Values & Strengths

Core Values

  • Foster Humanity
    Foster empathy, acceptance, hospitality, consideration, and kindness. Assume positive intent. Think long term. Make art. Have fun. Be curious. Tell funny stories. Contribute to our shared knowledge base.
  • Be Direct
    Community with clarity and economy. Go to the source. Say what needs to be said. Truth over status. No surprises. Do the falsifiable thing. Be specific.
  • Grow Your Family
    Embrace your irreplaceable roles & your chosen belonging. Be a good ancestor. Learn about your ancestors. Presence over money. Hold and be held. Encourage each other’s biggest aspirations.
  • Take Ownership
    Stewardship of self, family, health, and surroundings. Take accountability & responsibility. No complaining about others. Show others how. Clearly define quality/standards before starting. Be of service. Foster teamwork. Be known.
  • Keep Going
    Keep learning. Keep iterating. Keep persisting. Keep enduring. Accept reality, Play infinite games. Have a safe space to try. Act with urgency.
  • Have Goals
    Create meaning & purposefulness. Foster intrinsic motivation. Know your why. Attach significance to improving the ordinary. Choose goals that will outlive you and make you distinctive. Give yourself a bigger world.

StrengthsFinder Top 10

  1. Strategic — Spot patterns, create alternative paths forward
  2. Relator — Deep satisfaction working hard with trusted people toward a goal
  3. Focus — Prioritize, act, correct course, stay on track
  4. Futuristic — Inspired by what could be; inspire others with visions of the future
  5. Empathy — Sense others’ feelings by imagining their situation
  6. Maximizer — Transform something strong into something superb
  7. Significance — Want to be important in others’ eyes; independent, seek recognition
  8. Self-Assurance — Inner compass; confident decisions are right
  9. Learner — Process of learning excites more than the outcome
  10. Analytical — Search for reasons and causes; think about all factors

What I Do (How Others Experience It)

  • Identify the highest-impact path forward — force-multiplier for clarity and prioritization
  • Listen deeply, then challenge directly — high empathy + high candor = trust and transformation
  • Reduce ambiguity, accelerate movement — turn ambiguity into decisive action
  • Strategic depth + practical application — strategy and execution in one person
  • Strengthen teams, not just products — grow the people who build the business
  • Stay ahead of trends — anticipatory thinker helping teams prepare for what’s next
  • Provide a reset — recalibrate leaders quickly
  • Build trust fast, maintain it long-term — create professional gravity
  • Impact in both corporate and startup contexts — value travels

Operating Principles

  • Resist moral panic 
  • Doing the correct thing poorly beats executing the wrong things perfectly.
  • 80% net new outcomes, 20% change the how.
  • If someone else can do it, let them. Focus on what no one else is positioned to do.
  • Bias toward low/no barrier-to-entry technologies (open source, etc).
  • The right things for the right reasons.
  • Create the environment where people want to explore the new and uncomfortable.