Finding the Better Version of Us Around the Table

This week has a way of slowing us down, regardless of our circumstances. Sometimes slowing down is gradual, sometimes it's a bit abrupt. And if you’re leading anything right now, whether a team, a home, a church, or a company of any size, you’ve probably felt that collision between gratitude and exhaustion.

It’s real.

But here’s something I want you to sit with: the people you lead aren’t looking for a perfect leader. They’re looking for a present one. A human one. Someone who remembers, especially during weeks like this, that purpose isn’t built in the boardroom, the break room, or a strategic planning meeting. Purpose is first built at the table, through community. Purpose is built through conversation, through the small, sacred, and intentional moments where connection quietly outperforms any goal or strategy.

Listen, your influence doesn’t hinge on having every answer. It grows every time you choose to show up. It deepens when you choose to be “here,” not racing ahead to the next crisis or the next objective. And the truth is, the better version of your leadership isn’t waiting somewhere “out there.” It’s forming right now, in the relationships you cultivate, the courage you model, and the gratitude you practice when no one’s watching. Perhaps you could give yourself over to some of these ideas:

Be present this week.

Don't talk so much. Just listen.

Be interested more than interesting.

Try and rest.

Watch something mindless and goofy with someone.

Laugh with someone.

Affirm someone.

The better version of us isn’t found in trying to make it happen alone, but in choosing to belong. The better version of us is about showing up for each other with purpose, presence, and a willingness to grow together.

So take a breath this week. Look around the table. The mission isn’t just what you’re building. It’s the people you’re becoming, together. This is true in any context that you lead.

Happy Thanksgiving, leader. You matter more than you know. Peace & love to you

~ Paul

“When it comes to life, the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” — G.K. Chesterton