Leadership Gym™ Coaching from the Caboose: Making Yourself a Priority 2026/3

Introducing – Coaching from the Caboose – written by our in-house Coach who works one-on-one with railroaders – from individual contributors to the C-suite and everyone in between.

Welcome to Coaching from the Caboose.

I’m Brenda – an executive coach who specializes in elevating personal and professional performance through the lens of neuroscience and somatic intelligence. I’ve worked with hundreds of people, from frontline employees to C-suite executives, helping them shift their thinking, sharpen their actions, and ultimately elevate their results.

So Why the Caboose?

For those newer to the industry, the caboose was once the nerve center at the rear of every train – the conductor’s office, the crew’s home base, the place where critical decisions were made and problems were caught before they became disasters. Today, that role lives on in the EOT device monitoring air pressure and safety at the back of the train. Same purpose. Different form.

That’s exactly what coaching is.

Coaching from the Caboose is about raising personal performance so railroaders can succeed – professionally and personally.

It’s about working through the experiences that shaped you and making better choices about how you move forward. This industry needs everyone pulling in the same direction, and that starts with the person in the mirror.

Each column, I’ll bring you a real coaching challenge – shared with me by real people in this industry. No names. No identifying details. Just the challenge, the coaching approach, and a perspective shift that might help you too.

If it resonates, try it. If it doesn’t, skip the idea and jump to the next EOT.

You have the answers within you. Let’s find them together.

Making Yourself a Priority

Let’s face it – railroading is tough. My colleague will share a three-part series on the Toll of Railroading in the future.

I don’t need to tell you about the high stress, the physical demands, or the weight of working in one of the most regulated industries on the continent. You’re living it. It’s hard, exhausting, and – when it’s good – deeply rewarding work.

One question I hear constantly: “How do I make myself a priority in an environment this demanding?”

There’s no single answer. Every person is different. But here’s what I know: when we stop making ourselves a priority, we start letting others down. Our attitude, our energy, the way we show up – it ripples outward to our coworkers, our families, our crews. How you carry yourself matters to everyone around you.

Making yourself a priority starts with believing you are one. Then it takes one small action, repeated daily, to reinforce that belief. Here are three places to start:

Change Your Self-Talk

Many of us were raised to put others first – and somewhere along the way, we started treating ourselves as an afterthought. You are worthy. You are important.

Ask yourself: How would I talk to myself if I actually cared about me?

Find Your Joy

All throttle and no brake wears out any machine – including you. Joy doesn’t have to be grand. It can be your favorite meal, a walk after your shift, or yes, that coffee with the extra whipped cream.

Ask yourself: What’s one thing that will bring me joy today?

Build in Micro-Energizers

You can’t pour from an empty tank. When time is short, small resets matter. Try box breathing between tasks. Spend sixty seconds visualizing your favorite place and let yourself actually feel it.

Ask yourself: What can I do in under a minute to refuel when I’m running on empty?

There is only one of you. And the people counting on you need you at your best.

Get to it.

Personal Priority Self-Check

Be honest with yourself. Check each statement that is true for you right now:

• I can identify one specific thing I do daily that is just for me – not for my crew, my family, or my railroad
• When I make a mistake, my inner voice sounds more like a coach than a critic
• I have taken at least one intentional break in the past week that wasn’t sleep
• The people closest to me would say I show up with energy more often than exhaustion
• I can name something that brought me genuine joy in the past 48 hours
• I have a go-to reset – something I can do in under a minute when I’m running on empty
• If someone asked me “how are you?” right now, I could answer honestly without deflecting

About Brenda Huizinga

Brenda is an executive coach who specializes in elevating personal and professional performance through the lens of neuroscience and somatic intelligence. She has worked with hundreds of people, from frontline employees to C-suite executives, helping them shift their thinking, sharpen their actions, and ultimately elevate their results. Brenda works one-on-one with railroaders as The Rail Way™’s in-house coach.

About Pauline Lipkewich

Pauline has been railroading since 2011, including leading the global group sales team at Rocky Mountaineer and growing revenues more than 5x in less than 4 years. She has also worked alongside Class I operators at CN and KCS specifically targeting safety performance and operational effectiveness improvements. She runs a boutique firm committed to helping individuals and organizations go further, faster by leveraging behaviors and culture as a key competitive advantage. Her love of leadership, heavy industry and unlocking the potential in people is the genesis in bringing The Rail Way™ to life. She has a Bachelor of Commerce and a Master of Arts (Leadership), both from the University of Guelph.

The Rail Way™ – a division of KingdomBuilding Leadership, Inc. – strives to be the preeminent voice on leadership, people, behaviors and culture for the transportation industry while transforming how the rail sector develops generational railroaders and creates value for all stakeholders.