About me.

Hi! I’m Jeff Couillard.

Most "about me" sections are designed to hook the reader (here’s all of the incredible things that will happen as a result of you reading these posts!), or inflate the author’s ego (can you believe that (insert famous person) herself wrote the introduction to my leadership book? Amazing. #humblebrag).

This isn’t one of those introductions.

Your mileage with the thoughts, beliefs, experiences and stories in this collection of writings and "meditations" will vary. I hesitate to even call them meditations…as if I’m some stoic Roman philosopher or buddhist monk who sold his Ferrari. I’m neither of those things.

I’m a fellow traveler on this pale blue dot.

Here for a cosmic blink of an eye, just like you and every other inhabitant of our planet, past, present and future.

And I’m regularly confused about what that really means, to somehow grasp both the remarkable insignificance of being a human on this chunk of flying space dust, and the utter beauty and magic of watching a toddler take their first stumbling steps or watch the sun rise. To witness the discord of present-day politics and upheaval, and the long march towards progress and enlightenment that our species has been chasing since we left the savannah 40,000 years ago.

I promise you no answers. I have just as many questions as you do.

What you will find are reflections on life, power and meaning.

On suffering more and suffering less.

On power and powerlessness.

On hope and despair.

On trust and love and the contortions we go through in pursuit of what’s most meaningful.

And how to get there a little faster, because life is short.

Too short to suffer through it.

Welcome. Thank you for reading.

*in case “pale blue dot” and “flying chunk of space dust” didn’t indicate a tendency towards atheism, that’s definitely how I roll. That being said, I reserve the right to quote Buddha, Krishnamurti, God, Zeus, Spiderman, Yoda and any other obscure or mainstream deity or fictional character if I like what they’re putting out into the world.

If you're interested in my professional chops and experiences,

• I'm the Co-CEO of The Ally Co., a company dedicated to helping create leaderful organizations. Head on over there for all things leadership, organizational development, high-performing teams, etc.
• I spent the first half of my career helping build a world-class addiction treatment program (fighting the bureaucracy and status-quo every step of the way).
• This earlier career culminated in a TEDx talk about the Power of Human Nature (you can scroll down if you've got 12 minutes and an interest in a different perspective on addiction).
• Since then I’ve helped dozens of teams reach their full potential, unlocking innovation and creativity that was buried under layers of unresolved conflicts, unclear expectations and unknown agendas.
• We take a simple, highly practical (and immediately operational) approach to leadership learning and development. We cut through all the noise to the essential elements of effective leadership…power, motivation and communication.

Of course, you can connect with me or follow along over on LinkedIn.

On a personal note;

• I have three amazing kids and an incredible wife.
• I drove a truck on used vegetable oil for a long time, partly for the environmental benefits and mostly because I didn't like paying for diesel.
• In my late 20's I was diagnosed with Type 1 (insulin dependent) diabetes.
• I have a lot of thoughts, opinions and ideas about how to engage with power and meaning. Hence, this website and associated writing.

The TEDx talk that I mentioned. Basically a distilled worldview that helps "make sense" of addiction and human behaviour.