber, to me it doesn’t matter... even followers. I take it as a badge of responsibility to shepherd the people that are in our community.

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The Point: Invest In People, Not A Platform

All the numbers are cool. Great. I hope it grows. But what matters to me are the stories… the PEOPLE!
I’m using a lot of the subscription money to help a family in need.

There’s a young couple I’ve known. I pastored them. I’ve shepherded this couple for a long time. They were actually a part of our church plant as foundational members. They’re going through a hard time, and I really felt like, okay, what can I do as a gift to them? I’m giving them a small amount of money. Currently, our subscriptions don’t cover that, and that’s fine. I had a set amount of money. I’m going to keep giving them that money as long as I can to help them buffer their season. He’s doing a little bit of media management for me for that. For me, a big deal is that Leader Unlock is actually supporting real life, a real couple, a young couple that’s in need.

Another one is a senior vice president that I used to work for, an amazing man. People rally around this guy because he is truly one of those leaders that loves his people. He doesn’t chew through people. He stood in front of arrows when they were being directed at me a long time ago. He took the bullets instead. That’s what a leader does. A leader protects his people and loves his people.

He was under immense pressure and going through things that were just too much. The relationship of the company became more transactional with their customers and transactional for their employees. He was being forced into positions that would have caused him to have to have a moral decision on whether he was going to do it or not. He decided to opt out and resign. He doesn’t know what his next is, but he joined the founder circle. I get to talk to him one-on-one on a monthly basis. These conversations are really good. It’s bi-directional. I get something out of it too. I get to hear his story. I get to tune how I can help other executives in his predicament.

He’s in a bridge season. A bridge season is a connection between the previous season and the next season, and you’re not really sure what’s going to happen, but you are ready for that next season. So you’re in training. It’s like a Rocky movie. Physical, spiritual, emotional, financial. Get those areas of your life in order and get ready for whatever is next. Sometimes we know what our next is. Sometimes we don’t. But regardless, when you’re in that in-between season, you’re working out things for your next season.

Another one is a young man who has a family, got laid off. He talked about the heavy weight of the lies that he hears, that he’s going to ruin his family. Believe me, I’ve been there. I’ve been through one of those seasons where I got laid off. It was right before 9-11 and the dot-com bust. I couldn’t find a job delivering a pizza. We ended up losing our home. Our car got repossessed. We filed for bankruptcy. It was a horrible season. Those lies do grow when you go through those seasons. You can hear that you’re a failure, that your demise is certain, you’ve let everyone down. And you might as well end it all.

If you’ve ever heard those lies or you’re listening to those lies now, I absolutely rebuke them in the name of Jesus. Because they’re lies. Here I am in my 50s. My mom committed suicide when I was in junior high. It still impacts me. Even if you think people don’t love you, or even if you’re alone, you’re important. You’re a part of the puzzle, and you’d be a missing part if you exited early. Please reach out to me if you ever need someone to talk to. I don’t care if you are a follower, subscriber, I don’t care. Just DM me and I’m happy to talk with you if you ever have any of those struggles whatsoever.

So to him, I just said, look, you’re not walking your family into ruin. You’re in your season of no fault of your own, and lots of people are struggling. This isn’t all on you, and this isn’t the Lord somehow having some harshness towards you. The bottom line is when bad things happen to good people, people have asked me this even as a pastor, how can God exist with all this pain? And I said, we’re an invasion force. The world’s been turned over to the enemy. It’s like we’re on the beach of Normandy and we’re in the midst of the battle and bad things happen in the midst of battle. But also you’ll hear stories of good things that happened... camaraderie... miracles. A bullet was headed for so-and-so and something fell in front of them. You hear about miracles.

So I said, don’t focus on the future and don’t focus on the past. Focus on today. Today has enough worry of its own, the Bible says. Focus on the four pillars: physical, spiritual, emotional, and financial. Work those as best as you can to get ready for your next season.

The last was a young person reached out to me and was talking about how they had struggled with those thoughts of taking their own life. They really hit home the story that I was sharing about my origin story and my mom and drug addiction and just the tumultuous stuff I’ve been through... but that God is good. Bottom line for me is that’s what I want to talk about. Not all the pain, but all the hope.

Those stories are more important than anything.

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Leadership Under Pressure Is Not Just The CEO

One of the main keys of why I started Leader Unlock is to encourage leaders that are under pressure, whether you’re a parent, whether you’re a teacher, whether you’re a manager, director, executive, it doesn’t matter.

When I think of leadership, I don’t think of just the CEO. There’s a lot of people who carry a lot of leadership in lots of different ways.

Moms. I remember a mom talking about feeling invisible. Do I even matter if I disappeared? Would anyone ever notice? I wrote a post about it because yeah, they will. They will notice and they will unpack them forever if you ever just disappeared. It’s important to talk about these things because there’s a lot of growing pressure in our society.

Strong And Loving: A Fork In The Road For Men

I’m working on another post right now talking about masculinity because I think we’re at a fork in the road for masculinity in our society. Men are told to either shut up and be quiet, or they have to be this take character with a lot of meanness, be hard, be mean, be for yourself, get rich, leave a lasting legacy for yourself.

Where in truth and reality, true masculinity is love and dangerous enough against evil, but soft towards people. True godly masculinity is being strong and loving. Strong and loving.

Contagious Optimism Is Not Denial... It’s Partnership

I have this picture. It says dream, explore, discover. It’s a picture we took in Canada at Lake Louise as the backdrop. For me, that is absolutely the key to life. Being optimistic is a superpower.

At Amazon, I had this executive do my annual review and he said, you have this superpower and I don’t know what to call it, so I’m just going to call it you have a contagious optimism.

Optimism is not that you’re in denial of your circumstances. Optimism is no matter what we’re going to get through this. No matter what, we’re going to overcome this.

No matter what, we’re going to find a way. It’s going to work out. Not because I’m just going to sit back and wait for it to happen, but because I’m going to partner with God and make it happen. Not in my own power, but in his strength.

How To Build A Real Community

If you’re creating on Substack or really anywhere, be optimistic. Build relationships like you actually care about people.

When they DM me, I try to DM them back. I try to respond to every comment, good or bad, happy or sad. Sometimes I don’t. It’s been super busy at work in real life. I’m working 50, 60 hour weeks. I have a family and I’m doing Substack. I probably missed some of your comments. If I have, please forgive me. I definitely don’t want to not get those comments.

Substack is an opportunity for you to connect with people. A lot of you are here to make money and build coaching businesses and that is good, but primarily be for people and not for yourself because people are going to be able to discern and know if you’re really out for yourself or if you’re actually out for others.

I’ve built teams in high tech. I’ve built church communities with small groups. I’ve built a church plant. My wife and I used to do bistro nights with public events. Live music, free food, free espresso drinks, donation-based. Build community. Get to know people. Don’t let life be so transactional. Don’t think primarily of yourself. Give yourself away. Don’t bring every conversation back to yourself. Try to figure out how you can build others up. In the meantime, those things unlock things for you.

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The Invitation: No Polarizing... Just Building

My dream for Leader Unlock, I know it might be bold, I might be crazy, but I want it to go big. Not for Chris, because I work in tech, I’ve been 30 years in, I make great money.

I want to see Leader Unlock explode so that people don’t have to keep separating corporate world from godly world. Those things need to be put back together... recoupled rather than decoupled like they have been in our society.

Last but not least, don’t polarize people. Stop using things in your lives to pull people apart. Whether it is politics or even religion…

You don’t need to be a Christian to be here. You don’t need to believe what I believe to be here. But at the same time, what I ask for people who join Leader Unlock is to not be opposed to ancient wisdom that’s been around for thousands of years that have helped people. If you can at least accept the Bible as wisdom, then you’re absolutely going to find Leader Unlock is going to provide a lot of value for you to help you build those four pillars in your life: physical, spiritual, emotional, and financial.

Please reach out, send me a DM. I’m not saying send me a DM if you’re a subscriber. I don’t care if you follow me. If you want to talk and build a relationship and ask me questions about one of my posts, just go ahead and reach out. I would love to talk with you.

Have a good rest of your day and weekend, and we’ll talk to you soon.
Let’s go.

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BUT the hunger is still there. You’re not done yet.

This is what I call… a Bridge Season.

Here is how to navigate these tricky waters… and thrive instead of just survive.

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You Don’t Build Your Life on a Bridge

I don’t know about you, but I have had my share of these in-between seasons in my life and especially in my 30+ year High Tech career. One constant in Tech is change… and very few stay with a single company for more than 5 years, layoffs are common, and org changes at this point feel like a yearly ritual.

Last weekend, my wife and I were on Whidbey Island (near Seattle) celebrating our 27th wedding anniversary. As I drove across Deception Pass Bridge, I thought about one of my executive clients who is navigating a bridge season.

They resigned from their previous role after pressure became detrimental to who they are meant to be. Now they’re in one of those bridge seasons, not sure what’s ahead.

Have you seen the Deception Pass Bridge? It connects the island to the mainland, high above Puget Sound. Beautiful. Exposed. Necessary.

And it hit me.

Some seasons aren’t destinations. They’re bridges.

You don’t build your life on a bridge.
But you can’t reach what’s next without crossing it.

The In-Between Builds Your Next

Bridge seasons feel uncertain.
You’re no longer who you were... but not yet who you’re becoming.
There can be real life pressure with money, family dynamics, and schedule.

That gap can mess with your head if you let it. It can make you feel behind, unanchored, or even desperate… tempting you to rush into the next thing just to stop feeling the weight of uncertainty.

Like the choppy waters while at sea… it is vitally important you have two tools during these times.

1. The Right Tool to Navigate
   Psalm 107:29-30 (NKJV) “He calms the storm, so that its waves are still… So He guides them to their desired haven.”

2. Master Navigators to Advise
   Proverbs 15:22 (NIV) “Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed.”

These tools ensure the season is not wasted time and helps you evaluate what needs rebuilding, restoration, or a new addition.

Utilize these times and tools to train for the next season in four areas:
Physical, Spiritual, Emotional, and Financial

Create a daily discipline and schedule… and soon…
↳ The momentum starts forming.
↳ The strength begins returning.
↳ Your clarity begins sharpening.

This is what the bridge is vital… it transports you from where you were to where you are going!

Cross It With Intention

If you’re in an in-between season right now, don’t rush it.
Give yourself room to get steady again.
Then cross it with intention.
Surround yourself with advisors to help you navigate.

Great things are ahead!