Back in the Saddle Again

Out where a friend is a friend

Hello friends,

If you are new, the About page on Substack will tell you more about Gifted Professionals and Communicators and how to connect with not just anyone but the people actively looking for your story and your current projects. If you’ve been around for a while, thanks for sticking with me during my August Time Out. It was good to step away from the keyboard, but even better—truly!—to get back. I’ve missed our conversations and look forward to getting reacquainted. Go to the CONTACT page and tell me  what you’ve been up to for the past couple of months.

September Songs and Greatest Hits

September signals the high-energy dash to the finish line for the year. The longer days of summer flipped the script a few weeks ago to a few more minutes of darkness each day, until we reach Christmas week and the winter solstice. Across America the giant harvesting machines and crews take on one farm at a time on their march from north to south. Our youth, from 5 to 20, head to school and college to learn, experiment, and exercise social skills as well as athletic and artistic aspirations. Congress returns to Washington, DC for the annual ritual of finalizing plans and budgets for the new fiscal year, starting October 1. The Supreme Court returns to its locker room to suit up in their black robes for the opening kickoff of the new term, always the first Monday in October.

Experiments Ahead for September and October

I used my time out days to rest, renew, reflect and consider what has worked well for you, our community, in the three years we have been building it—together. My thoughts became pages of questions in my journal. Pen, paper, and time outside with nature yielded hundreds of questions that connected in patterns of exploration, themes, and some experiments for the remaining months of 2025.

Credit Stephan Klepacki on Unsplash

Just for you, here are my questions and some wild guesses.

The better answers will come from you, the individual subscriber and member of the community of professionals, communicators, and adults with exceptional talents.

Q: How well do we know these individuals —subscribers and members of the private community, who have come forward with their name, email address, and trust that we would provide a safe place to see them, hear them, and focus on what matters to them?

Wild guess: Not as well as we want to know them. We think they understand this community is about them and the one priority or major project they want to take further. The individuals who join and stay in the shadows, never comment, never send a direct message—they seem to choose isolation. Only they know.

Q: Why do I keep writing, every day, and posting on multiple platforms through the highs and lows? Should I give my attention to the people who subscribe and recommend this substack to others?

Wild guess: I’ve been a writer for more than 60 years, so that’s not likely to stop just because subscriptions slow down one month. Energy and time are limited, so I choose to write for the individuals who remember how remarkable they are and their power to choose information that is useful or frivolous.

Q: What kind of relationship do you want to have with each of your subscribers and members of the community?

Wild guess: I want an equal, collaborative, hands-in-the-middle relationship. This is about transformation, not transaction. I had my fill of associations and trade shows, and I’m done with transactional relationships. Those are one-sided and vacuous. When I write or speak to you by phone, my goal is not to point out all the problems with the world, but to think through the solutions—to design a better future through storytelling and critical thinking, with a heavy emphasis on human intelligence.

Q: What is the explicit bargain and promise you keep with your subscribers and members? What would make this the one newsletter they can’t live without?

Wild guess: What worked for me in 2005 has not changed in 20 years. If anything, it’s gotten stronger and more people do it. I built my first community, online with LinkedIn plus monthly in-person events by centering on one question, over and over:“What is the topic or issue that needs rigorous discussion and it’s being pushed aside or avoided in all networks and organizations you’ve joined?”

One question, deep listening, and recording the expressed wants of the members took us to rapid growth. Within the first year, we had more members than the professional associations that were supposed to be serving them, and lacked the courage and imagination to poke the bear and provide a safe place to get to answers that worked. People did not want another course or template—they wanted the next step and right now, plus the backup support of a tiny band of critical thinkers they could trust.

Credit Nadia Valko on Unsplash

Q: What tiny experiment can we try together to increase value and participation?

Wild guess: I’ve always admired Peter Drucker (1909-2005), who was the first of modern management consultants to open his home in the afternoon for discussion with clients and peers who would travel to him, just to have the opportunity for an intimate, salon kind of experience, to get better answers to tough questions. That Drucker experience predated what later became executive retreats at resorts or business workshops in other countries with scenic surroundings.

So I’m going to try something similar to Drucker, but now in the online world, by introducing office hours—salon sessions, during which paid members can come to my home virtually and discuss the most important issues of our time. We’ll keep it unique and private —just like a hostess plans a dinner party with the right mix of guests, based on what they have revealed to the hostess about who they want to meet or sit next to during the salon session. I’m thinking one topic, two to three hours, and no more than 9 people per salon session.

As with most things in our community, this is an experiment—I’ll make it a regular thing if there’s interest in this kind of deep discussion, but I’ll discontinue it if there’s not. We’ve learned so much in the past five years about making online sessions even better than the in-person events that we once thought were the only way to go.

Look—I’ve traveled to every airport in all 50 states, with a connecting flight to Dallas, Chicago, or Washington. So it matters when I say I no longer go to conferences or networking events these days because there are so many other ways to connect, expand your horizons, and collaborate with brilliant people discovered through community introductions.

Q: Should I continue writing for this Substack or do something better with my time?

Wild guess: Because of the onslaught of AI slop in the past year, it’s more important to keep writing from the lived experience of more than 40 years of victories and mistakes, plus the original interviews and stories with GPC members. This newsletter packs a lot of thinking and value into 500-1000 words. It’s a brain-friendly length, thus, a worthy goal as your writer and community builder.

We publish weekly or thereabouts, depending on the expressed wants of you, the subscriber. You go silent, and so do we. You ask for more, and we provide. You can exit at any time with an opt-out action. Please understand today’s privacy laws say when you opt out, you burn the bridge. You can’t get back in. Click carefully.

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