Run for the Roses

It's Derby Day: Leadership at Full Gallop

There are few places where strategy, spectacle, nerves, and questionable fashion choices collide quite like the Kentucky Derby. Which is probably why I love it.

Twenty horses. A two-minute race. Years of preparation. Mud, mayhem, muscle.

Honestly? It feels a little like leadership. Because if you've ever led through competing priorities, shifting conditions, crowded lanes and big stakes…you've run a Derby.

As is tradition, I've picked my trifecta - not based solely on odds (though I like a little data with my metaphors), but because the horse names themselves are serving leadership lessons this year. And they're good ones.

To Win: Renegade

Because every leader worth following has a little renegade in them. Not a rebel without a clue. A thoughtful challenger. The one willing to ask: Why are we doing it this way? What are we missing? What if there's a smarter line through the turn?

Great leaders don't just manage the track. Sometimes they redraw it. Some of the most effective STEM leaders I coach aren't the loudest in the room. They're the ones willing to question assumptions others have stopped noticing. That takes courage. And occasionally…a bit of a renegade streak. Leadership is not always staying in your lane. Sometimes it's finding a better one.

To Place: Commandment

When pressure rises - and it always does - leaders lean on what I think of as their operating principles: How do I want to lead? How do I want others to experience me? What do I stand for when the pace gets frantic?

Because values aren't tested when the track is dry. They're tested in the mud. Integrity. Responsibility. Collaboration. The leaders people trust most aren't flawless. They're grounded.

To Show: Further Ado

How much energy do we spend in ado? Overthinking. Perfecting. Delaying. Circling. Meanwhile, leadership often asks for movement before certainty. Less ado. More action. Further.

There's a moment in many coaching conversations where the work shifts from insight to courage. That's the moment of Further Ado. Not "without further ado". With further ado. Because sometimes progress is messy, awkward, unfinished - and still progress.

And, mostly because I love an underdog.

So my 2026 Derby trifecta is this:

Renegade to win - Challenge convention. Question boldly.

Commandment to place - Lead from principle. Stand firmly.

Further Ado to show - Move. Act courageously.