meet doug hurley

I have always been drawn to leadership.

Months after graduating from high school, I was jumping out of airplanes in the military. In one sense, I thrived in the Army – I loved the challenge and the expectation not just to execute well, but to lead well.  I enjoyed it so much that after graduating from college, I decided to go back into the military, but this time as an officer and a pilot. Again, from one perspective, I thrived.  I was just passionately drawn to tough challenges, leadership, teamwork, and a mantra of “getting better” as a person and as a team member.

I have tripped over myself in leadership more than I want to remember.

Being honest, when I look back on my leadership journey, I was a bit of a Jekyll and Hyde. I have been the leader who was a bulldozer with people; and in the moment of my bulldozing, I thought it was for the mission—to get the team and me to success. I have also been the leader that would cut short a collaborative meeting because I thought my way was the best way, so I torpedoed the creative process and demanded that the team choose my course of action. Sometimes this still led to “mission success” (which would, unfortunately, help justify my inadequate leadership approach), but I alienated coworkers in the process at best; and, at worst, I became a leader that direct reports and cross-functional teammates would deem as unapproachable and unsafe. My boss, or the KPI’s, or the end-of-year results may have said “success,” but something just didn’t sit well with me, and how I was leading—and it certainly didn’t sit well with those people that I was leading, that I was supposed to be serving.

Fortunately, I have had great leaders and coaches that have poured into me to make me better.

They showed me what great leadership looked like: Being super intentional about creating trust and safety for the team, being excellent in my craft, being a clear and inspiring communicator; and, most important, putting people first – while still keeping the mission or the objective front-and-center to what the team was supposed to be all about.

Today I can look back at my leadership tenure and not just focus on the junky parts. I can see some things that I am genuinely proud of. Whether it was me serving in the military and conducting multiple combat deployments with valor; or in the business world where I was continually obtaining increased levels of leadership and responsibility; or where I was privileged to work as a pastor at one of the largest churches in America—and helping to take a church program to a full-blown ministry; or completing a rigorous doctoral program that was focused on leadership and spiritual formation. These are good things that were achieved. These are good things to be proud of.

But what I’m most proud of when reviewing my leadership journey, three things stand out.

First, I have done the hard work where I have been intentional about diving deep to learn more about my strengths, weaknesses, wiring, learned behaviors, values, and passions when it comes to leadership and working in the marketplace. With the help of a lot of gracious coaches, consultants and mentors, I have been under the microscope—voluntarily—to truly understand who I really am as a leader, who I want to be as a leader, and what I need to intentionally do to close the gap. To move from the real me (a self-centered and non-self-aware leader) to one that is getting closer to the ideal servant-oriented leader.

The second thing that I have pride over (crazy HUMBLE pride) is how God has shown me what work is really all about. God has shown me how to fully integrate my faith at work. God has blown-up all of my old—and incorrect thoughts—around what it looks like to show up at work, and as a leader, with a faith that is no longer compartmentalized or non-existent. In short, I have been on the operating table for years as other people, programs, and, most important, God, have rewired my heart around work and leadership.

Lastly, in regards to what I’m proud of, is a clear, confident, and humble understanding that I’m still not perfect – this is a journey. But it’s a progressive journey in learning more about myself, my leadership, other people, and God’s perspective on all of it. In other words, I haven’t arrived. And that’s okay, because I continue to do the deep dive—and I have so much more to learn. From this, I now think about work, and leadership, way different than I did a few decades ago. WAY different. Now, as I continue to rethink work and continue to do the deep work around leadership and work & faith integration, I am striving to be the best leader that I can be and bring my best leadership to work for the people I have influence with.

Great leadership is hard to come by.

It’s hard to find GREAT leaders in any world – military or business, or church. It takes some serious intentionality to become a great leader. The question remains: Is one willing to put in the hard work, intentional work, and right kind of work to become a great leader? Is someone willing to surround themselves with the right people, programs, and process to close the gap from what’s real about them as a leader to what is the hopeful ideal leader that they could be?

From this, RethinkWork was created. I want you to rethink the way you think about your work, about your leadership, about your communication skills, about your teamwork management and expertise. I want you to bring the best of yourself to your workplace. To bring your best emotionally, mentally, physically, and spiritually; where all these parts are holistically integrated to be the greatest leader that you could be.