Self-knowledge as the foundation of genuine connection The most important leadership development work isn’t about skills. It’s about seeing yourself clearly enough to bring your full self to others. When I launched Pacey Consulting & Coaching, I built a workshop called EI for Leaders — an introduction to emotional intelligence designed for working professionals. Austin Community College agreed to host it. I condensed months of research and thinking into a half-day experience and delivered it...

The coaching conversation done right — and what it can change At some point leadership stops being about what you can do — and starts being about what you can unlock in others. It is 1982. I am a young program director for the YMCA of Houston, watching colleagues move up the ranks while I stay where I am. Houston is growing fast — new suburbs, new YMCAs, new opportunities appearing almost monthly. Careers are accelerating around me and mine feels stalled. I am doing good work. I know I am....

What genuine connection looks like — and what it builds over time In 1989 I went to work for the YMCA of St. Louis as Associate Executive Director at the South County location. The Executive Director, Steve Harty, had recently stepped into his role and hired me to help him build something different — a culture grounded in honesty, genuine relationship, and a standard of leadership that the previous culture hadn’t always modeled. We were on the same page from the beginning. Same values. Same...