Gary Whiteley has worn many professional hats. He has been a medical laboratory technician, truck driver, residential home builder, painter, commercial fisher, university residence hall director, university program evaluator, teacher, principal, assistant superintendent of schools, and leadership consultant. Over the past twenty years, he has developed and facilitated coaching programs with the assistance of exceptional leadership coaches. Gary has supported leaders in the Lower Kuskokwim School District, where schools and entire villages are relocating due to climate change. He has witnessed the challenges of being a leader at the forefront of American democracy and has designed strategies for responding constructively. His experiences and formal education have inspired two books about leadership: Dispositions of Leadership: The Effects on Student Learning and School Culture (2017); Sailing Toward Horizon: A Voyage of Leadership Discovery (2023).Gary resides in Kenai, Alaska, where he finds solace and renewal hiking in the mountains with family and friends.