My new book is here. It’s called Moment by Moment: Five Shifts to Transcend the Noise, Lead with Presence and Perform Under Pressure. It’s a practical guide to leading through change, uncertainty and pressure. Before you read it, I want you to know why I wrote it.
Pushing harder was always my answer
Basketball taught me to get another rep. Entrepreneurship taught me to solve the problem. Ambition taught me to keep moving.
Those lessons took me further than I imagined as a kid in small-town Wisconsin. I built a basketball training business out of my college apartment. I coached Joel Embiid. I served as assistant director at Steph Curry’s first skills academy.
So for years, whenever pressure showed up, my answer was to push harder. That’s what greatness requires, right?
Then it stopped working
In March 2015, I flew to Seattle to watch a player I’d coached since he was thirteen play in the NCAA tournament. I spent most of that weekend in my hotel room. I was sweating through the sheets, throwing up, and passing out on the bathroom floor while my goldendoodle stayed curled up beside me.
By the end of the weekend, I understood what was happening. I was withdrawing from an antidepressant I had started taking fourteen years earlier.
At the same time, the business I had grown for almost a decade became volatile almost overnight. There was no paid leave and no structure to keep things running while I disappeared. Every dip created more pressure. More pressure created more fear.
My body was sitting at my desk. My attention was everywhere else.
Pushing harder only added pressure to a system that was already maxed out. I had to learn a different way.
Learning a different way
I committed to a daily mindfulness practice. At first it felt almost impossible. Sitting still didn’t feel peaceful. It showed me how much noise was inside me.
Over time, I realized the wandering mind wasn’t proof I was failing. Noticing it and coming back was the rep, no different from a rep on the court.
As I brought that practice into my work with leaders facing stress, change and uncertainty, the five shifts took shape: See, Pause, Align, Connect, Execute.
I know the pain of pressure
I know firsthand the paralyzing fear of uncertainty. I know the weight of feeling stuck while people are counting on you. I’ve sat at my desk unable to focus. I’ve questioned decisions I once trusted myself to make. I’ve missed conversations with people I love because my mind was still at work.
I never want you to feel like you’re going through that alone.
The heart of a conscious leader, the mindset of an elite athlete
I believe leadership today requires what I call the HeartMind methodology: the heart of a conscious leader meets the mindset of an elite athlete.
That means caring deeply about people while staying focused, making difficult decisions, and performing under pressure. You don’t have to choose between your humanity and your results. Sustainable success requires both.
Five shifts for leading through change
So I put the five shifts, and the practices behind them, into one book:
- See: from noise to awareness
- Pause: from reactivity to regulation
- Align: from urgency to what matters
- Connect: from armor to human connection
- Execute: from outcome obsession to the next right action
Each shift comes with a short practice and a one-day experiment. The book closes with a plan for your first seven days, so it starts working in Monday’s meetings instead of sitting in a downloads folder.
Use it before a difficult conversation. Use it during an uncertain decision. Use it when everyone needs an answer from you and you need a moment to think.
Who it’s for
I wrote this for founders, executives and senior leaders carrying real responsibility. Your decisions affect people. When you’re clear, your team feels it. When you’re scattered, they feel that too.
The pressure isn’t going away. How you meet it can change.
Get your copy
The digital book is normally $27. You can get it for $9.
Read it in one sitting. Then put one shift to work on the next hard moment you face.
Moment by moment.
Mike
Frequently asked questions
How do you lead through change and uncertainty?
Start with what you can control: your attention, your internal state and your next action. In Moment by Moment, that work happens through five shifts. See what’s happening, Pause long enough to regain choice, Align with what matters, Connect with the people in front of you, and Execute the next right action. I go deeper on this in Leading Through Uncertainty.
How can leaders manage stress and pressure in the moment?
Pressure shows up in the body before it shows up in behavior. A short reset helps: take five slow breaths, name five things you can see, hear or feel, then choose one useful action for the next five minutes. That creates enough space to respond instead of react. For more, read leadership stress management.
What is Moment by Moment about?
Moment by Moment is a short, practical book for founders, executives and senior leaders navigating change and pressure. It blends what I learned in 15 years around elite basketball with mindfulness and Eastern philosophy, and each shift comes with a practice you can use the same day.
How do you stay calm under pressure as a leader?
You don’t have to feel calm to lead well. You need enough space to choose your response. I teach this as the Decision Gap: create awareness of the trigger, detach emotionally, and get objective. Instead of becoming the storm, you become the observer of it, and that’s where you lead with intention.
What should leaders do first when change hits?
Separate what actually happened from the story you’re adding. A client doesn’t renew a contract. That’s the fact. “The business is failing” is the story. Return to what you know is true, then take the next right action. You don’t need the whole plan. You need the next move.
How do you help your team through uncertainty?
Give them your full attention before you give them answers. Put the phone away, ask a question you don’t already know the answer to, and listen. It’s also OK to say “I don’t know yet.” Honesty builds trust, and trust is what lets you challenge people to rise when it counts.
How do you avoid burnout while leading through change?
Treat recovery as part of the work. Bookend your day: start with something you choose before the inbox gets to you, and create a clear transition out of work at night. Protect one recovery window during the day. Resilience includes the ability to adapt, recover and return.
Is mindfulness useful for leaders?
Yes, when you treat it as training. Mindfulness is awareness of your thoughts, emotions and actions in the present moment. Elite athletes use it to stay composed when the game speeds up, and leaders can use it the same way: notice when pressure pulls you off course, then come back. Presence isn’t soft. It’s the unlock.
How long does it take to read Moment by Moment?
Moment by Moment is short enough to read in one sitting. It closes with a plan for your first seven days, with one focus each day, so you can start using the shifts in your next meeting.
