One of my earliest memories of the behavior-based safety concept was hearing Terry Ward say that no one wakes up in the morning and decides they’re going to lose a body part in an industrial accident later that day. But because of at-risk behaviors, often behaviors they’ve practiced for years withou...
Through the midpoint of my freshman year in high school, I remember very few report cards that so much as a C - and I don’t think I ever got anything lower. While I never did a ton of studying, I did carry books home as needed and completed homework assignments. When the second semester of my freshm...
I opened Leading With A Clear Purpose by sharing how a conversation with a lifelong friend gave me an acute understanding for how even the toughest among us can feel empty or burned out when the work they’re doing no longer provides them with fulfillment. In telling that story, I mentioned how he an...
To this point, I’ve shared intentionally basic high-level scenarios and I’ve purposefully shied away from anything remotely adverse. Not only am I sure you’ve experienced similar situations, I’d bet you’ve been through far worse - and I’ll bet you’ve found yourself back in that headspace as I allude...
Before I go on, I need to be very transparent with you. As I began noodling around the idea of listing and sharing leadership lessons I’ve learned through my adversities, I was more than a little conflicted; I’m nothing special and I’ve certainly seen people face far more difficult circumstances tha...
I’ve often heard the phrase, “God won’t give you more than you can handle” in reference to adversities we face. From what I can tell, that’s often tied - at least loosely - to 1 Corinthians 10:13. In fact, there’s apparently even a Christian song based on that. All said, I can’t say that I interpret...
If the only thing we ever pull from a bad situation is a story we can share in the next woe-is-me competition, at least it was good for something. Just kidding, no one wants to hear that crap. Well, almost no one. I’ve often heard that a small percentage does indeed want to hear how tough we have it...
I’ve often heard the phrase, “Life is tough. It’s even tougher if you’re stupid.” As harsh as that may be, here’s some context: I could share dozens of difficult situations I fought through in my teens and early twenties, most of which were self-induced, that could have provided me with far more val...
Five miles or so from where Cindy and I have lived since we got married, there's a giant oak tree by a sharp turn on a gravel road that could have spelled my demise had I been two feet farther to the right. It was 1995 and I was on my way to meet some friends to engage in a variety of inappropriate ...
The 2026 LeadershipLegacy Experience Executive Lineup
Posted by Wes Dove | Dove Development & Consulting
The 2026 LeadershipLegacy Experience (Friday, June 12, 2026, 8:30 AM – 4:00 PM at the Atlantic Union Bank Center on JMU's campus) is designed to equip leaders with a clear, actionable framework...
As Cindy and I built the “FRAMEWORK for Applying The Values Advantage”, a comprehensive program designed to guidance organizations through the process of putting their core values into practice at every level, we wanted to be sure that it provided practical steps for defining and implementing specif...
While I was never willing to sit still long enough to develop a comprehensive knowledge of our nation’s founding fathers when I was a kid in high school, I truly enjoy history. I was inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution in 2019, and even then I didn’t do the legwork for detailing how my...
