Helm & Horizon is a yearlong leadership guide organized as a progression from self-leadership to team leadership, strategic thinking, and legacy, treating leadership as a daily practice. Why was this an important book for you to write?

Throughout my career, I spent countless hours reading some of the greatest leadership books out there and listening to leadership podcasts and audiobooks while running along the California coastline. I filled notebooks with ideas from military leaders, historians, philosophers, psychologists, coaches, and business executives. Every author offered another piece of the puzzle. Over time, I noticed the principles were remarkably consistent. The source didn’t matter. Marcus Aurelius, Admiral Chester Nimitz, John Maxwell, Admiral Arleigh Burke, Sun Tzu, Simon Sinek, to Brené Brown- they all pointed toward the same timeless truths about leadership.

I wanted to bring those ideas together in one place and make them practical. So instead of writing another leadership framework, my goal was to create a guide that distilled the best ideas into something people could apply every single day. The examples come from U.S. naval case studies because that’s the world I know best, but the principles are universal. Trust, humility, accountability, resilience, communication, and service aren’t military concepts. They’re human ones. My hope is that a teacher, business owner, healthcare professional, coach, parent, or military leader can all open the same page and find something meaningful.

The book emphasizes that leadership is a daily habit rather than something earned with rank or position. When did that philosophy first become important to you?

I don’t think there was one defining moment, but I will say that one experience shaped my leadership philosophy more than any other.

During my first tour as a surface warfare officer, my ship went through six commanding officers in less than three years. Some departures were routine, while others followed highly publicized incidents. Every transition brought a different leadership style, different priorities, and a different command climate. As a junior officer, I watched firsthand how dramatically one leader could influence the morale, trust, and effectiveness of an entire crew.

Then I transferred to my next ship, and the contrast couldn’t have been greater. We had a commanding officer who deliberately pushed decision-making down to the lowest levels and encouraged initiative instead of demanding compliance. People weren’t afraid to speak up, solve problems, or take responsibility because they knew they were trusted to do so. The culture was fundamentally different, and so were the results.

Experiencing those two commands back-to-back completely changed how I viewed leadership. I realized that leadership is reflected in the environment leaders create and the way they bring out the best in the people around them. Every conversation, every decision, and every action either strengthens trust or weakens it. That comparison stayed with me throughout the rest of my career, and it became one of the central ideas behind Helm & Horizon. Leadership isn’t a rank, title, or position. It’s a mindset. It’s the accumulation of hundreds of ordinary decisions that shape a culture, influence people, and ultimately define the legacy we leave behind.

Writing 366 entries is an enormous undertaking. How did you keep each day’s lesson fresh while maintaining a consistent voice throughout the book?

There were definitely days when I wondered if I’d ever reach Day 366. Fortunately, I wasn’t starting with a blank sheet of paper. For several years I’d been reading, highlighting, taking notes, and collecting ideas from leadership books that changed the way I thought about leading people.

The challenge was deciding what deserved to be included. Every principle had to earn its place. I kept asking myself two questions. Is this timeless? Can someone put this into practice tomorrow? The consistent voice came from looking at every lesson through the same lens. Every entry had to help someone become a better leader today. That’s why each day follows the same format. A leadership principle. A practical application. Two actions to put into practice. One final thought to carry forward.

In the military, we have a term called BLUF, which stands for Bottom Line Up Front. That’s what I wanted Helm & Horizon to be. A collection of concise, accessible leadership principles that deliver value quickly, especially when your time to read is limited.

Although the book is written for Sailors, many of the principles seem applicable beyond the military. What do you think civilian leaders can take away from Helm & Horizon?

One of the most rewarding parts of publishing Helm & Horizon has been discovering who is reading it. Although I wrote it through the lens of a Navy Sailor, I never intended it to be just a military leadership book. Leadership is ultimately about people, and people face many of the same challenges no matter where they work. That’s been reinforced by the feedback I’ve received.

Physicians have shared that they’re giving the book to every new medical resident joining their program. Financial executives have told me they’re using it to develop leadership within their organizations. I’ve used it myself to lead discussions with an eighth-grade classroom, where the conversations quickly moved beyond the Navy and into character, teamwork, and personal responsibility. Today, those same principles form the basis of a professional leadership course I’m developing with the University of Michigan, with Helm & Horizon as its primary resource.

Experiences like those have been incredibly rewarding because they confirm something I believed from the beginning. The stories may come from ships, deployments, and naval history, but the lessons don’t belong to the military. A school principal may never command a destroyer, and a physician may never stand watch on the bridge, but both are responsible for earning trust, developing teams, making difficult decisions, and creating a culture where people can succeed.

If Helm & Horizon helps readers recognize that leadership isn’t defined by a title or profession, but by the choices they make every day and the impact they have on others, then I’ve accomplished exactly what I set out to do.

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