The Power of Cascades: What Nature Has Taught Me About Leadership and Mental Health

A Morning That Shifted My Perspective

Early mornings in nature have a way of stripping away noise.

Recently, I found myself on a trail at sunrise - two miles in, standing beside a dozen small cascades.

None were the thunderous, postcard-perfect waterfalls you see in travel magazines. Instead, each was steady, layered, and subtle.

Progress you could almost miss if you weren’t paying attention.

The Cascade Effect in

Mental Health and Leadership

That’s when it struck me: this is what mental health really looks like. And this is what leadership really is.

Cascades aren’t about one dramatic drop.

They’re about constant, forward movement - sometimes slow, sometimes uneven - but always flowing toward something greater.

In the moment, it’s easy to underestimate the small steps, the quiet choices, the pauses that feel like detours.

But when you look back, you see how far you’ve come.

When a Pause Becomes the Path

In leadership, the same truth applies.

The most important progress often begins where plans are unexpectedly paused.

Recently, I had to navigate my own unexpected pause - a necessary step back from a full-throttle schedule to address urgent matters in my personal life.

What I thought was a detour became the actual path.

It gave me space to realign, deepen my purpose, and sharpen my clarity.

The New Momentum Taking Shape

From that space, new momentum has emerged:

Coaching executive leaders committed to building high-impact teams without sacrificing mental clarity or well-being.

Consulting with colleges and universities navigating complex transitions, bringing structure, strategy, and a student-centered lens.

Amplifying mental health advocacy through keynotes and workshops that move leaders from performative gestures to people-centered cultures.

Launching a new initiative for families navigating the realities of higher education - not just the search, but the full college journey.

Why Mental Health is

the Foundation of Leadership

Standing beside those cascades, I realized that leadership is not defined by one breakthrough moment, but by the sustained flow of consistent actions over time.

For leaders, mental health isn’t a side note or a self-care checkbox.

It’s the foundation of sustainable success.

The broader perspective only comes when you give yourself permission to slow your pace, to listen, and to let the meaning surface.

Moving Forward with Purpose

I’m grateful for the signs God places along the way - each one guiding the next step forward.

And I’m reminded that while the journey may shift, the current always carries us toward the work we are meant to do.

If your organization is ready to move beyond performative wellness and build leadership cultures rooted in clarity, compassion, and results, I’d love to connect.

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As August fades and September dawns, we find ourselves in that rare in-between - the denouement of summer and the on-ramp to fall. The air still carries warmth, but there’s an undercurrent of change. The days shorten, shadows lengthen, and the rhythm of nature shifts quietly beneath our feet. This is not yet the bold arrival of fall, nor the lingering fullness of summer - it is something more subtle, more liminal. And isn’t that exactly how mental health - and leadership - often works? True change rarely arrives in one dramatic moment. It happens in transition. In the slow turning of seasons. In the quiet noticing that things aren’t quite what they were, but not yet what they will be. For me, these last several months have carried that same spirit. Unexpected pauses. Redirections. New opportunities slowly forming out of old foundations. Coaching with executives who want to lead without losing themselves. Consulting with institutions navigating transitions. Speaking about mental health not as an “extra,” but as the foundation of culture and performance. And most recently, listening deeply to families who are navigating the hidden complexities of higher education. Like the shift from summer to fall, these moments don’t arrive with fanfare - but with a quiet insistence that things are changing. And that change, if we pay attention, is not something to fear. I t’s something to embrace. September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month - and it’s worth remembering that awareness, like the seasons, is about rhythm and presence. It’s about pausing long enough to notice the small shifts in ourselves and in others. Asking the question. Reaching out. Choosing to walk alongside. As leaders, as colleagues, as friends, our work is not to demand immediate transformation. It is to honor the transitions. To model that well-being isn’t a side project, it’s the soil in which everything else grows. Summer may be ending, but what follows isn’t loss - it’s the layering of what’s next. The colors, the clarity, the perspective that only comes when seasons turn. So I’ll leave you with this question: What transition is quietly asking for your attention right now? Because in honoring it, you may just find the foundation for what’s to come.