Start Where You Are

If you’ve been here for a minute, you already know: Northwest Arkansas is changing.
Quickly. Quietly, sometimes. But deeply.

The pace of economic activity is staggering. Entrepreneurs are scaling faster than their systems. Developers are asking bigger questions. Professionals are weighing whether this place is just a stop—or a home base. And communities are being called to grow not just in size, but in sophistication.

That momentum brings promise—but it also brings pressure.

Because growth without grounding is chaos.
And complexity without structure wears people out.

The challenge isn’t a lack of opportunity.
It’s how to manage, measure, and respond to the ones you already have.How do you get to where you’re going?
How do you build with intention—not just speed?
How do you have the impact you really want to have?

Northwest Arkansas will look a lot different in the coming decades. So will all of us.

So pause for a second and ask yourself: In 50 years, when someone says your name, the name of your business, the name of your community—what do you want folks to think about? To remember? To feel?

Maybe the tougher question is: What don’t you want them to feel?

Once you’ve set your destination, you need a route.
You need a read on the conditions.
You need a team. And that team needs clarity on the roles they’re playing.

Because none of us do this alone.

And since the Tour d’ France kicked off this weekend (yes!), let’s name what this really is: a stage race. Some days call for sprinting. Others for climbing. Some reward a well-timed breakaway. Others demand tight peloton precision. But through it all, it’s the best-executed plan—not the flashiest rider—that finds the top step.

So as I asked in the very first Prologue I ever wrote: Who’s got the route?

How Do You Respond?

You could white-knuckle it.
You could keep pushing.
You could keep cobbling together workarounds and calling them strategies.

Or… you could pause.
Ask yourself a few better questions.
And design a better response.

What if the next phase of your leadership wasn’t about grit, but about structure?
What if growth didn’t require burnout?
What if community impact could be strategic—not just symbolic?
What if investing in Northwest Arkansas meant showing up with alignment, not just ambition?

The Questions Worth Asking

Our region, our communities, and our companies are changing. We’re in the midst of a historic transfer of influence and capacity.

It’s both an opportunity and a challenge—and it will impact all of us at the micro and macro levels.

For business owners, civic leaders, and individuals navigating new waters, that shift is already here.

It’s in the decisions about how to grow without losing your core.
It’s in the pressure to build something real, something that lasts.
It’s in the way local conversations are evolving—balancing product and performance wit purpose and permanence.

That kind of shift can’t be managed with templates and generic playbooks.
It requires local fluency. Strategic insight. And a willingness to design for more than just an immediate return.

Time Defined

Time isn’t neutral.
How we spend it tells the story of what we value—and who we’re becoming.

So ask yourself:

• Are you spending your time where it counts?

• Are your systems built to support your ambition—or stall it?

• Are your partners equipped to move with you as you evolve?

Because the ROI isn’t just in your next win.
It’s in how well your work is aligned with your why.