Walk Into the Future

Category: Networking

  • Leading in 2026!

    “Influence isn’t loud.  It’s consistent.”

    (Joseph C. Kunz Jr.)

    The Walking into the Future blog identified in an earlier post that we are celebrating daily.  This simple mindset seems to resonate with my readers.  I have gotten a great response from folks who like this idea and are adopting into their daily lives.

    Authentic Leadership is the foundation that my leadership platform and consulting work are built on.  This leadership style has provided me with a vehicle to make a difference within my work environment and the work environments of organizations I provide consulting services. 

    Expanding my consulting services is one of my primary goals in 2026.  Yes, I’m actively looking for new clients and organizations to help with professional development and growth opportunities.  Share that last statement with anyone who needs consulting help. 😊

    The Authentic Leadership Foundation program is designed to help front line and mid-level leaders develop skills and self-awareness to lead with confidence, trust and accountability.  The foundational workshop is best for emerging leaders and enhances workplace credibility through consistent leadership principles.

    The Lead with Impact program provides a comprehensive leadership transformation engagement that aligns leadership behaviors, culture and organizational goals.  This program is best for organizations looking to generate change and staff alignment.  The program seeks to build a leadership culture that supports performance.

    The Authentic Teams program shows organizations how to build high-trust teams that communicate effectively, collaborate openly and navigate conflict interactions.  This program is best for the entire leadership team and departments.  The outcome is to build a stronger teamwork environment that relies on trust. 

    Here’s a snapshot of workshops I bring into my consulting work:

    • Authentic Leadership
      • This workshop will define Authentic Leadership and the impact for individuals and organizations
    • Empowered Leadership
      • This workshop will enable staff to leverage empowered leadership concepts within the workplace
      • The team will develop individual WHY statements with intent to improve workplace interactions
    • SMART Goals
      • This workshop defines SMART Goals and allows the team to build departmental SMART Goals

    I leverage the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) in my daily operations.  This tool has helped me improve team communication at my last three stops: The University of Central Florida, Florida State University and Indian River State College.

    I’m dreaming of a big 2026 and expanding my consulting client base is one area I plan to grow. Helping organizations with leadership development is a staple of my daily interactions and this is my year to celebrate and create new leadership dynamics in the work environment.

    Let’s see how many organizations I can impact in 2026!

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “If everyone is thinking the same way, nobody is thinking.”

    (Sabrina Horn)

  • Who Dares Wins!

    “If you aim at nothing, you will hit it every time.”

    (Zig Ziglar)

    The Walk into the Future blog will tackle the subject of goal setting from a different perspective in 2026.  Yes, Melissa, I still have goals for the year!  I’m just talking about them a little bit differently than in the past.  Patience, grasshopper! 😊

    The British Special Air Force Service (SAS) uses the famed motto, Who Dares Wins that reflects bold and risk-taking actions are necessary for success.  I started using this motto at work to challenge my team to put in the effort to win daily.  I see this motto as a professional but direct way to challenge the team to accomplish great things.

    This motto fits nicely into my goal setting world as well.  This is our third year selecting a specific word that will lead our individual contributions.  My 2026 word is WINS.

    The SAS motto and my 2026 word sync up nicely and I leverage both in my daily interactions with staff, colleagues, tree branches, family and friends.

    I wrote in an earlier blog article that 2025 was the best year yet for me.  This is attributed to me setting and meeting most of the goals I set for myself. Fun fact—I almost decided to just run back the same 2025 goals in 2026 since it was such a great year for me.  This wouldn’t show me daring to win so I added more depth to my 2026 goals.

    The newest category in my goal setting process was to celebrate life daily.  I won’t rehash this concept, but I wake up daily with the intent to find things to celebrate each day.  It could be cool weather to complete my morning run, a great cup of coffee or simply seeing my tree branches excel in life.  Maria and Lynn have started to get serious about their running programs so I’m enjoying hearing about their running exploits—well done! 😊

    I continue to focus on my reading and writing programs.  I decided not to set specific book counts this year but have put in the efforts to read and write daily.  I take great pride in reading a minimum of ten pages a day in whatever book I have close by.  My friend Alisa got me another Joel O’Steen devotional as a Christmas present so I’m enjoying gaining this knowledge. 

    Travel made it back on my list of goals this year.  Let’s be real travel will always be on my list of goals.  That won’t change anytime soon.  I will travel back down to Negril, Jamaica in March for spring break.  No huge revelation with this trip, huh?  I have races scheduled in Celebration, Florida, Melbourne, Florida, Winter Park, Florida, Louisville, Kentucky (April), Nashville, Tennessee (April), Lincoln, Nebraska (May), Indianapolis, Indiana (May), Orlando, Florida, and Hampton, New Hampshire (October).  I want to add Vermont and West Virginia at some point this year, but nothing booked as I write this article.

    My run goal is to keep my schedule to 4 runs per week averaging 30 – 40 weekly miles.  This will increase if I decide to sign up for another full marathon.  Fun fact, I don’t plan to chronicle my marathon training program this year IF I sign up for a full marathon.  Ya’ll already know the routine—early morning miles, long runs on the weekend, I’m excited to improve my time—yada, yada, yada. 😊 I want to increase my weightlifting activity by getting in 3 days of lifting weekly.  I have a lot more equipment in my garage so this should be a goal I can accomplish without a ton of extra gym trips.

    I’ve talked about expanding my consultancy business and getting new clients.  The year has started off strong as I’m currently building a proposal for a leadership development program for a new client.  I need to sit down and map out a program that will enhance the organization’s leadership and communication skills.  I’m also reaching out to current clients to see what additional training needs they may have.  This will be my year to expand the CW Consulting brand and make a bigger impact in the leadership consulting world.  I want to explore the concept of adding a People Building component to my consulting work.  People Building is my term for mentoring! 😊

    Lastly, I will volunteer with the Treasure Coast Food Bank throughout the year.  I participate in their Run to Fight Hunger 5k in September, but I want to get more involved with their program to help feed people on the Treasure Coast.

    So, there you have it. This is my blueprint to ensure I dare to win. 😊

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.”

    (Frederick Douglass)

  • Five Minute Thursday: Leadership (Repost)

    close up of human hand
    Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

    “The writer is the explorer.  Every step is an advance into a new land”.

    (Ralph Waldo Emerson)

    The Walk into The Future blog continues to serve as a vehicle for my creative expression. I started this blogging process to share my thoughts, travels, and adventures.  I find it easy to write about my adventures and then share with my loyal readers.

    There are days when I don’t think I have the inspiration to write another blog article and then I sit down with a specific prompt and the words just come to me.  I would like to say writing these articles is an easy daily process, but I find myself struggling to generate content that I think others will read from time to time.  I write, edit, delete, and then write again to create something worth reading.  This is not all the time but figured I would share I have writing distractions to keep me away from me cranking away on my laptop. 

    Today is not one of those days! 😊

    I went back to a tried-and-true process of identifying a writing prompt to generate a new concept to write about.  One of the prompts I found a while ago was called:  Five Minute Friday.  The intent is to pick a specific word and then write about it for five minutes to create content.  Well, I modified the prompt into Five Minute Thursday since I post on Thursdays at 11:08 am—did you know that? 😊

    My first prompt for Five Minute Thursday is:  Leadership.

    Leadership is a concept that I began to explore while I served in the Air Force.  We were put through a series of leadership courses (Airmen Leadership School, Non-Commissioned Officer Leadership School, Senior Non-Commissioned Officer Academy, etc.) where principles of leadership were shared.  The best leaders I worked with all went through these courses, but they had more than course leadership principles.

    Three of my favorite Air Force Leaders:  Chief Master Sergeant Roger Noyes, Chief Master Sergeant Janet Craton and Senior Master Sergeant Rich Gardner—thanks to them all!

    Developing leadership skills became a priority for me and I explored this topic via books, online trainings, and lectures. 

    I discovered Authentic Leadership almost by mistake.  I wanted my dissertation to focus on First Year Experience (FYE) courses for first generation students.  This would have been an impactful study, but my dissertation mentor told me I couldn’t pursue this topic because it was Educational Psychology, and my program was Organizational Psychology.  I hung my head for a few months before we discovered Authentic Leadership, and the rest is history.

    My earlier introduction to leadership while in the Air Force allowed me to blend things I learned from wearing a uniform into my model of Authentic Leadership.  The great leaders I worked with in the Air Force have been integrated into my version of Authentic Leadership as I incorporate their lessons into my current pursuit of leadership.

    Well, my five minutes is up.  I could keep going but will honor the concept of this writing prompt! 😊

    What can you get done in the next five minutes?  Ok, take off!

    Irie!

    “Writing is the painting of the voice”.

    (Voltaire)

  • Walking and celebrating daily!

    “The most important thing is to enjoy your life—to be happy.  It’s all that matters.”

    (Audrey Hepburn)

    What did you celebrate today?  What about yesterday?

    I don’t ask these questions as a mind-bending riddle but to get you to understand every day is work celebrating! 

    Why do you say that?  Great question, Mrs. Fouraker! 😊

    I know I spend a lot of time planning for the future with my training and travel schedules.  I decided to add a new category to my list of goals in 2026.  The Walk into the Future blog provides me with a platform to ensure I live life daily.  My new focus in 2026 is to wake up each morning with full intention to celebrate the day. 

    We don’t have to wait for a special occasion like a birthday or anniversary to celebrate.  Life is worth celebrating and this is my reminder to each of my readers to wake up and celebrate daily.

    I’ve started to share my daily celebrations with my friends and anyone who will stand still long enough for me to share my thoughts! 😊  This new approach started with me ringing in the new year with a new focus.  I normally bring in the new year very low key and stay close to home.  I decided to break my low-key pattern and went to dinner with my friend Lynn before the party crowds came out.  This was not a huge production, but it was a great way to end an outstanding 2025 for me.

    My next celebration was our first day back at school. We get a two-and-a-half-week break between the fall semester and the start of the spring semester.  This was a much-needed break for me, and I relaxed more than I normally do.  I booked a trip to the Dominican Republic in December 2024 but decided to simply relax over the break in 2025.  I practiced sleeping in and not planning my days out where I had to be anywhere at a specific time.  Yes, this is a new process for me. 😊

    I was excited to come back to school on January 5th to get back to making a difference in the lives of my tree branches and our students.  My first text of the day was to let everyone know that the day was worth celebrating and we should embrace it together.  I’m sure my folks thought this was going to be a one off, but I was back to celebrating the next day too.

    There was not a huge incident that made me decide to celebrate each day, but it was a simple mindset shift where I realized that framing the day as a celebration would allow me to continue to make a difference in the world.

    This simple concept has enabled me to keep a positive mindset daily throughout the month of January.  I wake up with a new focus on celebrating the day and make a point to ensure folks around me celebrate with me too.  I’ve had folks come into my office with a problem (real or perceived) and I simply engage them with the need to celebrate the day regardless of what may have happened.  We work in higher education and there are days of conflict.  I have discovered most of our conflicts are simple misunderstandings that can be corrected with a simple follow-up conversation.  No, I don’t celebrate conflict, but it can’t be completely avoided.  I do celebrate the lessons we learn from workplace conflict, so we don’t repeat bad habits to keep the organization moving forward. 

    So, what did I celebrate today?  Great question!

    My family and friends are healthy, my tree branches are doing great things in the world and I’m thinking about signing up for another full marathon in 2026!  There are a ton of other things to celebrate today, and I want to make sure I don’t lose sight of those things.  Creating new content for the Walk into the Future blog is something I look forward to daily.  Fun fact: celebrating daily is the new category in my list of goals.

    Let’s celebrate me continuing to come up with new content to share with YOU!

    Oh yeah, I’m celebrating every reader of the Walk into the Future blog!  Thanks for walking with me!

    What are you celebrating today?

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “In the end, it’s not the years in your life that counts. It’s life in your years.”

    (Abraham Lincoln)

  • 26.2 is life!

    “The starting line is never the hardest part.”

    (Unknown)

    The Walk into the Future blog is designed to highlight my thoughts and adventures.  There are days when I have more to say than others but I’m always searching for new content to keep me engaged with this writing process.

    My friend Lauren and I discussed creating a blog post to highlight how running is a metaphor for life. 26.2 is life—catchy, huh? 😊 Well, here’s my run at comparing running to Walking into the Future (living life).

    Marathon training is a detailed and long process.  I normally put myself through an 18-week training program, so the marathon is the last step in this process.  I must mentally and physically prepare myself for the grind and I’ve found that I enjoy the training.  The grind is real: 4:30 am alarms, 8:30 pm bedtimes, short runs, long runs and physical therapy.  I’m always searching for small wins during the training cycle and celebrating them as much as possible. 

    You don’t have to be an avid runner like me or Lauren to understand marathon training.  We all run some type of marathon daily, but you may call it by another name: Life.  Marathon training is a perfect metaphor for life as the lessons overlap and there’s growth throughout the process. Let’s explore!

    Most folks think of the starting line when discussing a marathon.  The starting line is never the hardest part, it’s getting there.  I find the starting line to be the most enjoyable part of the marathon.  The work put in just to make it to the starting line is something that most runners are proud of.  The excitement for the event is high, and you’re surrounded by fresh possibilities for the race outcome.  Daily life works in a similar way.  New jobs, new goals, and new relationships always feel motivating at first.  The ultimate tests come later when the excitement fades, and the work starts to become routine.  This is when you must dig deep to ensure you are moving forward with daily activities.  Discipline is extremely important in marathon training and life. Discipline carries you further than motivation will.

    Marathon training plans come in many different formats.  I picked the 18-week version because it provides enough flexibility to fit into my schedule.  There are weeks when I feel strong and unstoppable and then there are weeks when my legs are concrete.  This is a normal part of the ebb and flow of marathon training.  Daily life can resemble this same cycle.  We all have good and bad weeks, but progress is never measured in a straight line.  You just need to keep showing up daily to make the most out of life.

    Dr. Henry Cloud’s book 9 Things You Simply Must Do to Succeed in Love and Life has a chapter titled Work Like an Ant.  This chapter highlights how small things can lead to large things.  The ants move one grain of sand at a time to build their home.  Marathon runners find race day success because of consistent choices throughout the training cycle.  Drinking water, getting consistent sleep, easy runs, tempo runs, long runs and recovery are all things needed for running success.  Mile after mile is leveraged to build an effective base that leads to marathon success.  Daily life can resemble this process.  Small things lead to big things—planning, managing your time and setting goals can help you win in life.

    I make it a point to never compare my training program to others.  My goal is to run my own race, so I never get caught up in how other runners prepare.  I toe the marathon starting line looking to run my best race and not trying to beat someone else’s time.  This helps me enjoy the training and marathon process.  Life can mirror this process.  Comparing yourself to others is a fast way to lose joy in things.  Everyone has something they are trying to overcome so don’t get caught up in worrying about others—we all have a race (life) to run.

    The marathon is a test of will, mental toughness and physical ability.  Each component is critical to preparing and completing a marathon.  Mile 23 is always the toughest for me as I battle mentally to keep pressing forward.  Training for a marathon is one thing but the work during a marathon makes you question life choices. 😊  This is where I need to dig deep and keep putting one foot in front of the other.  There are Mile 23 moments in life too.  We all face challenges that stretch us and force us to choose what we want to get out of life.  These moments help us grow, teach resilience and prove what we are truly capable of. 

    I don’t remember every mile in my training program, but I can tell you how I felt each time I crossed a marathon finish line.  This moment of accomplishment stays with me forever and I love telling people that I am a marathoner.  Finishing a difficult chapter in life, overcoming a challenge or reaching a long-term goal can bring the same level of accomplishment.  The finish line is something to celebrate not because of the big victory but because the journey was hard.

    Regardless of whether you run or not, we all have days filled with obstacles, discipline, growth opportunities and grit.  We tackle these challenges, fight through mental and physical fatigues, celebrate small wins and continue to move forward through hard times.  That’s the same energy that gets me through the marathon.  Call it marathon energy!  Keep moving forward and training for the life you want to live.  We’re all stronger than we think and can-do hard things.  Marathon or life—they both require you to put in the work to be successful.

    Who’s ready!

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “Running is the greatest metaphor for life because you get out of it what you put into it.”

    (Oprah Winfrey)

  • 2025 Student Success Fall Celebration

    “Do not take life too seriously.  You will never get out of it alive.”

    (Elbert Hubbard)

    Work hard and play hard! 

    I’ve heard this quote multiple times and decided to look it up to see who originated it.  Well, it turns out that it is a bit more complicated than I thought.  There is a lot written about the quote and it looks like it goes back to the 19th Century and Racine College’s motto.  It was interesting to see this quote associated with the famed poet, Wiz Khalifa and his 2012 hit song, Work Hard Play Hard. 😊 Okay, that’s enough with me trying to be funny and working another Wiz Khalifa mention into a Walk into the Future blog post.

    The Indian River State College Student Success Division started hosting an annual Fall Celebration in October 2021.  It started as a joke between me and a coworker on the premise we should have a dance battle at work.  It was funny at the time but then staff kept asking us when we were dancing.  Fast forward and we hosted our 5th Annual Student Success Fall Celebration in October with a Honky Tonk theme.

    We work extremely hard on enrollment, retention and completion for our students (work hard) but I want to ensure we have a semblance of balance (play hard).  The Fall Celebrations allow us to relax, unwind and just have fun at work.  The event continues to grow each year, and we invite our campus partners to join us and have fun.

    The Honky Tonk theme was selected back in November 2024 with designs to have everyone wear their best Honky Tonk gear (think western gear with flair) and come ready to have a good time.  We added karaoke to our fall celebrations two years ago and it remains a major draw for our staff members and campus partners.  I never knew people love to sing karaoke as much as our folks do. 

    We are always looking for ways to expand our fun levels, and I reached out on a whim to a local dance organization to see if they would come in and give us some line dancing lessons.  I love to line dance when I’m in Nashville and thought this would allow more folks to get involved with the fall celebration.  I know everyone is not going to sing karaoke but wanted to see if the line dance aspect would get more folks up and having fun—it did! 😊

    My Vice President, Beth Gaskin and I are always the opening act, and this year was no different.  It took us awhile to figure out how we wanted to start the show and we went back and forth on the song we wanted to open with.  I’m not a real singer so I vetoed quite a few songs before we settled on Garth Brooks, Friends in Low Places. We wanted songs that would keep everyone engaged so we added criteria for upbeat songs or party anthems.  The singers did not have to perform a country song, but we wanted folks to enjoy a good party while at work.  We had several folks follow our grand opening and I was impressed with the singing talent our coworkers displayed.

    We stopped singing after an hour and introduced our special guest from the Wild Roses Dance Foundation.  This is a local group of dance instructors who teach line dance lessons across the Treasure Coast.  I found them through a local Fort Pierce brewery where they host line dance lessons every Thursday night.  I went by one Thursday to check them out and then asked if they would be willing to come to our event to get our folks up and dancing.  They accepted my request and were a surprise addition to the Fall Celebration. 

    The Wild Roses instructors provided step by step dance instructions to two separate dances and then turned the entire crew loose to dance to multiple songs.  I don’t think I have seen that many smiles on the faces of my teammates!  People were enjoying themselves and truly having fun at work.  The ultimate image from this portion of our celebration was our President in a full suit and tie line dancing with the team.  He normally comes by to see what we are up to during our Fall Celebrations.  I never expected him to join the line dancing, but he was spinning and kicking like the rest of us—epic scene from the event this year! 😊

    We got back to the karaoke party after line dancing and had several great performances.  Beth and I wrapped up the event with our rendition of It’s 5 O’clock Somewhere by Alan Jackson and Jimmie Buffet. It was a fitting way to end the Fall Celebration and allow the crowd to sing along with us as we ended the day.

    There were several folks asking what we were going to do next year.  It’s a bit early to identify the 2026 Fall Celebration theme but I’m sure we will come up with something HUGE—we always do! 😊

    How do you have fun at work?

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “No man goes before his time—unless the boss leaves early.”

    (Groucho Marx)

  • Make Every Second Count (Repost)

    (Photo by Jordan Benton)

    “You may delay, but time will not”.

    (Benjamin Franklin)

    The Walk into the Future blog continues to look for new topics to develop.  Most of the content comes directly from my travels, life adventures and items of interest.  I have reached out to tree branches for thoughts on new blog content and then try to develop their concepts into something I can share with my readers. 

    I had an outstanding conversation with Melissa Forges on my drive over for the 2025 Town of Celebration Half Marathon.  We got a chance to catch up on life and have a few laughs in the process.  Melissa shared three topics of interest and gifted them to me to see if I could develop them into a blog article. Well, here’s my run at her first topic: Make Every Second Count.

    We all understand the concept of time and how our days on earth are numbered.  There’s a finite amount of time we get to live this life, and this is our way to inspire YOU to live more.

    I decided to do a little research to put time in perspective.  What does time look like?

    • 12 months in a year
    • 365 days in that same year
    • 7 days a week
    • 1,440 minutes in a day
    • 86,400 seconds in a day

    The first three time markers are the most common and talked about in our daily interactions.  Days turn into weeks, months and then years at a faster pace as we get older.  This may be a perception thing, but it feels real to me.  I left home to join the Air Force in 1986 and just celebrated 39 years on this life journey post Jasper, Florida.  We hear time flies, and it seems to become a reality as I get older in this life.

    Let’s dive into the minutes and seconds we each have in a day.  How many of the 1,440 minutes in a day are you doing something to make the world a better place?  What about the 86,400 seconds in a day? 

    I take my role as a tree (mentor) seriously and look to enhance my interactions with my tree branches daily.  I’m not sure I maximize every second of every day, but I put a sincere effort into this process daily.  It’s easy to say I will get something done tomorrow but I don’t want to waste time or effort and ignore today.  Yes, it’s easy for me to write this from the comfort of my keyboard but I will begin to leverage the time concept into my writing as well.  I have new responsibilities at work and there are days when I don’t sit down to work on my writing craft.  I assume I have time to develop topics into blog articles but need to leverage every second available to ensure I have a large library of blog articles to select from.  I normally have seven to eight articles drafted before I publish weekly.  Maximizing every minute and second in the day will get me back to a place where I have a large library to select from again. 

    Making every second count can be leveraged in all aspects of life.  I plan to use this mindset when I start my full marathon training program in June.  The 2025 Atlantic City Marathon is scheduled for October of this year, but I must use my training time smartly. 

    How can blog readers who are parents maximize your time with your kids?  Yes, they have busy lives but are you making every second count with them? 

    Have you booked the vacation you have been talking about for the past few years?  Again, time stops for no one—are you making every second count?

    I can add more scenarios but believe you get my point on time. 😊

    One final point.  My grandmother passed away in 2012 and the pastor that delivered her eulogy used the concept of time to inspire the family to live life.  He gave us the 1,440 minutes and 86,400 seconds per day to highlight how my grandmother lived life to the fullest.  His exact words were: She Lived!  He challenged the family to follow in her footsteps and live life.

    I’m still a work in progress but I maximize my time daily.

    So, I challenge my Walk into the Future blog readers to make every second count!

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “Time moves slowly but passes quickly”.

    (Alice Walker)

  • 2025 Fargo Half Marathon

    I’m always open to new running tourism opportunities.

    I added the Rhode Island Half Marathon to my running schedule in 2024.  It was a new state for a half marathon and allowed me to experience new adventures to include walking the grounds at Harvard.

    I decided 2025 would be a year to explore new states and leverage races as the main reason to visit.  I’m closing in on visiting all 50 states but still have work to do to hit that milestone.

    The Fargo Marathon race weekend came through on my Instagram feed and it looked promising.  It was described as flat and fast with a party atmosphere.  I love all those variables, so I decided to sign up.  I’ve never been to North Dakota, so this was my opportunity to run in a new location and cross off two more states.

    I flew out of Orlando on a connecting flight in Chicago.  There are no direct flights from Orlando, Florida to Fargo, North Dakota.  I landed at the Hector International airport in Fargo and was surprised how small the airport was.  There was no fanfare, just 4 gates, a gift store and one bar in the terminal.  I made my way to the Enterprise rental counter to pick up my car and the adventures started.

    I didn’t have a lot of preconceived ideas about Fargo, but it was larger than I expected.  The airport is across the street from North Dakota State University (NDSU) and the famed Fargo Dome.  I’ve watched multiple NDSU Bison football playoff games on TV and wanted to get a picture of the venue.

    My first stop was the Buffalo Wild Wings that was close to the campus.  I needed to continue my carb loading process and Bdubs was my spot.  I got some chicken wings, potato wedges and beer for lunch.  Headed across the street to see if I could walk into the Fargo Dome but the doors were locked.  I decided to get a quick shot outside to highlight I was there.

    My next stop was the EXPO which was held on the Concordia College campus in Moorehead, Minnesota. This was only 4 miles away so don’t think I had an extensive drive to get there—Fargo and Moorehead are sister cities. 😊  The EXPO was not huge and the check-in process was smooth.  I got my race bib, swag and pictures completed in record time.  I also picked up three new head bands to add to my collection.

    Headed to my hotel after the EXPO to check-in and strategize my plans for the trip.  I wanted to ensure I got in some sightseeing before race day.  I found a nail salon close by and got my mani/pedi before starting the adventure.  This was a nice way to treat myself and ensure my legs felt good before the race.

    I left the nail salon and headed to downtown Fargo to check out the downtown scene.  Several friends asked me before the trip if I ever saw the movie Fargo.  I heard about the movie and TV series but never saw either one.  I may have to go back and see them to get context.  Either way, downtown Fargo had a cool little vibe.  There are tons of restaurants, bars and shops there.  The people were super friendly, and it was a pleasant environment.

    I started my second day in Fargo with a quick workout in the fitness room.  I wanted to stretch my legs on the exercise bike and the treadmill.  I limited myself to 10 minutes on each and then got in some floor stretches.  Got coffee and headed up to my room to plan the day.

    My carb loading process led me across the street to the Pizza Ranch.  It’s a local spot with a pizza buffet and a game room for kids.  It had great online reviews, so I gave it a run.  I highly recommend this spot if you are in Fargo.  The pizza was fresh with great flavor and crust. I added pasta with marinara sauce to my plate to maximize my carb intake.  Great little spot with outstanding food.

    My next big adventure was to make my way to South Dakota so I could check it off my list.  Plugged South Dakota into my GPS and headed south.  This was a 70-mile trip to New Effington. Google it! 😊 I was hoping it was going to be a bigger town, but the city limits sign identified population 250.  I rode around a bit and saw the highlights of the main street.  I spent about 10 minutes there before heading north on I29 back to Fargo.

    I went downtown again and sat in a little park to soak in the atmosphere.  It was warmer than normal but with no humidity, so it was a pleasant day to watch people.  I made my way back to the hotel so I could get in another stretching session and get my race outfit ready.  I picked out one of my new head bands to add more color to my race day ensemble.  I went to bed early to ensure I had a good night’s sleep before race day.

    I got out of bed at 4:44 am to stretch and mentally prepare for race day. I’m used to being up early, so this felt like a normal day for me.  Packed my bagels, Gatorade, water and gels and the race adventure was on.

    The hotel was only 7 miles from the race sight, but GPS took me in a new direction to avoid the closed streets due to race day.  I parked in the Fargo Dome parking lot and made my way towards the start line.  I arrived in plenty of time to stretch again and get in some light jogging to prepare for the 13.1 mile journey.

    The Fargo race weekend includes a marathon, half marathon, 10k and 5k.  The marathon, half marathon and 10k were all being run on the same day.  The marathon began at 7 am with the half and 10k starting 15 minutes later.  This was not a huge deal, but it gave me a few extra minutes to mentally prepare for the race.  There was not a corral system for this race, so runners just lined up regardless of how fast they were going to run.  I’m always careful with this setup since there would be walkers at the beginning of the race and I didn’t want to crash into anyone trying to find a safe place to run.

    The Fargo races were advertised as flat and fast.  The course lived up to this marketing and I was happy with the flow of athletes through Fargo.

    My goal is always to improve my half marathon time, but I didn’t want to go out too fast.  I decided to go out at a controlled pace and adjust when needed on the course.  There were multiple locations where crowds of spectators could cheer for the runners, and these are the spots where my speed picked up because I didn’t want to disappoint a kid who was cheering for me. 

    I found myself with a smile on my face for most of the race.  The course was flat, and the people were out cheering for us, and it was a nice day—why not smile? 😊

    My first mile was completed at 9:48.  I stayed consistently in the 9s for the first part of the race with my fastest mile split being 9:38 for mile 4.  My pace didn’t slow until mile 9 when I clocked a 10:01.  I’m happy my slowest mile didn’t happen until mile 12 at 10:19. I crossed the finish line at 2:11, which is my fastest half marathon in 2025.  I’m proud of my efforts to get ready for this race and the execution of the race plan. This race serves as a blueprint for the rest of my training program as I get ready for the 2025 Atlantic City marathon in October.  My 16-week training program started on 6/15/2025 and I’m excited to put in another solid training program.

    I left the Fargo Dome parking lot and headed back to Buffalo Wild Wings to get my free beer and food.  There were a lot of runners at Bdubs, but it was not crowded.  I enjoyed my food and beer and made my way back to the hotel to shower, unwind and get in a nap—mission accomplished.

    I’m not sure if I will run in Fargo again but this was nice adventure, and I got to see two new states.

    I’ve got Wisconsin and New Hampshire on the race calendar coming soon.  More running tourist adventures are coming your way. 😊

    Where are you traveling this year?

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

  • Ellucian Live—No bad days

    “Positive anything is better than negative nothing”.

    (Elbert Hubbard)

    My Walk into the Future provides multiple opportunities for me to network and expand my knowledge base.

    I attended Ellucian Live 2025 in Orlando, Florida back in April.  My current school is in the process of implementing Banner as our new Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) student support system.  We’re currently a Workday school and need to modernize the ERP for ease of use for everyone to include students, faculty, staff and administration.

    The Ellucian Live event allowed space for us to network and explore available modules for the new system.  This was an outstanding way to see how the modules interact and provide a better experience than our current ERP.

    My overarching role in the switchover is to identify the modules that will provide us with the best capability for successful implementation.  I sat in multiple sessions to hear from experts and other schools on their implementation of best practices.  There are a lot of moving parts to successful implementation, and I wanted to ensure we didn’t miss any steps.  Fun fact—it’s not my job to run the implementation but my area will be a huge consumer of the completed project.

    There were several keynote speakers during the event from diverse backgrounds.  There were university and college presidents, actress Sheryl Lee Ralph, the Ellucian CEO and Coach Prime (Deion Sanders).  They all had specific messages, but Coach Prime was my favorite speaker.

    Coach Prime has a message of positivity and making the world a better place.  There are times this message gets lost because folks are not truly listening to what he is saying.  He is a true family man and has deep religious beliefs.  This is how he lives his life daily.

    The Ellucian CEO sat down with Coach Prime to ask him questions during his session.  I wish they would have given him a true keynote session and let him deliver his message.  He was adept with his responses to her questions but the biggest takeaway I got from him was he never let other people’s issues cause him to have a bad day.  He admitted he can and will have a bad moment but does not let that linger and cause a bad day.  His message is to focus on the positive in life and shrug off bad moments.

    Coach Prime shared, “Don’t drag the bad moments forward and let them mess up a good day” (Ellucian Live 2025).

    I remember Coach Prime from his Florida State University and Atlanta Falcons playing days.  He had a different nickname back then, Neon Deion.  He was flashy, loud and brash—or so we thought.  Turns out that was the image of his younger self that does not fit him now.  He leverages past experiences to set an example for his children and players.

    I love his no bad day message and work to integrate it into my daily endeavors.  Bad moments by others will not impact my day or positive outlook.

    How can you leverage this principle in your daily life?

    Thanks Coach Prime!

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

  • Denver Leadership Conference

    “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower”.

    (Steve Jobs)

    My Walk into the Future is designed to allow me to gain new experiences and share knowledge when needed.

    I connected with the Academic Impressions Senior Product Experience Manager during a Retention conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota last October.  I knew of her through work communications but got a better understanding of her role while attending the conference.

    She knew of my work at Indian River State College in the Advising and Career Services space but did not know I did leadership consulting on the side.  I’m happy to share this fact with anyone willing to sit with me so I can expand my portfolio of clients.  Also, I’m proud of my Authentic Leadership work and developing new partnerships is something I strive to achieve.

    The Academic Impressions mission is to develop the leaders higher education needs to thrive. My Authentic Leadership research and consulting focuses on higher education, but I expand this focus to include any organization looking to enhance leadership development.  I shared my leadership training philosophy with the Academic Impressions staff during the conference, and we spent several days discussing a potential partnership between CW Consulting, LLC. and their organization.  The organization has a branded, 5 Paths to Leadership program that is leveraged by higher education institutions to build and grow proactive leadership programs.

    I was invited out to Denver for the leadership conference to learn more about the Academic Impressions leadership programs and to see how we may be able to introduce Authentic Leadership into their leadership training portfolio. Yes, I’m always looking for ways to partner and find new ways to expand the reach of Authentic Leadership. 😊

    I was able to leverage professional development funding for this trip to enlarge my institution’s partnership with Academic Impressions.  A bonus to this partnership was the opportunity to visit Denver again and experience the city after work hours.  I’ve been to Denver multiple times and enjoy the culture, sightseeing and crisp mountain air.

    The Academic Impression leadership conference consisted of higher education professionals from around the country.  Several schools sent their entire leadership teams to this conference to build teamwork and synergy towards developing leadership protocols to enhance their daily operations.  It was interesting to hear from others in this space to understand the challenges they face in leadership development.  FYI—most schools conduct professional development training out of the Organizational Development (OD) department which is part of Human Resources.  Most conference attendees worked out of OD at their respective schools and were in the process of building or revamping their leadership training programs.  The Academic Impressions 5 Paths to Leadership program was a major draw for everyone in attendance. I was a bit of an outlier as I was trying to determine if Authentic Leadership could be embedded in this leadership principle and possibly become a leadership facilitator with Academic Impressions.

    The 5 Paths for Leadership is based on research within the higher education leadership space and has helped multiple schools get positive results in leadership training.  My time in Denver allowed me to learn how this leadership program has helped organizations implement leadership training on their respective campuses.  The attendees were able to share leadership challenges and get input from facilitators on ways to move forward with new concepts and ideas based on research.

    I enjoyed the one-on-one time with the facilitators and the group exercises to identify future challenges to leadership success (example: the political climate in America, reduction in DEI initiatives, etc.).  We spent a good amount of time identifying challenges with a Post It Note session and there were consistencies across the board—it did not matter what part of the country we came from; we all had the same thoughts on future challenges. ☹

    I made a lot of new leadership connections during this conference and stay in contact with my colleagues to learn new techniques.  I plan to follow-up with the Academic Impressions folks to see how I can incorporate Authentic Leadership into their leadership program.  This would be a great compliment to their work and would allow me to expand the Authentic Leadership style into the higher education space.  I’m always looking for ways to expand and this partnership will provide me with another platform to share with others.

    I will provide an update once the Academic Impressions folks pick me up as a facilitator. 😊

    Irie!

    Calvin Williams

    “The art of communication is the language of leadership”.

    (James Humes)