The Equation of Human Potential
Kristal Markle-Temons has spent her career studying one deceptively simple question: What causes some people and cultures to grow while others become trapped by fear, disengagement, or silence? As the founder of BGL: Bold Growth & Leadership, an author, keynote speaker, and facilitator, she helps organizations build leaders who create trust, courage, and change. After a devastating collision took away her ability to read and write, she rebuilt her life and proved that courage, service, and connection are choices.
Searching for the Formula
Why did some people rise after adversity while others remained stuck? Why did certain leaders inspire courage while others created fear? People appeared unpredictable, but Kristal believed patterns existed beneath the surface. "I invested my life trying to understand the equation of human potential."
That pursuit led her into public service and leadership development. Entrusted with building leadership capacity for an organization of more than 16,000 employees, and mentored by a pioneer of the servant leadership movement, she began exploring a question central to her work: "What if leadership is a choice, not a skill, and what happens when leaders choose service over power?"
The program she created was rooted in courageous love, psychological safety, accountability, and human dignity. Participants developed confidence, teams rebuilt trust, and within a year of graduating, 68 percent had been promoted.
The Moment That Changed Everything
One of the most important lessons of her career began with an apparent success. The day after the first cohort graduated, she walked into her boss's office glowing. Participants had delivered speeches about her impact and given her gifts, and several said she had transformed their lives.
When her boss and mentor, John "JP" Phillips, asked how she thought she had done, she answered without hesitation. "Incredible! Did you hear the things they said about me?"
JP's response stopped her cold. "I heard what they said. But Kristal, what was your mission?"
"To create leaders," she replied.
"Did you do that?" he asked. "You are a gifted leader, but that is not what I asked you to do. What I saw were devoted Kristal followers. Was that your goal?"
Kristal was devastated. The participants loved her, yet JP was right: their admiration was not proof she had accomplished the mission. That conversation changed her definition of leadership forever. Leadership cannot be measured by how many people admire us or want to follow us, but by how many become capable of leading without us.
When Everything Changed
After several years of teaching the program, Kristal's philosophy would be tested in a way she could never have anticipated. On November 14, 2016, she was stopped at a red light on her way to work when a truck traveling roughly 55 miles per hour crashed into her vehicle, causing a traumatic brain injury that changed her life.
Kristal could no longer read or write. Treasured memories disappeared. She was a single mother raising a nine-year-old daughter who watched closely to learn what strength looked like when life became unrecognizable. "Suddenly, I wasn't a person of privilege speaking from atop the mountain. I had to eat my own cooking."
She had spent years teaching people to choose courage. Now she had to decide whether courage was real when fear was overwhelming, and choose purpose over pain. Recovery required grief, persistence, sacrifice, and humility. It transformed her leadership philosophy from something she taught into something she lived. "You live differently when you walk that walk."
Giving When It Hurts
Today, Kristal's decisions are guided by four principles: authenticity, courage, grace, and love. Asked to define worthiness, she is direct. "Worthiness is the ability to put the mission first, your people second, and yourself last." For her, it is not demonstrated through recognition, revenue, or title, but revealed when leadership becomes costly: giving when it hurts, listening when it is difficult, and standing for what you believe in when it would be easier or safer to remain silent.
That philosophy was shaped deeply by JP, one of the greatest influences on her life and career, and by her mother, Donna Markle, her "Momma," whose example still makes Kristal's face brighten with pride.
Building Leaders Who Build Leaders
Kristal believes this leadership will grow more important as organizations consolidate and lean more heavily on technology. "One of the greatest risks organizations face is not technology. It is the loss of human connection." As they scale, employees can become removed from the passion, purpose, and relationships that once shaped the culture.
Her work helps organizations preserve their humanity while they grow. Through BGL and the Mission-Driven Facilitator Certification Program, she equips leaders and facilitators to create transformational experiences, not presentations that transfer information, but environments that strengthen trust, change behavior, and help people discover their own capacity to lead.
Every time a leader mentors another person or someone chooses courage over fear, the mission moves farther than Kristal could carry alone. She is developing people who can take the workplaces she may never see. Asked what she is most proud of, her answer is a single sentence: "My greatest aspiration is to leave behind a world filled with people courageous enough to choose the sacrifice of service."
The Equation of Human Potential
Kristal Markle-Temons has spent her career studying one deceptively simple question: What causes some people and cultures to grow while others become trapped by fear, disengagement, or silence? As the founder of BGL: Bold Growth & Leadership, an author, keynote speaker, and facilitator, she helps organizations build leaders who create trust, courage, and change. After a devastating collision took away her ability to read and write, she rebuilt her life and proved that courage, service, and connection are choices.
Searching for the Formula
Why did some people rise after adversity while others remained stuck? Why did certain leaders inspire courage while others created fear? People appeared unpredictable, but Kristal believed patterns existed beneath the surface. "I invested my life trying to understand the equation of human potential."
That pursuit led her into public service and leadership development. Entrusted with building leadership capacity for an organization of more than 16,000 employees, and mentored by a pioneer of the servant leadership movement, she began exploring a question central to her work: "What if leadership is a choice, not a skill, and what happens when leaders choose service over power?"
The program she created was rooted in courageous love, psychological safety, accountability, and human dignity. Participants developed confidence, teams rebuilt trust, and within a year of graduating, 68 percent had been promoted.
The Moment That Changed Everything
One of the most important lessons of her career began with an apparent success. The day after the first cohort graduated, she walked into her boss's office glowing. Participants had delivered speeches about her impact and given her gifts, and several said she had transformed their lives.
When her boss and mentor, John "JP" Phillips, asked how she thought she had done, she answered without hesitation. "Incredible! Did you hear the things they said about me?"
JP's response stopped her cold. "I heard what they said. But Kristal, what was your mission?"
"To create leaders," she replied.
"Did you do that?" he asked. "You are a gifted leader, but that is not what I asked you to do. What I saw were devoted Kristal followers. Was that your goal?"
Kristal was devastated. The participants loved her, yet JP was right: their admiration was not proof she had accomplished the mission. That conversation changed her definition of leadership forever. Leadership cannot be measured by how many people admire us or want to follow us, but by how many become capable of leading without us.
When Everything Changed
After several years of teaching the program, Kristal's philosophy would be tested in a way she could never have anticipated. On November 14, 2016, she was stopped at a red light on her way to work when a truck traveling roughly 55 miles per hour crashed into her vehicle, causing a traumatic brain injury that changed her life.
Kristal could no longer read or write. Treasured memories disappeared. She was a single mother raising a nine-year-old daughter who watched closely to learn what strength looked like when life became unrecognizable. "Suddenly, I wasn't a person of privilege speaking from atop the mountain. I had to eat my own cooking."
She had spent years teaching people to choose courage. Now she had to decide whether courage was real when fear was overwhelming, and choose purpose over pain. Recovery required grief, persistence, sacrifice, and humility. It transformed her leadership philosophy from something she taught into something she lived. "You live differently when you walk that walk."
Giving When It Hurts
Today, Kristal's decisions are guided by four principles: authenticity, courage, grace, and love. Asked to define worthiness, she is direct. "Worthiness is the ability to put the mission first, your people second, and yourself last." For her, it is not demonstrated through recognition, revenue, or title, but revealed when leadership becomes costly: giving when it hurts, listening when it is difficult, and standing for what you believe in when it would be easier or safer to remain silent.
That philosophy was shaped deeply by JP, one of the greatest influences on her life and career, and by her mother, Donna Markle, her "Momma," whose example still makes Kristal's face brighten with pride.
Building Leaders Who Build Leaders
Kristal believes this leadership will grow more important as organizations consolidate and lean more heavily on technology. "One of the greatest risks organizations face is not technology. It is the loss of human connection." As they scale, employees can become removed from the passion, purpose, and relationships that once shaped the culture.
Her work helps organizations preserve their humanity while they grow. Through BGL and the Mission-Driven Facilitator Certification Program, she equips leaders and facilitators to create transformational experiences, not presentations that transfer information, but environments that strengthen trust, change behavior, and help people discover their own capacity to lead.
Every time a leader mentors another person or someone chooses courage over fear, the mission moves farther than Kristal could carry alone. She is developing people who can take the workplaces she may never see. Asked what she is most proud of, her answer is a single sentence: "My greatest aspiration is to leave behind a world filled with people courageous enough to choose the sacrifice of service."
Current Issue
All Rights Reserved