One Step, One Goal, One Leader at a Time | A Lead Anew With Kim Bonus Edition

A Better Me, Better World Story

This week, I am opening the door to a journey that has shaped me more profoundly than I expected through my Better Me, Better World Project, created as part of my Executive Leadership Certification with the National Society of Leadership and Success. My project was titled "Step, One Goal, One Leader at a Time" because I initially believed that leadership transformation happens through small, meaningful steps. What I didn’t realize was how much this work would come to reflect my inner landscape, a steady recalibration of how I lead myself and others. At first, the project felt like a checklist of SMART goals. It was structured and clear. Yet along the way, these goals stopped feeling like mere assignments and became a compass guiding me back to myself.

When I started, I set five core goals in physical development, intellectual discipline, emotional care, ethics, and service. Some remained exactly as written, while others evolved as I learned more about my true needs. The physical goal focused on walking 10,000 steps daily and completing the 30-day squat challenge. Achieving both early on became a significant milestone and gave me a sense of momentum that pushed me through the rest of the project. I can still picture the images I captured for documentation: my Apple Watch rings closing day after day, the squat tracker filling up, and the screenshots of my steps lined up in bright colors. These pictures proved that growth is rarely dramatic. It’s quiet, repetitive, and suddenly one day, you realize the discipline has turned into strength.

My intellectual goals included meeting deadlines two days early, maintaining a weekly task system, and organizing my digital workspace. This goal evolved slightly as the semester progressed. I expanded it to include intentional weekly planning sessions because I realized that organization alone was not enough. Clarity and rhythm also mattered. One of the major milestones in this area was completing four large academic projects ahead of schedule while managing a full workload in healthcare operations. I documented this with snapshots of my digital folders, task boards, and weekly planners. These small visuals served as reminders that steadiness is a form of leadership and that structure provides me space to focus on what truly deserves my attention.

Emotional care underwent the biggest transformation. My original plan was to practice mindfulness three times a week, journal reflections, and schedule weekly meaningful connections. This goal changed in a way I did not expect. Halfway through the project, after reviewing my Johari Window and realizing how many of my emotional patterns were in the hidden area, I expanded my emotional goal to include intentional pauses during high-stress moments. It became less about performing wellness and more about slowing down long enough to truly feel my life. One of my milestones was recognizing stress signals in real time instead of after the fact. I documented this progress in journal entries I photographed for evidence and screenshots of calm breathing sessions I tracked throughout the weeks.

My ethics goal remained steady from start to finish. Each week, I reflected on ethical dilemmas, both real and hypothetical, and focused on strengthening my commitment to transparency, accountability, and fairness. The major milestone was creating a weekly ethics reflection log and completing all entries without missing a single week. This log became a mirror, helping me see how often leaders are shaped in the quiet spaces, in decisions made long before anyone notices.

The service component became the heart of my project. My goal was to write and publish two editions of Lead Anew: Insights and Growth. Instead, I published twenty-eight. This unexpected expansion became the biggest milestone of all. These newsletters turned into a conversation with my community, a place where vulnerability met leadership and something new began to grow. I included images of my newsletters, graphics from my publishing platform, and screenshots of reader engagement as part of my project evidence. The ripple effect of this one goal carried far beyond the assignment and continues to shape my leadership work every week.

Throughout the entire journey, I applied leadership skills that grounded every step. I relied on accountability to stay consistent with my goals. I practiced emotional intelligence by recognizing stress patterns and adjusting my habits. I demonstrated clear communication through writing my newsletters and capturing reflections for my weekly logs. Problem-solving became essential as I navigated busy weeks in healthcare operations and coursework. Most importantly, I leaned into self-leadership, which strengthened my confidence and presence in all other areas of my life.

Module 4 deepened the project in ways I did not anticipate.

• The Johari Window revealed how much of my leadership lived in the hidden quadrant. It showed me strengths others see in me that I had not fully owned. It helped me understand the power of openness and the value of letting others witness my growth.
• The SWOT Analysis gave me an honest assessment of what supports me and what sabotages me. It highlighted my strengths in organization and consistency, my weaknesses in overcommitting, the opportunities created through my writing platform, and the threats posed by burnout and external demands.
• The Kolb Experiential Learning Model helped me make sense of the full cycle. My experience led to reflection. My reflection became insight. My insight turned into new action. This cycle repeated itself across every goal and helped me understand that growth is layered, not linear.

Looking back, these five goals became a unified journey. Strengthening my physical health gave me endurance. Sharpening my intellectual habits brought me steadiness. Prioritizing emotional care gave me presence. Deepening my ethics gave me integrity. Sharing my voice through Lead Anew gave me purpose. This project started as a requirement for my Executive Leadership Certification, but it evolved into a transformation far deeper than any checklist.

For future EXEC301 students, here is my advice. Set goals that truly matter to you, not just those that look good on paper. Document everything, including the small moments. Be honest when using the reflection tools, as they reveal truths you might not notice at first. Expect your goals to change because growth evolves with you. And remember, leadership isn’t loud. It’s built through small, consistent choices that eventually change how you navigate the world.

This project taught me that when we choose to become better, the world around us also changes. One step. One goal. One leader at a time.

Until next time, may you choose the kind of growth that strengthens both your life and the lives you touch.

#LeadAnewWithKim #BetterMeBetterWorldProject #NSLSExecutiveLeadershipCertification #SoarWithPurpose #YourSecondSeasonRedefined #LeadAnewInsightsandGrowth

© 2025 Kimberly Weisner, All Rights Reserved