I spent 25 years getting ready for this

Frank Sinatra had a line in his song, “My Way” that's been rattling around in my head lately: "I planned each charted course, each careful step along the byway."

That's exactly what my career felt like, but in reverse. I didn't plan any of it! But looking back, every step was charted; I just couldn't see the map until I was already further down the road. (They say hindsight is 20/20, right?)

I always knew I wanted to work for myself. I wanted to build something, but I really had no idea what it would look like. 

So I taught high school. I did nonprofit work around sexual violence prevention. I spent years at a research and data firm. 

And then I moved inside organizations, trying to understand why some cultures made people feel alive at work and others wore them down. None of those jobs felt like detours while I was in them, but I also couldn't have told you where they were heading while I was working.

Finally, I started Bold Font, and I looked back, and I thought: “Oh ho ho! That's what all of that was for!”

Work takes up an enormous amount of our lives, and for most people, it’s not optional. But whether that time feels meaningful and whether it builds you up—that is what I consider good culture and great leadership.

I've always believed the foundation of a great culture is leaders who know how to coach. And coaching is not just directing or managing. Leaders who know how to coach can develop the people around them, hold them accountable, and treat them like adults capable of growth.

That's where we've placed our bet at Bold Font. Coaching culture is the next wave of leadership because I really believe that people don't follow hierarchy anymore. They follow trust. They follow investment. They follow people who care.

After 25 years of watching leadership development programs come and go, I also learned something else: One day of training doesn't stick. A week-long conference doesn't stick. You can't do one bicep curl and wonder why your arms look the same. Change takes time! It needs repetition and feedback and space to let things settle. That's why Leader as Coach runs for weeks at a time; it’s just how long it takes to do this work for real.

Then there's the problem of access.

For a long time, if you wanted serious leadership development, your company had to decide you were worth the investment and then you still had to get picked. They were the gatekeepers who got the expensive programs and set the timeline and likely picked the program. They defined what your growth looked like from the top down.

But our open enrollment opportunity changes that: Now, you can invest in yourself without waiting for someone else to green-light it. You don't need your company's blessing to become a better leader.

What drives me is a belief that leadership isn't a job title; it's how you show up. The person who leads well at work also handles life's transitions better, navigates uncertainty without unraveling, and shows up more fully in every relationship at work and at home. None of that development is time wasted. 

And what is happening in the world now reflects that we're walking into one of the most disruptive periods in a generation. The power structures we’re used to seeing are shifting, and the rules that worked before are breaking down right before our eyes. And I believe the leaders who will navigate what's coming aren't the ones with all the answers, but instead they’re the ones with the self-knowledge to stay steady when nobody has the answers.

That's the key to the work we're here to help people do.

I'm proud of the team we've built. I'm proud of every client who's trusted us. And I'm proud of what comes next.

If you're ready, the door is open now!

Until next week,
Lauran Arledge
Founder, Bold Font

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