Every day is a gift. Do not waste yours!

Doing good work doesn’t require a title, permission, or perfection—it requires action and alignment.

In this article, Joshua McMillion breaks down a simple yet powerful framework for living a meaningful life through three key steps: discovering your passion, defining your purpose, and living out your assignment. Drawing from military experience, personal reflection, and years of leadership, this piece challenges readers to stop waiting and start leading—right where they are.

If you’re ready to live with conviction and do work that matters, this is your call to action.

Leadership in life is all about action! Being committed to moving the needle forward and understanding the work or sacrifice required to actually achieve results. That is also the burden of leadership; it takes an engaged, purpose-filled leader to create traction. I find myself falling back to a verse, Jeremiah 29:11: "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope." These words are true, but one critical piece is missing that I've learned: If it's to be, it's up to me. No one will do the work for you. You may be in the right place at the right time and have the right job or influence—but do you have the intestinal fortitude to put in the work and achieve results?

Transformational leadership is the second path less traveled by leaders in today's world. This path requires you to place the needs of others over your own. It demands routine, accountability, and discipline (RAD) in your actions. It inspires those around you to be better. When leaders choose this path, they sacrifice temporary success for a life of significance. To be a transformational leader, you must possess specific leadership characteristics. This blog aims to equip you with the top 10 ways to become a more transformational leader or a Purposeful Accountable Leader (PAL).

Transitional leadership is the first path a leader can choose, and it is the easiest. When a leader adopts this approach, they place profits over people. They value the organization's growth over individual growth. It is increasingly countercultural for leaders to prioritize people over the bottom line.

To achieve the extraordinary, you must frame the challenges relative to your capacity. Too small of a vision leads to expected results; too bold, it becomes unrealistic, and you fail to develop the required resources. I've created a system called VISION to help you break through the mental fog and start building traction for your personal and professional life.

To achieve the extraordinary, you must frame the challenges relative to your capacity. Too small of a vision leads to expected results; too bold, it becomes unrealistic, and you fail to develop the required resources. I've created a system called VISION to help you break through the mental fog and start building traction for your personal and professional life.

In the previous blog, I explained Work-Family-Self as a framework to take back your time. We explored the concept of POISE, an acronym that you can use to charge your battery better so you can go out into this world as a more authentic leader. In this article my goal is to walk you through another acronym that I have created called TIME.

Life and leadership have one thing in common: they're both journeys filled with ups and downs. Purposeful Accountable Leaders (PALs) find self-serving routines and learn to live in harmony between work and family commitments. In this article, I provide a system using the acronym POISE to help you achieve a harmonious life.

Purposeful Accountable Leaders (PALs) understand where they are on their leadership journey and what is required to continue growing. How? Transformational leaders have Leadership Intelligence (LI). I defined LI as aligning emotional intelligence with the organization's needs and the operating environment. LI, at its core, means the less influence you have in your organization, the more you must do personally to succeed.

Everyone has unique core values that define who they are as a leader. However, my goal in this blog was not to convince you to adopt my values. Instead, I challenge you to find your own and inspire you using my examples.

Core values are part of every leader's House of Leadership (HOL). But what are core values, how can you find yours, and why are they important? In this blog, I will share a framework I have developed to guide you in answering these questions. After reading this, I challenge you to find your own and inject them into your daily actions and decisions.

What will the bedrock or foundation of your leadership philosophy stand on? This element is the most important piece in any leadership philosophy and must not be rushed. My goal in this blog is to share with you my leadership foundation using the acronym MEEK. The McMillion HOL is rooted in meekness.

Every leader has a leadership philosophy, but not every leader can clearly communicate it. To be a Purposeful Accountable Leader (PAL), you must consider your leadership philosophy. A way to achieve this is by creating a symbolic house encompassing your leadership style.

Throughout my 15 years of leadership experience, I have learned 27 Rules Of Leadership (ROL). As a note, when I started this blog, it was 24, but it has grown, and I suspect it will continue to grow throughout my leadership journey.

Throughout this journey, we've explored practical strategies to succeed and avoid pitfalls at each phase. Leadership is a transformative journey where we forge our own path toward growth. Each step we take is a small action that contributes to unlocking our full leadership potential.

Summit leadership is challenging because it takes consistent effort, accountability, and extreme discipline throughout a leader's life. Leaders who succeed at the summit have created organizations that change their industry and the world.

In this blog, I will share 10 ways Purposeful Accountable Leaders (PALs) win at the 5th POL and continue their leadership journey. The true test of any leader is not the product or results they produce. To tell if a leader is successful, you only need to look at the leaders they have created.

In this blog, I will outline seven ways Purposeful Accountable Leaders (PALs) lose at the 5th Phase Of Leadership (POL), Shaping Leaders. The 5th POL on your leadership journey demands that you begin to invest heavily in others to shape future leaders.

This month's blog will outline seven ways Purposeful Accountable Leaders (PALs) win at succeeding together. As you progress on the leadership bridge, success no longer depends on your ability to perform the work. Leaders are judged by their team's ability to execute.

This month's blog outlines seven ways leaders can lose at the 4th Phase Of Leadership (POL), Succeed Together. The 4th POL begins when the organization collects a series of wins. Those wins could be small tactical victories or even large strategic targets. However, the results are the same, and that is building momentum.

Phase 3 of our leadership journey is a tipping point. Leaders will build authentic relationships by moving toward their team or leading with authority and position. To progress on your leadership journey, you must first master yourself. How will you choose to show up in this world? Once you truly understand who you decide to be, you can create meaningful relationships that stand the test of time. Always be approachable as a leader and remove the barriers between you and your team. Your goal is to create a collaborative environment where people in your organization practice disciplined disobedience. Is your team willing to stand up when the organization is headed down the wrong path? Above all, to truly create meaningful bonds, you must challenge your team by creating crucible events. These events are not designed to break your team down. They are designed to build your team up and instill the confidence needed during stressful times.

Phase 3 of leadership is your decisive point in becoming a transformational leader. Leadership is a journey; if you do not take the time upfront to build authentic relationships, you will fail to become a transformational leader. Building close relationships with your team is not a weakness and should not be considered soft. Leadership is messy, and you must lead the whole person, including yourself. To do that, you must be honest, vulnerable, and okay with showing emotion. But above all, you need to be consistent. If you fail to live the values and principles you want to emulate in your organization, so will your team. Your responsibility is to your team and their ability to produce results. Be routine in your actions, hold others and yourself accountable, and have the discipline to follow through when times get tough. Let these seven ways to fail at Strengthening Relationships inspire you. We all have greatness inside, but it's up to us to forge those abilities. Become the leader your team needs!

Situational leadership is the shortest phase in becoming a Purposeful Accountable Leader (PAL). Stopping at phase two on the journey across the leadership bridge prevents you from achieving your true potential. Leaders must understand the most precious asset in their business and start investing in it immediately. Do you know what yours is? Your team, the individuals who show up daily to progress your vision and move the company forward. The PEOPLE! Leaders inherit authority when starting a new role, which is temporary. Authority has limited influence but, most importantly, does not inspire others to action. A leader's goal is to move away from rank, title, and situational authority as quickly as possible and build individual relationships.

As we build our leadership bridge to become a more Purposeful Accountable Leader (PAL), there will come a time when we assume situational leadership. Someone somewhere believes you have what it takes to become a transformational leader. Be careful; position, rank, or title only gives you authority. Authority is recognized, but leaders can not earn trust and gain respect with it. Situational Leadership is the only phase on our journey that is not earned. You should aggressively begin to exit the phase as quickly as you entered it.

Before beginning your journey to becoming a Purposeful Accountable Leader (PAL), you must master yourself. Self-leadership is the foundation transformational leaders are built on. Without it, you will not progress on your leadership bridge, building out the 6 Phases Of Leadership (POL). Either you learn to master yourself, or the world will learn to master you. Throughout my 15 years of experience, I have reflected on what has helped me continue my leadership journey and extend my bridge. To progress to Phase 2: Situational Leadership and be successful, relentlessly improve yourself. Here are 8 ways leaders win at Self-leadership.

In the previous blog, I introduced the Six Phases of Leadership. In this month's blog, I will cover seven ways leaders fail at self-leadership. Each phase will be a two-part series where in part one, I provide you with seven ways that leaders fail, and in part two with seven ways that leaders win.

In the previous blog, I explained the first 3 Phases Of Leadership (POL). In this blog, I will finish explaining the final three POL. Below are the remaining 3 POL:

This month's blog will be broken into two parts covering the Six Phases Of Leadership (POL). Before we begin, it's important to note that John C. Maxwell heavily inspired me in his book, Five Levels Of Leadership. My goal is to expand his work and share the leadership principles I learned throughout my 15 years of military service. One unique difference between military and civilian leadership is how often leaders transfer into new roles. For example, I have never been in a leadership role for longer than one year. However, I see it as a strength because it has developed a mindset that has allowed me to create a unified team in a short period.

In the previous blog, I set the foundation by providing 11 examples defining a Purposeful Accountable Leader (PAL). In this blog, we will finish explaining a PAL by arming you with the final 10 examples. I would love to hear how you would define a PAL? Reach out and share your thoughts, emotions, or lessons learned. Below are the final 10 examples to help deepen your understanding of a PAL:

In the previous blog, I defined what leadership means to me. This month's blog will dive into my vision for building a Purposeful Accountable Leader (PAL). I will frequently use the term PAL, and it is essential to spend some time to clearly defining this term. However, this month's blog will be broken into separate parts, given the size. The first part will cover the first 11 examples of a PAL. In a second blog released on 15 July, the final 11 examples are provided to help deepen your understanding of a PAL. Below are the first 11 examples: