A Year of Gratitude: The Leaders Who Shared the Real Story

As we start the new year, I’ve been reflect­ing on the con­ver­sa­tions from 2025 that real­ly stuck with me.

While I have hun­dreds of pri­vate dis­cus­sions with lead­ers every year, I want to take a moment to appre­ci­ate the CEOs and experts who were will­ing to share their expe­ri­ences pub­licly with all of us.

These lead­ers did­n’t just share the high­light reel. They got hon­est about the real work of growth — the wins, the fail­ures, and the resilience required to keep going.

Their sto­ries rein­forced a core truth from The 4 Forces of Growth: The sim­plest things always work best.

It always comes back to the fun­da­men­tals: focus, clar­i­ty, and the dis­ci­pline to ignore the noise.

To the lead­ers who joined me on video this past year: Thank you. Your trans­paren­cy helps every­one get better.

For those of you look­ing for inspi­ra­tion as you plan for 2026, here are a few of the clips I appre­ci­at­ed most. I hope they give you the clar­i­ty and momen­tum you need for the year ahead.

Here’s to choos­ing growth.

In the links below you will find spe­cif­ic high­light clips and access to the the full inter­view as well.

1. Ajit Prab­hu — Quest Glob­al CEO & Co-Founder

How Ajit built a glob­al engi­neer­ing com­pa­ny through peo­ple, long-term think­ing and dis­ci­plined execution.

2. Angela San­ti­a­go — CEO, The Lit­tle Pota­to Company

Angela shares how val­ues, fam­i­ly and growth work togeth­er when you lead with intention.

3. Gor­don Lownds — For­mer CEO, Sleep Coun­try Canada

Gor­don opens up about suc­cess, fail­ure, rein­ven­tion and resilience. Real lessons from a real builder.

4. Vishal, Ankur & Varun Gup­ta — Direc­tors, Ashi­ana Housing

A pow­er­ful con­ver­sa­tion with three broth­ers lead­ing one of India’s most respect­ed real estate companies. 

5. Dean Fras­er — CEO, CDN Controls

Real growth doesn’t come for short­cuts. It comes from dis­ci­plined exe­cu­tion, the right peo­ple and a relent­less com­mit­ment to doing what you say.

6. David Greer — Fac­ing a Bru­tal Fact

Some lead­er­ship jour­neys don’t just change how you run a busi­ness — they change how you live your life.

BONUS: Why Your Com­pa­ny Isn’t Grow­ing — With Mar­ty Yaskowich

This inter­view is with one of our advi­sors, Mar­ty Yaskowich. A clear look at why good com­pa­nies stall, and the dis­ci­pline it takes to get back into the Growth Quadrant.

BONUS: Inter­view with Francine Car­lin, Prin­ci­pal at Busi­ness Har­mo­niz­er Group

Francine Car­lin is a sea­soned fam­i­ly busi­ness advi­sor with more than 24 years of expe­ri­ence help­ing fam­i­ly-owned enter­pris­es nav­i­gate suc­ces­sion, resolve con­flict, and pro­tect both fam­i­ly har­mo­ny and long-term busi­ness continuity.