In November 2024 I made a promise to work with my best friend and write his second book, a book he has been wanting written for 4 years. After an interesting 2025, I’ve managed to keep that promise. And on January 26th, we’ll be releasing “Fine-Ferguson”, which is a continuation of creator Rick Yurisko’s Healing Waters universe, but in a different vein. (Watch LinkedIn and Amazon for release information.)
The lesson of the last year, Servant Leader, isn’t that we can keep our promises if we prioritize the work. It’s not even that, as Christians, our word should be our bond. Although those are both important tenets of servant leadership, they’re not what releasing “Fine-Ferguson” is about.
It’s about perseverance.
Perseverance and patience and trust. Not by me, but in me. You see, Rick isn’t a writer. He dabbles and has written some powerful poetry, but he’s not a fiction writer—and that’s okay. But what that means is that, if Rick wants to achieve his vision for the Healing Waters universe, then he needs to persevere, to be patient with those he relies upon, and trust God in the process.
What does mine and Rick’s relationship in 2025 have to do with Government Contracting, you ask?
Well, nothing…and yet, everything.
You see, Servant Leader, unless you are the owner of a single-member LLC, winning a contract means persevering through RFP delays, Government shutdowns, and DOGE’d contracts. It means being patient as awards get shifted and new employees get onboarded and mistakes get made. It means trusting that your subject matter experts (SMEs) are giving you the required information for a Blue/Purple Technical, that your client is telling you at least as much as they’re telling everyone else, and that your executives are resilient in their decisions and not chasing the next emotional squirrel.
You see, Servant Leader, Rick’s reliance on me to write, edit, format, and publish “Fine-Ferguson” has absolutely nothing to do with the next wave of RFPs…but it’s exemplary of everything we do as growth practitioners, project/program/portfolio managers, line analysts, financial executives, and contracts managers.
We live the requirements.
We make promises and our word (written in an RFP/modification) is our bond.
We win, we lose, we get fired, hired, and promoted.
And we can either kick at the goads (Acts 26) and stay up until late fretting over actions we cannot control, or we trust that the God of the universe has led us in the right direction AND that we have listened.
It doesn’t mean we’ll always win. That’s not the point.
The point is to persevere, be patient…
…and to trust.
That’s what I learned from 2025. What did your year teach you, Servant Leader?
