A week and a half ago, I had the honor of speaking at the GIS Leadership Summit in San Diego. For those who were not in the room, I want to share a few things from the talk — and from the conversations that followed. The talk was called "You Don't Have to Carry the Map Alone." It started with a question I could not stop asking — not in a research kind of way, but in a 3 AM, staring at the ceiling kind of way. Why, in 2025, are technically brilliant GIS professionals still invisible in the rooms where the decisions about their programs get made? I brought that question to 60+ GIS leaders. And three patterns kept appearing — across government, enterprise, and consulting, across every level of seniority. The Translation Gap. In more than 80% of my interviews, I heard the same story. A GIS professional presents something technically excellent. The work is sound. The analysis is rigorous. And they walk out of the room with nothing approved. Not because the work was wrong — because the language was not landing. One leader told me: "I stopped saying geodatabase and started saying decision support. The budget conversation changed overnight." The Isolation. GIS leadership is one of the loneliest jobs in the building. You sit between the technical world and the executive world and belong fully to neither. One leader told me: "I sat in senior leadership meetings for two years before anyone asked what GIS actually needed." And then they said the thing that changed everything: "I finally realized I had to create my own seat." Winging Leadership. We invest enormously in technical development in this field. Certifications. Software training. Conferences. But leadership development? We mostly improvise. One leader said something I think about constantly: "Nobody ever taught me how to give feedback, run a prioritization conversation, or tell my director we couldn't take on another project. I just watched how other people did it and hoped for the best." That third pattern — winging it — produces brilliant people who are technically irreplaceable and organizationally fragile. Programs that depend entirely on one person. Leaders who are exhausted not because the work is hard, but because nobody ever gave them the tools to do the leadership part of the job. I shared my own version of this story on stage. Early in my management career, I came out of a difficult conversation with a team member — one of those where you try your best, and it still does not land. I had five minutes to sit with that feeling before walking into a meeting with a customer. So I did what we all do. I put on the mask. I held it together. When the meeting ended, everyone filed out. I wanted five minutes alone. Everyone left. Except one person. He was a senior leader I respected enormously. He sat back down across from me and said three words: "Are you okay?" I started to cry. He became my mentor. And what he told me next changed the direction of my career: "The reason executives do not understand your GIS program is not that you are bad at GIS. It is because nobody taught you how to talk to them in their language. That is a learnable skill." That sentence is why I wrote the book. And it is why I stood on that stage. The response—in the room and in the days since—has been something I did not expect. People waited to tell me their version of the same story. Leaders ordered the book for their teams. First-time Summit attendees told me it was the day they started believing they could lead. So before the conversation fades, I want to put the question in front of this community. Which of the three patterns — the translation gap, the isolation, or winging leadership — is the one you are carrying right now? I would genuinely love to hear your answer. Because the conversation that started in that room on July 12th is not finished. It is just beginning. Izabela Miller Author, The Science of GIS Leadership ... View more

Welcome to San Diego GIS Leaders attending ESRI EU 2026 It's here, at long last.  I was in San Diego this week, and know you'll be able to enjoy your time while there.   (From Education 2030 UN ) Three questions currently being asked during another global conversation at the United Nations:: What kind of future do you want to live in? What changes would you like to see in education and learning? What actions are needed to make those changes happen? If you contributed to the survey, it will help shape the Post-2030 Youth Education and Learning Agenda and ensure youth voices are reflected in global discussions on the future of education. CREATING A MORE INTELLIGENT WORLD (an incredibly timely ESRI Vision this year) Moving beyond creating to innovation and dissemination of knowledge is so critical to development. I have certainly been encouraging to work locally, but think globally.    Carl Sagen said, “we need a global intelligence…”  Professor Dangermond said during his opening remarks, "Today GIS is promising to expand our abilities to reason together.  Collective knowledge being used as a tool.  Geography and spatial thinking are building blocks to help us organize and integrate.  GIS is helping us to create a more intelligent world." I wish you all well, and encourage you to learn while you participate in San Diego.  The world needs people like you.  Get Involved in the SDG challenge is my ask.   ... View more

The 2026 Esri GIS Leadership Summit brought together GIS leaders, executives, IT professionals, and innovators to share practical lessons for strengthening geospatial programs and increasing organizational impact. This resource guide is organized by the four segments of the day so attendees can continue exploring the tools, examples, and ideas discussed in each session. ... View more

As the 2026 Esri GIS Leadership Summit approaches, this reflection looks back at how a grassroots gathering of GIS managers grew into a global leadership community. From its attendee-driven beginnings in 2010 to the launch of new frameworks, solutions, networking opportunities, and year-round community engagement, the Summit’s history illustrates the enduring power of GIS professionals learning from one another, sharing challenges, and advancing the practice of geospatial leadership together. ... View more

If you have ever tried to explain the value of GIS to someone outside the GIS team, you know the conversation can change quickly depending on who is in the room. A technical feature that excites a GIS professional may not land the same way with an executive. Decision-makers are usually listening for confidence, risk reduction, operational value, customer impact, growth, resilience, and a path from insight to action. Moderated by Dena Stratton Cross, the panel brings together four executives who will help GIS leaders see their work through an executive leadership lens: Bryan Chandler of TSCG, Marilyn Howe of Diebold Nixdorf, Megan Stanley of GHD and Kyle Swanson of Padre Dam Municipal Water District. Together, they bring perspectives spanning retail real estate, global financial technology, public water service, and architecture, engineering, and construction. ... View more