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TRUST DOESN'T TAKE A DAY OFF
- Meri Stockwell
- Jul 13
- 11 min read
Every morning, the sun comes up over Belleair, Florida.
Some mornings it’s spectacular.
Some mornings it’s just humid.
CC and I show up anyway.
That’s the thread running through this whole edition, actually.
Not talent. Not strategy. Not another framework promising to fix everything by Friday.
Trust.
The kind that gets earned in a room when a team stops performing for each other and starts being honest.
The kind that lets someone push back without a title to protect them.
The kind a Cavapoo builds simply by noticing when her Momma needs a slower pace and a longer walk.
Three stories this week. Same idea, three different rooms.
Let’s get into it.
The Best Teams I Work With Have One Thing in Common. It Isn’t Talent.
A few weeks ago, I was coaching a leadership team that, on paper, had everything going for it.
Experienced leaders. A smart strategy. Clear goals. Good people who genuinely wanted to do great work.
Yet every conversation sounded the same.
“We’re moving too slowly.” “We keep revisiting the same decisions.” “Everyone is busy, but it doesn’t feel like we’re making progress.”
No one was pointing fingers. No one lacked capability. They were simply exhausted.
Not because they were working too hard. Because they were spending enormous amounts of mental energy reacting instead of leading.
I see this more often than people realize. Most organizations don’t have a talent problem. They have an alignment problem that begins in the mind.
We spend countless hours refining strategy. We invest in technology. We redesign processes. We reorganize teams. Yet we rarely stop to ask one simple question.
How are our leaders thinking under pressure?
Because pressure changes people. Stress speeds up reactions. Uncertainty narrows perspective. Fear disguises itself as urgency. Communication becomes shorter. Curiosity disappears. People begin protecting priorities instead of pursuing shared outcomes. Execution slows.
Not because people stopped caring. Because their thinking changed. And when thinking changes, behavior follows.
That realization is what led me to become a Positive Intelligence coach.
When I first completed the Positive Intelligence program, I expected to learn a powerful coaching framework. What I did not expect was how much it would change me.
It changed how I responded under pressure. It changed how I listened. It changed how I approached difficult conversations. And perhaps most importantly, it changed how I led.
I found myself pausing instead of reacting. Getting curious instead of making assumptions. Looking for possibilities where I once saw obstacles. It was one of the most meaningful leadership investments I have ever made.
That experience is why I became so passionate about sharing this work with others.
Today, one of the greatest joys of my work is watching leaders experience that same transformation.
I see it in the executive who says, “I handled that conversation completely differently than I would have six weeks ago.” I see it in the manager who finally feels equipped to coach instead of simply reacting. I see it when meetings become more productive, trust grows stronger, and leaders stop carrying every challenge by themselves.
There are few things more rewarding than watching someone discover a better version of themselves, then seeing the ripple effect that has on their team, their organization, and even their family.
That is why I continue to do this work every day.
Positive Intelligence is often described as a mental fitness program. I see it differently. I see it as a leadership operating system. One that helps individuals and teams perform at their best when the pressure is highest.
Instead of being hijacked by automatic reactions, leaders learn to recognize those moments and intentionally choose a different response. Instead of reacting, they become curious. Instead of assuming, they ask better questions. Instead of blaming, they begin looking for solutions.
The work doesn’t change. The thinking does. And when the thinking changes, the results begin to follow.
One of my favorite moments happens around week three. Someone inevitably says, “I caught myself before I reacted.” Then another leader adds, “I actually listened instead of preparing my response.” A few weeks later someone smiles and says, “Our meetings feel different.”
That is the moment I know transformation has begun.
Culture doesn’t change overnight. People do. And when enough people begin responding differently, culture follows.
The seven week Positive Intelligence Foundations program builds that shared leadership operating system. Teams develop a common language. A shared understanding. A healthier way of navigating challenges together.
But after more than three decades of coaching and consulting leaders, I have learned something important. Seven weeks starts the transformation. It doesn’t finish it.
That is why our team engagements continue beyond the Foundations program. Together we strengthen the conditions that allow high performing teams to thrive. Mutual accountability. Earned trust. Healthy conflict. Alignment between individual purpose, team goals, and organizational strategy. The ability to navigate change without exhausting the very people responsible for leading it.
This is where organizations stop reacting to problems and begin building systems that consistently produce stronger performance.
The greatest multiplier, however, is individual coaching. Because every leader carries invisible work. The difficult conversation they have been avoiding. The decision they keep replaying. The pressure of trying to hold everyone else together.
Those conversations rarely happen in team meetings. They happen one on one. That is where coaching becomes transformational. Not because I have all the answers. But because every leader deserves a confidential space to think more clearly before making the decisions that affect everyone else.
Some of the feedback I treasure most reflects exactly that.
“Meri was steady, insightful, and helped me build a solution focused plan around what felt impossible when we started.”
“I appreciate the way Meri thinks and the time she invests in helping me become a better leader.”
“Every session gives me more clarity and confidence than the last.”
I never take comments like these for granted. Because coaching isn’t about creating dependence. It’s about helping leaders become the version of themselves they already know they are capable of becoming.
Leadership Tips from CC
“Humans can sense stress long before they can explain it. Your team is reading your energy every day.”
“The strongest packs aren’t the loudest. They trust each other enough to keep moving forward together.”
“The pack that survives isn’t the one that never gets tired. It’s the one that notices when a member needs someone to walk beside them instead of behind them.”
A Simple Place to Start
If you are reading this and thinking, “This sounds like my team.” Trust that instinct.
Start with a conversation. No presentation. No pressure. Just an intentional fifteen-minute Iced Coffee Chat about where you are today and where you want to go next.
Sometimes the biggest transformation begins with the smallest conversation.
The Leadership Problem Nobody Names Out Loud
A client came to me recently with a situation that will sound familiar to almost anyone who leads people.
They wanted to help a colleague succeed. They wanted the work aligned to what actually mattered. They wanted basic deadlines to hold.
But there was a catch. They weren’t this person’s boss. No title. No formal authority. Just a real relationship they didn’t want to damage by pushing too hard.
I have sat across from this exact tension more times than I can count. How do you hold someone to a standard when you have no positional power to enforce it?
Most leaders go one of two ways. They go quiet and hope it resolves itself. Or they overcorrect, and the relationship pays for it. Neither is a strategy. Both are guesses.
This is where Obi earned its keep.
In under ten minutes, we moved from a vague, familiar frustration to a clear, behaviorally informed plan. The speed mattered. Not because faster is always better. Because the frustration was still fresh, still specific, still usable. Three days later, it would have softened into something vaguer. Something harder to act on.
We looked at the behavioral data. We looked at the relationship itself. And the whole situation reframed.
Both people brought pace. Both brought directness. Both wanted results. On paper, that looks like a great match. In practice, it meant conversations moved fast enough that assumptions went untested. Tasks got discussed out loud. They never got translated into anything concrete.
What looked like a motivation problem was actually a clarity problem. Two different things. Two different fixes.
One person brought structure and precision. The other brought flexibility and forward motion. Neither style was wrong. Most people jump straight to wrong. This wasn’t that. The opportunity was using each person’s strength to support the other, without either one feeling defensive about it.
Three things came out of that ten minutes.
Be explicit about what “done” actually means. Not implied. Stated.
Check in before the deadline, not after it’s already missed.
Frame follow-through as trust and credibility, not criticism.
My client didn’t walk away with theory. They walked away with language. With a next step. With a clearer way to lead someone they had no authority over.
That’s a skill nobody teaches you. Everybody needs it eventually.
The result wasn’t just a better conversation. It was a better path forward, and a way to protect trust while still holding the line.
If a real leadership challenge is sitting on your desk right now, thirty minutes is enough time to walk out with clarity you can use the same day.
Leadership Lessons from a Cavapoo: Summer Isn’t Just a Season. It’s a Leadership Strategy.
Summer has officially arrived here in Florida.
That means every morning my Momma asks the same question. “Should we leave a little earlier?”
The answer is always yes. Because once that Florida sun decides it’s awake, it means business.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. “CC, what does summer have to do with leadership?”
Actually, quite a bit.
You see, dogs understand something humans tend to forget. We don’t fight the season. We adapt to it.
When it’s hot, we slow down. We find shade. We drink more water. We take breaks. We don’t pretend we’re operating under the same conditions we were in January.
Humans, on the other paw, you tend to keep the same expectations no matter what season you’re in. Same pace. Same meetings. Same deadlines. Same pressure. Even when everything around you has changed.
Then everyone wonders why people feel exhausted.
Here’s something I’ve noticed about my Momma. She works really hard. She absolutely loves what she does. Helping leaders build teams that click isn’t just her job. It’s her purpose. She gets to coach remarkable people, help organizations grow, and watch leaders discover what they’re truly capable of.
I think that’s pretty cool.
She also knows something many leaders forget. Taking care of yourself is part of taking care of your team.
That’s why Tuesday afternoons are usually reserved for a round of golf. And during the summer, she often closes the office a little early on Fridays. Not because the work isn’t important. Because life is.
We go for longer walks. We ride the e-bike. Sometimes we head to the beach. Sometimes we simply sit outside with an iced coffee, watch another Florida sunset, and remember that not every meaningful moment has to happen inside a meeting.
Here’s the funny part. When Monday rolls around, she’s even better at what she does. I’ve decided that isn’t a coincidence.
The best leaders understand something dogs have always known. Rest isn’t a reward. It’s part of the rhythm. You don’t have to earn every moment of joy. Sometimes joy is exactly what prepares you to lead well tomorrow.
I’ve watched my Momma coach enough leaders to know this is true. The organizations that thrive over the long run aren’t the ones asking people to run faster every day. They’re the ones creating environments where people can do their best work and still have enough energy left to enjoy their lives.
That’s alignment. Not just aligning people with their work. Aligning work with life.
Because leadership isn’t measured only by what gets accomplished. It’s also measured by how people feel while accomplishing it.
Summer has a way of reminding us to slow down just enough to notice what matters. A sunrise. A walk. A conversation. A round of golf. A laugh with someone you care about. An extra hour on a Friday afternoon.
Those moments don’t take us away from becoming better leaders. They help us become one.
CC’s Summer Leadership Tips
Protect your energy. The best leaders know when to push and when to pause. Energy is one of your most valuable leadership resources.
Put something on your calendar that has nothing to do with work. My Momma chooses golf on Tuesday afternoons. I choose chasing squirrels. We both come back happier.
Don’t save joy for vacation. Take the walk. Enjoy the iced coffee. Watch the sunset. Celebrate the small wins. Great cultures are built by people who remember to enjoy the journey together.
One last thing. Every morning, my Momma and I watch another sunrise. Some are spectacular. Some are cloudy. Some are unbelievably humid. We still show up.
Leadership is a lot like that. Not every day will feel extraordinary. But showing up with intention, that never goes out of season.
Have a summer filled with sunshine, a little laughter, and people who make you better.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to remind my Momma that it’s almost Friday afternoon. And I have a walk to schedule.
Love, CC
Chief Cultural Officer, Meritas Advisory Group
OPEN ROLES WE ARE SOURCING FOR OUR CLIENTS
Vice President, Procurement — San Antonio, TX
An international food manufacturer is looking for an executive to build and lead procurement strategy across more than thirty facilities. This is a seat at the table, not a purchasing function. Reports directly to the Chief Supply Chain Officer. Fifteen-plus years of procurement or supply chain leadership required, ideally with experience in commercial baking or commodity-based supply chains.
Know someone ready for this level? DM me.
Human Resources Manager — Southwest Michigan
A stable, growing manufacturer is looking for their next HR leader to partner directly with the COO and GM, guide an HRIS implementation, and lead a small HR team. True Monday through Friday hours, minimal travel, no remote. 5+ years of HR management experience in a manufacturing environment required.
Know someone who thrives on the floor as much as in the office? DM me.
Procurement Manager, Supplier Development — Stafford, VA
A defense manufacturer needs a technical, relationship-driven procurement leader to develop U.S. based suppliers for specialized components. Relocation provided. Requires the ability to read engineering drawings and navigate defense procurement standards, along with security clearance eligibility.
Know the right fit? DM me.
Materials Manager — Automotive sector
A hands-on leader is needed to run materials planning, scheduling, and inventory control for a Tier 1 automotive operation. SAP experience required, APICS CPIM strongly preferred.
Know someone ready to lead this? DM me.
In closing, none of this happens fast.
Trust doesn’t arrive because you asked for it in a meeting.
It shows up slowly, in the moments nobody’s watching. A hard conversation that finally happens. A colleague who speaks up because they finally believe it’s safe to. A Friday afternoon someone takes off without guilt, because rest turned out to be part of the plan all along.
That’s the whole job, really. Building the conditions where trust gets a chance to grow.
If any of this sounds like your team, or your Monday, or the version of leadership you’re trying to build, don’t wait for a better time.
Start with a conversation. No pitch. No pressure. Just fifteen minutes and an iced coffee.
CC would like the final word, as always.
“Have a summer filled with sunshine, a little laughter, and people who make you better. Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a walk to schedule.”
Meri M. Stockwell, MBA, CSP, CEP is the Founder and CEO of Meritas Advisory Group, LLC, a leadership and organizational alignment advisor helping teams get aligned and stay that way. She is a Certified PI Partner, a Positive Intelligence Coach, the creator of the CLICK Framework™, and the author of Build Teams That Click™, published through Marlin Publishing House, her own imprint.
CC is the Chief Cultural Officer of Meritas Advisory Group. Her responsibilities include morale, energy management, and reminding everyone that rest is part of the rhythm, not a reward.
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