We’ve spent a lot of time exploring the rainbow. We talked about the fire of Red , that raw courage and passion that gets a business off the ground. We looked at the stability of Blue , the trust that keeps the ship steady. We even basked in the glow of Yellow , realizing that a good attitude is a competitive advantage. But now, we’ve reached the deep end. We’ve reached Purple . In my Spectrum of Leadership, Purple represents Wisdom . It’s the color of royalty, sure, but it’s

We’ve all been there. You’re staring at a problem that feels like a brick wall. You’ve looked at the data, you’ve checked the bank account, and you’ve talked to the experts. The "logical" path tells you there are only two choices: Option A or Option B. Usually, Option A is "keep grinding until you burn out," and Option B is "give up and walk away." In the world of business consulting, we call this linear thinking. It’s the idea that every problem has a straight-line solution.

When I first walked into the advancement department at Hartford, the air didn’t exactly feel "green." It didn’t feel like a place where things were growing. If I’m being honest, it felt like a room where the oxygen had been sucked out. The team was talented: wildly so. They had the pedigree, the skills, and the history. But they were also exhausted. Burnout wasn’t just a buzzword there; it was a baseline. There was a thick layer of mistrust, not necessarily toward each other,

Welcome back to the Seeing Leadership in Color series. We’ve already hit the fire of Red (Courage) and the steady anchor of Blue (Trust). Today we’re stepping into the brightest one: Yellow. Optimism. Hope. The thing that makes people believe the next step is worth taking. And yes, optimism can be a personality trait. But in leadership? It’s more like a job requirement. Because optimism isn’t a vibe. It’s a choice. Over and over. Especially when the “how” is missing. The