The days are getting longer. The air smells different. And something in me is waking up.

Not the performative "new year, new me" energy. The real kind. The kind that sneaks up on you while you're not paying attention. The kind that whispers: there's more coming.

This issue is packed. New book news, podcast conversations that moved me, a Pride theme I can't wait to bring to stages everywhere, and a sneak peek at something I've been building quietly for a long time.

Consider this your official invitation to the Spring Fling. Let's get into it.

All Pride, No Ego is coming out in paperback on May 11th.

This book changed my life. And then you told me it changed yours. How you lead your teams. How you show up at home. How you think about kindness as a strategy, not a weakness. That still gets me.

The paperback means more people can access it. More classrooms. More book clubs. More leaders who need to hear that you can build capability without sacrificing your humanity.

Pre-orders matter more than you think. They signal to retailers that this book has momentum. They help it show up on shelves, in recommendations, in the hands of people who need it most.

If you already own the hardcover, consider gifting the paperback to someone who needs it this spring.

Rainbow crosswalks honoring the 49 people murdered at Pulse in Orlando were painted over. These aren't abstractions. They're erasure. And they require a response.

Across the country, Pride organizations are unveiling their themes and they all share a common thread: freedom, resistance, audacity, and joy. NYC Pride is rallying around "For All of Us." D.C.'s Capital Pride went bold with "Exist. Resist. Have the Audacity." Cities from Chicago to Columbus are centering visibility and collective freedom.

My Pride theme this year comes straight from Learning #3 in All Pride, No Ego: "Don't Let Anyone Dim Your Light."

Here's what I've learned as an elder in this community: Our light has two purposes. The first is to shine it on ourselves — to be visible, to be whole, to take up space. The second is to shine it on others — to amplify voices, create pathways, and make the road easier for those coming behind us.

My 2026 Pride talk is built on four pillars: Resilience. Amplification. Safe Spaces. Pride Legacy. It's customizable for corporate audiences, nonprofit communities, and everyone in between. It runs 15 to 25 minutes depending on format.

I'm booking Pride keynotes, workshops, and panels now for May and June. Whether your organization needs a keynote, a fireside chat, a workshop on psychological safety, or a conversation about what real allyship looks like right now, I would love to be in the room with your people.

📧 Reach out to [email protected] to book a Pride event.

Pride is not a logo on a t-shirt. It's a practice. Let's practice it together.

One of the things I love most about the Ask for An Answer podcast is that it gives me the chance to sit with people I genuinely admire and have real conversations. Not interviews. Conversations.

Lately, I've been lucky enough to record with three friends from my Los Angeles years, and each one brought something different and deeply honest to the mic.

Olivia Jordan will remind you that reinvention isn't about leaving who you were behind. It's about finally becoming who you always were. Her story of moving beyond titles and expectations to find her own definition of enough is something every leader needs to hear.

Gerardo Celasco and I went places I didn't expect. We got into authentic male friendship — what it actually looks like when two men show up for each other with vulnerability, honesty, and zero performance, regardless of sexual identity. Gerardo has shown me what unconditional support looks like. This one hit me in the chest.

Coming soon: Luis Balaguer. Luis co-founded Latin World Entertainment with Sofia Vergara and spent 30 years building one of the most powerful Hispanic talent and entertainment companies in the industry. Our conversation is about what it takes to build something that lasts — the partnership, the perseverance, the belief in a vision when nobody else sees it yet. You don't want to miss this one.

Every now and then, you meet someone whose work makes you say, "Yes — that's what I've been trying to say." Dr. Jeleen Sindall is that person for me. Her journey — from veterinarian to federal leader to tech executive to founder — isn't just impressive. It's instructive. It's a masterclass in what happens when someone stops trying to fit into rooms that weren't built for them and starts redesigning the room itself. That's radical kindness in action. Not soft. Not performative. Structural.

What I love about Jeleen's work is that she arrived at her current calling honestly. After more than a decade inside DEI spaces, she had the courage to name what many of us have felt: that well-intentioned programs too often sort people into boxes instead of setting them free. Her answer wasn't to burn it down. It was to build something better — Alon Resonance, a coaching practice rooted in a beautifully simple premise: belonging is not a program or a percentage. It's a felt sense. And you cannot do your best work or live your fullest life without it.

About Jeleen

Dr. Jeleen Briscoe Sindall is a mixed-race Filipina-Caucasian who spent a lifetime straddling two cultures before she stopped trying to fit in and started building something different. Her career spans tenure-track professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Chief Customer Experience Officer at the USDA, and Customer Experience Manager at Cisco — always guided by the same instinct: find the people who've been made to feel small in the room, and change the room.

Through Alon Resonance, Jeleen created the BEES Path — a four-phase coaching journey: I Belong, I Am Empowered, I Am Engaged, I Am Supported. She also founded Golden Thread Potluck, a community ecosystem for Asian-heritage business owners in Bozeman, Montana, built on the Filipino concept of kapwa — the shared self.

A proud descendant of rabble-rousers and bridge-builders, Jeleen continues to prove that the most resonant ideas emerge from the most unexpected places.

Every issue, I'm going to leave you with two things: a quote that stopped me in my tracks and a Jimism from 35 years of leading people. Think of it as a double shot of spring espresso for your soul.

THE QUOTE:

"We delight in the beauty of the butterfly, but rarely admit the changes it has gone through to achieve that beauty." — Maya Angelou

We celebrate the transformation but skip over the struggle that made it possible. Every leader I admire, every guest I've featured on this podcast, every friend who has reinvented themselves after a setback — they didn't just emerge beautiful. They went through something real first. Spring is full of butterflies. But the cocoon is where the actual work happens. Honor the process, not just the result.

I've been building something quietly for a long time. And I'm almost ready to let you in on it.

The League of Radical Kindness.

Here's the question at the center of it: What if your armor is keeping you from shining brightly? Leading humans is hard. But dimming your light makes it impossible. The League of Radical Kindness helps you drop the act, lead with your authentic superpowers, and build the kind of trust that transforms everything.

PLUS, it has its own cast of characters: Meet the Lorklings.

Seven characters. Seven roles. One mission: to show you what radical kindness looks like in action — whether you're sparking a new idea, weaving people together, challenging the status quo, or mending what's broken.

More details dropping in the weeks ahead. You're already in the right place to be among the first to know.

THE JIMISM:

"Leave space for the possible."

Don't fill your calendar so full that there's no room for surprise. Don't plan so tightly that serendipity can't find you. Don't be so sure about what's next that you miss what's right in front of you. Spring is proof that things grow when you give them room.

Leave space. See what blooms.

In Community and Conversation,

Jim

P.S. If this newsletter landed for you, share it with one person who needs a little spring energy right now. And if you're not yet subscribed, welcome. We do this every other week. No fluff. No performance. Just honest conversation about leading better and living kinder.