Featured Essay
I Can Never Fail. Says Who?
Strategy and Building · July 2026 · 9 minutes read
Why builders must anticipate problems, create reserves and prepare for failure before it arrives.
Essays, notes and ideas — gathered here.
A newsletter on leadership and building, a book, and reflections from Gloria & Co.
01 · Newsletter
Building Like Nehemiah
Essays on leadership, courage, ambition, faith and the work of building something that matters.
Life Is a Tragedy Close-Up but a Comedy in Long Shot
Perspective and Resilience · June 2026 · 4 minutes read
How distance changes the meaning of difficult experiences—and why today's tragedy may eventually become part of a larger, more hopeful story.
Read on LinkedInThe People Who Are Slowly Killing Your Future
Relationships and Personal Growth · March 2026 · 4 minutes read
An examination of the relationships, influences and repeated compromises that quietly shape—and sometimes diminish—the future we are trying to build.
Read on LinkedInIn the Equation of Success, What Role Does Luck Play?
Success and Opportunity · June 2026 · 7 minutes read
A thoughtful exploration of effort, timing, opportunity and the role luck plays in the stories we tell about successful people.
Read on LinkedInA Letter I Will Open on 6 June 2036
Vision and Reflection · June 2026 · 10 minutes read
A letter to a future self about ambition, identity, the life being built and the promises worth remembering over the next decade.
Read on LinkedIn
02 · The Book
The Builders.
How Ordinary People Become Leaders Who Change the World
A leadership book for ordinary people ready to move from spectatorship to building — and become capable of carrying a meaningful vision.
Available from Roving Heights stores nationwide or online.
03 · Gloria & Co
Writing from Gloria & Co
Notes on fashion, form, natural fabrics, identity and the ideas shaping Gloria & Co.
Start Here
New here? Three ways in.
A short guide to the writing — one essay on the cost of motion without progress, one on preparing for failure, and one peer-reviewed study for readers who come for the research.
- 01
Busy, Respected and Still Building Nothing
Start here if you are working constantly and still unsure what you are building.
Read it - 02
I Can Never Fail. Says Who?
Start here if you are carrying an ambitious plan with no reserves behind it.
Read it - 03
Assessing Community Engagement in Nigeria's Polio Eradication Initiative
Start here if you came for the research and want to see how the evidence work is done.
Read it
The Archive
Search the writing and research
Every published essay and peer-reviewed study in one place. Filter by topic or search by keyword.
12 items
Essay · Building Like Nehemiah · July 2026 · 9 minutes read
I Can Never Fail. Says Who?
Why builders must anticipate problems, create reserves and prepare for failure before it arrives.
LeadershipFaith & Work
Read the essayEssay · Building Like Nehemiah · June 2026 · 4 minutes read
Life Is a Tragedy Close-Up but a Comedy in Long Shot
How distance changes the meaning of difficult experiences — and why today's tragedy may become part of a larger, more hopeful story.
Faith & Work
Read the essayEssay · Building Like Nehemiah · March 2026 · 4 minutes read
The People Who Are Slowly Killing Your Future
The relationships, influences and repeated compromises that quietly shape — and sometimes diminish — the future we are trying to build.
Leadership
Read the essayEssay · Building Like Nehemiah · June 2026 · 7 minutes read
In the Equation of Success, What Role Does Luck Play?
A thoughtful exploration of effort, timing, opportunity and the role luck plays in the stories we tell about successful people.
Leadership
Read the essayEssay · Building Like Nehemiah · June 2026 · 10 minutes read
A Letter I Will Open on 6 June 2036
A letter to a future self about ambition, identity, the life being built and the promises worth remembering over the next decade.
Faith & WorkLeadership
Read the essayEssay · Under the Surface · July 2026 · 5 minutes read
Busy, Respected and Still Building Nothing
The quiet trap of maintaining a full calendar without producing a meaningful body of work — and how to distinguish motion from progress.
Leadership
Read the essayEssay · Under the Surface · July 2026 · 5 minutes read
The Quiet Way Serious Dreams Die
Why meaningful dreams rarely disappear through one dramatic failure, but through the gradual loss of attention, standards and honest action.
LeadershipFaith & Work
Read the essayEssay · Under the Surface · July 2026 · 5 minutes read
When Passion Becomes a Liability
Why passion may begin the work but cannot sustain it — and what builders need when motivation and emotional energy inevitably change.
Leadership
Read the essayEssay · Under the Surface · July 2026 · 5 minutes read
We Underestimate What Success Will Require
Why achieving a serious vision requires more than beginning — and how builders must develop the capacity to carry what they are asking for.
LeadershipFaith & Work
Read the essayPublication · BMJ Open · 2021
Assessing Community Engagement in Nigeria's Polio Eradication Initiative
Applying the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research to the factors that supported or constrained community-engagement strategies in Nigeria's polio-eradication programme.
ResearchAfrica
Read the paperPublication · Tropical Medicine and Health · 2022
A Qualitative Exploration of the Contributions of the Polio Eradication Initiative to the Nigerian Health System
Infrastructure, workforce capacity, relationships and operational knowledge created through the polio programme — and what should be protected as Nigeria transitions beyond polio eradication.
ResearchAfrica
Read the paperPublication · Peer-reviewed study · 2019
Perceived Societal Views About Condom Use and Risky Sexual Behaviour Among Adolescents in Ibadan
A study of 420 adolescents on how perceptions of social support, effectiveness and access relate to sexual behaviour and the design of responsive adolescent-health interventions.
ResearchAfrica
Read the paperContinue exploring
Research & Programme DesignEvidence-based research and programme design across financial inclusion and women's economic empowerment.Read more Under the SurfaceThe publication of The Builders Community — essays on what building really requires.Read more The Builders CommunityThe Room, the Conference and the publication that make up the Builders ecosystem.Read more