NORTHBOUND: Executive Leadership Coaching

Northbound Podcast — Action Study: Leadership When Plans Break (Start Here!) What do you do when the plan breaks, the conditions aren't perfect, and your team lands "off course"? In this Northbound Podcast Action Study , Chris builds on the previous audio episode ( Start Here ) with a practical leadership lesson drawn from D-Day, June 6, 1944 — specifically the landing at Utah Beach and the decisi...

Northbound Podcast — Action Study: Leadership When Plans Break (Start Here!) What do you do when the plan breaks, the conditions aren't perfect, and your team lands "off course"? In this Northbound Podcast Action Study , Chris builds on the previous audio episode ( Start Here ) with a practical leadership lesson drawn from D-Day, June 6, 1944 — specifically the landing at Utah Beach and the decisi...

Join the Northbound Community Here.    On D-Day, General Theodore Roosevelt Jr. landed nearly a mile off course at Utah Beach. The plan had already broken down. They weren't where they were supposed to be. In that moment, he made a decision that defined leadership: "We'll start the war from right here." In this episode, we unpack what it takes to make bold, timely decisions when life, leadership,...

This is another Northbound Action Study that builds upon a previous podcast episode titled Climb The Hard Pass First    Watch the video version on YouTube!    Leadership isn't a checklist — it's terrain. And some parts of that terrain are just hard.   If there's a conversation or decision you've been avoiding, you're not alone. Most leaders do it at some point. It can feel like you're protecting y...

Watch video version on YouTube    This Northbound Action Study builds on the Don't Sit It Out podcast episode and is designed to help you move from insight to action. You've probably heard the advice to "focus only on what you can control," but this study challenges you to examine when that mindset becomes wisdom—and when it turns into avoidance.   You'll explore the difference between control and...

This is another Northbound Action Study that builds upon a previous podcast episode titled Climb The Hard Pass First      Leadership isn't a checklist — it's terrain. And some parts of that terrain are just hard.   If there's a conversation or decision you've been avoiding, you're not alone. Most leaders do it at some point. It can feel like you're protecting your energy by delaying it, but in rea...

This Northbound Action Study builds on the Don't Sit It Out podcast episode and is designed to help you move from insight to action. You've probably heard the advice to "focus only on what you can control," but this study challenges you to examine when that mindset becomes wisdom—and when it turns into avoidance.   You'll explore the difference between control and agency, why staying on the sideli...

Join the Northbound Community Here   "You can't control everything—just focus on what you can control." We've all heard that advice. But what if it's not always wisdom? What if sometimes it's a cop-out? In this episode of the Northbound Podcast , host Chris challenges one of the most common pieces of leadership advice and digs into when "focus on what you can control" becomes a way to avoid confli...

Northbound Community and Courses.    Have you ever had a boss who was… kind of a buffoon? Not evil, not stupid—just unaware of how they land. In this episode of the Northbound Podcast , Chris breaks down why leadership usually fails: not because of bad intentions, but because self-awareness is missing . You'll learn how blind spots hide behind confidence, how power quietly shuts down honesty, and...

Join the Northbound Community Here.    The idea of a "work wife" or "work husband" gets tossed around casually—but is it actually harmless? In this episode of the Northbound Podcast , Chris tackles why this language isn't just unprofessional, but actively harmful to individuals, marriages, teams, and organizations. What sounds like a joke often masks blurred emotional boundaries, misplaced intimac...

Don't go through the whitewater on your own. Join the Northbound Approach Community    Can you have loyalty without action? In this episode of  Northbound Leadership , Chris reflects on a rafting trip through the Grand Canyon and draws a powerful parallel to leadership under pressure. Once you're in the canyon, you're committed. The water moves fast, the weather changes, and the rapids don't care...

Click here to join the Northbound Approach Community    What happens when you trip—and no one's watching? In this episode of  Northbound , Chris shares a moment from the trail that became a powerful leadership lesson. While backpacking alone in the woods, Chris trips, falls flat, and immediately feels embarrassed—despite having no audience. That moment sparks a deeper reflection on leadership, per...

Hike With Northbound  Northbound Summit - Remember The Trail That Got You There The best shower of your life doesn't come from luxury—it comes after going without. In this episode, Chris shares a backcountry story about three weeks without a shower and how discomfort sharpens gratitude. Using the Northbound climb as a framework, he explores why leaders who remember what it's like to go without sta...

Northbound Community   Northbound Ascent - The Purpose Driven Climb In this episode, Chris unpacks why this popular workplace phrase quietly trains burnout, replaces health with coping, and encourages people to escape their work instead of sustaining it. Using the Northbound framework of ascent, summit, and descent, he explains why healthy leadership isn't about pushing harder or rewarding exhaust...

Northbound Approach Community - You are personnally invited.    Ultralight Leadership: Carry Less, Lead Farther What if leadership worked the same way as ultralight backpacking? In this episode, Chris uses the trail to illustrate a powerful leadership truth: the more unnecessary weight we carry, the harder it is to go farther. From auditing your "pack" to navigating the ascent, summit, and descent...

  Contact Chris Miser: chris@go-northbound.com Northbound Approach Community  Contact Matt Hallock: mattbhallock@gmail.com DNA of a Man (Book on Amazon) Man Warrior King Website  Man Warrior King Council   Staying On The Trail - Leading Well At Home And At Work "We're like family here" sounds loyal and warm… until it quietly produces burnout, resentment, blurred boundaries, and leaders carrying em...

Join the Northbound Community   Still On The Trail - Why Education Matters For Leaders Many leaders will tell you that education doesn't matter once you've made it. But the truth is more nuanced—and far more important. In this episode of Northbound , Christopher Miser breaks down why continuing your education is critical for long-term leadership success. Using the metaphor of adventure and backpac...

  Your Personal Invitation  I want to personally invite you into the Northbound Approach Community . This is a space built around leadership, faith, and adventure—created intentionally in a world where influence often matters more than integrity. Northbound is different on purpose. It's not about platforms, algorithms, or followers. It's about trust, humility, encouragement, and walking the leader...

Do you have a culture in crisis?  Email me at Chris@Go-Northbound.com   If your week feels like one long fire drill, it's not because you're busy — it's because leadership has become reactive. In this episode of the Northbound Podcast, Chris tackles why so many teams live in constant crisis mode and how leaders unknowingly train their organizations to wait until everything is on fire before acting...

Contact me directly Chris@Go-Northbound.com In this episode of the Northbound Podcast, we explore why effective leadership requires front-loading difficulty instead of avoiding it. Drawing from a northbound journey through California's High Sierra, this conversation uses Forester Pass and Glen Pass—two of the most demanding climbs on the trail—as a metaphor for leadership. These passes don't elimi...

Contact me directly at Chris@Go-Northbound.com In this episode of the Northbound Podcast, we confront a growing wave of leadership advice that sounds like peace but quietly gives permission to disengage. Much of today's popular leadership messaging prioritizes comfort, self-protection, and emotional relief over responsibility, service, and courage. While it may feel empowering in the moment, this...

Need a Culture Change?  Email me  Chris@Go-Northbound.com Join the Northbound Approach Community: https://www.skool.com/northbound/about?ref=9276bb7a19304330b6d36f4384b55bf5   In this episode of the Northbound Podcast, we challenge one of the most common—and most damaging—phrases in the workplace:  "That's above my pay grade." While it sounds responsible and safe, this mindset quietly trains peopl...

Contact me directly at Chris@Go-Northbound.com     In this episode of the Northbound Podcast, we confront one of the most damaging leadership mindsets still lingering in workplaces today: the belief—spoken or implied—that people are paid to comply, not to think. While this mentality may produce short-term obedience, it quietly destroys trust, initiative, innovation, and long-term growth. This conv...

🎙️ Episode Description If you need a form to tell someone how they're doing, you've already missed the moment. In this episode of the Northbound Podcast , Chris challenges one of the most common — and most ineffective — leadership tools in modern organizations: feedback forms. While forms promise structure and safety, they often drain feedback of what actually makes it work — presence, trust, and...

🎙️ Episode Description Discomfort isn't the goal — growth is. In this episode of the Northbound Podcast , Chris builds on the last conversation about resilience and clarifies a critical distinction: it's not discomfort itself that makes leaders stronger, but what they learn through it. Drawing again from backcountry experience, Chris explains why strong leaders don't chase pain, but they also don'...