04.22.2026

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Where Dr. Tom Webb sparks your curiosity and inspires action!

Picture this Reader,

This past weekend, my wife Kelly headed to Chicago for a birthday party that deserves a spot in the hall of fame.

Her high school friend Kim decided to celebrate in a big way. Over the years, Kim has lived in different cities, built friendships across the country, and created connection circles that stretched far beyond where it all began. For her birthday, she invited everyone back to Chicago for a Cubs game at Wrigley Field.

There was just one condition.

Everyone had to wear a hotdog costume.

And they did.

Ninety-five of her closest friends, all walking down Clark Street dressed as hotdogs. Some of them were even eating hotdogs on the way into the stadium.

If you watched the Cubs broadcast on Saturday, there’s a good chance you saw them.

Each guest wore a name badge with a ribbon showing when their friendship with Kim began. Kelly said it was an instant conversation starter. No one had to wonder who was part of the birthday crew. You could see it. You could feel it. You knew exactly what brought them together.

But here’s the part that really stuck with me.

On the lanyard holding each name tag was a list of ingredients needed to make a world-famous Chicago hotdog.

And just like that, a goofy, glorious birthday party handed me this week’s leadership lesson:

Stick to the ingredients.

Every school, business, team, and organization has a set of ingredients that made it what it is.

Sometimes we call them mission and vision statements.

Sometimes we frame them as guiding principles.

But I think the better question is this:

Who are we, really?

What are the ingredients that built this place?

What values shaped the culture when things were strong?

What behaviors helped earn trust?

What standards made people proud to belong?

What habits created momentum, consistency, and connection?

Because over time, it’s easy for organizations to drift.

New pressures show up.

New personalities enter the mix.

New priorities compete for attention.

And before long, you can feel that something is off.

Not because the people are bad.

Not because the goals are wrong.

But because the ingredients got out of order.

A Chicago hotdog isn’t famous because somebody got creative and started tossing random stuff on it. It became iconic because it stuck to what made it work. NO Ketchup!

Organizations are no different.

It only takes a few minutes talking with veteran employees or senior leaders to find out whether current actions, behaviors, and direction still line up with the ingredients that built the place. Usually, people know. They can feel it in the culture, in the meetings, in the daily habits, and in the standards that are either protected or slowly slipping.

The good news?

You can realign at any time.

You can return to what matters.

You can clarify what is non-negotiable.

You can name the ingredients and start living them again.

That’s what BOOMLeaders do.

We do not just admire the recipe.

We protect it.

We practice it.

We pass it on.

So this week, take a moment and ask:

What are the ingredients that built our organization?