Category: Direct from Deb

In my previous article on the Spectacle of Racing, I wrote about the beauty, precision, and sheer intensity of motorsports—how everything builds toward a single defining moment. What I didn’t explore then is what happens when that moment doesn’t go your way. And I mean, really doesn’t go your way! Because in racing, just as in leadership, many moments don’t. Few examples capture this better than David Malukas’ heartbreaking finish…

Read More

Leadership Lessons We Didn’t Learn in Business School (Some of Us May Have Learned Them at the Bar) I didn’t set out to build a career in workers’ compensation. Like many people in this industry, I landed here almost by accident. I took a claims adjuster role at Aetna Property & Casualty because I wanted a stable, business‑focused job. At the time, workers’ compensation wasn’t the coveted path—property and casualty…

Read More

Grit is often described as a powerful driver of long-term success, yet the real question for most leaders is how to cultivate it in practical, sustainable ways. In the earlier articles of this series, I explored what grit truly means and clarified what it is not, helping distinguish genuine perseverance from unproductive burnout or rigid persistence. This final piece shifts the focus from definition to application. The Four Pillars Leaders…

Read More

Grit is a powerful idea in leadership, often celebrated as the force that drives people to push forward through challenges. Yet its growing popularity has created just as much confusion as clarity. The word is used to describe everything from extreme perseverance to sheer stubbornness, and leaders are often encouraged to “be gritty” without a true understanding of what that means in practice. In my own leadership journey at ReEmployAbility,…

Read More

Tampa Bay offered a vivid illustration during the January 31 weekend of how communities and organizations thrive when they honor the traditions that ground them while actively driving the innovations that can propel them forward. On one side of the city, we celebrated Gasparilla. This is a tradition dating back to 1904 that now draws hundreds of thousands with its iconic pirate “invasion” and parade. On the other side, Tampa hosted the first outdoor NHL Stadium Series game ever held in a Florida football stadium, transforming…

Read More

Why Grit, Why Now During our strategic planning late last year, our leadership team selected “grit” as our word of the year. Each team member approached the whiteboard and wrote down words that resonated with them and would help define the year ahead. Words like resilience, perseverance, and adaptability all pointed us toward a single theme: grit. For several years, we’ve used the One Word approach inspired by bestselling author Jon Gordon. The exercise is simple: choose…

Read More

Music has been a constant thread woven through the fabric of my life. From my earliest memories, it has always been there.  Sometimes in the background, sometimes taking center stage, but always present. On Sundays after Mass, while the Sunday Gravy was simmering on the stove (if you’re Italian, you know exactly what I mean), my dad would play recordings of the great operas—Tosca, Madame Butterfly, La Traviata. At the…

Read More

December arrives with a flurry of activity from holiday shopping, decorating, travel plans, and endless to-do lists. For me, this year feels especially full. As I’m preparing for my son’s return from college, I want everything to be just right. I’m planning his favorite meals and transforming his room back to what it was before he left (we all know what happens to those rooms when kids go off to school!)…

Read More

When a long-term employee leaves suddenly and shares a list of grievances, it can be jarring. It’s easy to feel defensive, misunderstood, or even betrayed. But beneath discomfort lies an opportunity for reflection, growth, and a deeper understanding of the human dynamics that shape our organizations. Recently, I received such an email. It was candid, emotional, and filled with observations about leadership, culture, and change. I responded with gratitude and…

Read More

When I first envisioned our webinar, The Voice of the Injured Worker: A 360-Degree Look at the Workers' Compensation Journey, I knew we were entering a space where the conversation too often gets lost in policies, processes, and paperwork. And not enough in people. We wanted to pull the curtain back. To talk openly about what injured workers actually go through. To acknowledge not only the physical recovery but the…

Read More