A mentor once told me something that stuck: “Half of success is just showing up. The other half is showing up with purpose.”
Translation? Don’t just drag yourself to the meeting — bring your brain, your heart, and maybe even an extra cup of coffee.
In leadership and community building, showing up isn’t about logging hours or checking boxes. It’s about being present where lives are shaped — in boardrooms and break rooms, classrooms and council chambers. It’s about listening with humility, speaking with courage, and sometimes biting your tongue when the conversation goes sideways.
Over the years, I’ve worked with leaders’ coast to coast. The real game-changers aren’t always the ones with the flashiest titles or the loudest voices. They’re the ones who keep showing up. Rain or shine. Easy or hard. Glamorous or not. They believe progress is possible, and they prove it with their consistency.
People often ask me, “What’s the secret sauce for community success? What’s the magic bullet?” Sure, I could say “Broken Windows Theory”, “Community Capitalism” or “Cluster Analysis” but here’s the truth: as Mark Steyn put it, “The future belongs to those who show up.”
Right now, communities everywhere are buzzing with opportunity — new schools, new companies, big projects, you name it. But momentum doesn’t maintain itself. Like my old rugby coach drilled into us, momentum is mass plus velocity, applied at the point of attack, again and again. (Yes, he yelled it. Yes, I all still remember.)
Here’s the kicker: tailwinds today don’t guarantee smooth sailing tomorrow. The future still belongs to the people willing to show up, consistently, purposefully, and sometimes with duct tape and donuts in hand.
So, wherever you lead a business, a classroom, a nonprofit, or city hall ask yourself: Am I just present, or am I showing up with purpose?
Because when we do, that’s when jobs are created, families are empowered, and communities are transformed.
Always Forward.
