PEBBLE
Accept where you are. Be grateful or grieve accordingly. Then focus all your energy on the levers you can actually control.
~Aaron Olver, Managing Director at University Research Park, Madison, WI
BOULDER
By aligning your values and being courageous with what needs to get done, that’s when you see things really swing forward.
~Renee Moe, President and CEO at United Way of Dane County, WI
PONDER
I was delighted to discover that two of my favorite humans (who also happen to be long, long, LONG-time Ripplers) were recently recognized by Madison Magazine as part of their 2026 Best of Business Leadership Awards. As part of the recognition, they were asked to share a piece of leadership advice, and their responses are featured as today’s quotes.
Taken together, their advice reminds me that life tends to go better when we stop spending so much energy arguing with reality and start investing that energy in responding to it.
First comes acceptance. Not approval, necessarily. Just a willingness to recognize what is true. If something wonderful has happened, celebrate it. If something painful has happened, grieve it. Either way, begin where you actually are.
Then comes the courageous part: deciding what matters most and acting on it. We don’t get to control every outcome, but we do get a say in how we show up. Over time, those choices have a way of creating movement that once seemed impossible.
That sounds like wise leadership advice to me.
It actually sounds like wise life advice, too.
Peace,
Paul
P.S. Thank you Aaron, thank you Renee, and thank you to every single Rippler…the longtimers, the recent subscribers, and everyone in between. It’s such a hoot to hang out with you for 60 seconds every Monday!