Pivotal Strategic Solutions

02/20/2026

Collaboration = Aligned Minds. Amplified Impact.

Contact directly at ➡️ https://mikecantrell.net/

02/16/2026

Ideas start movements. Collaborations build Legacies!

For direct contact ➡️ https://mikecantrell.net/

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02/10/2026

Credit where it’s due to Harold Hamm and Continental Resources for keeping their headquarters in Oklahoma City.
That decision wasn’t bought. It was earned.

And that matters.

The marketplace, not government subsidies, should decide where companies locate their headquarters. Period. Real decisions are driven by workforce quality, quality of life for employees, infrastructure, access to services, and long-term competitiveness — not temporary incentive packages.

Paying companies to come to Oklahoma is counterproductive. The companies that stay are the ones that were built where they are. Continental is proof.

Here’s my personal observation after decades in business: policymakers would do far better investing in the small and mid-sized businesses that choose Oklahoma every day than chasing out-of-state companies that too often take the money and leave.

Oklahoma can’t compete with Texas on seaports — and that’s fine. But we can compete by investing in fundamentals: strong schools, real education outcomes, roads and bridges that work, livable communities, and strategic assets like the Port of Catoosa.

MAPS showed us the model. Invest in infrastructure and quality of life, and growth follows.

The future isn’t corporate welfare.
It’s building an Oklahoma worth staying in.

Harold Hamm's Continental Resources remains in Oklahoma City as Devon Energy and Expand Energy move headquarters to Houston, sparking future debate.

02/06/2026

Leadership isn’t about position, it’s about posture. Your attitude determines your influence.

For direct contact https://mikecantrell.net/

01/23/2026

This is a very good explanation of the oil and gas industry’s dilemma surrounding increased activity in Venezuela.

What I find most fascinating, however, is the ongoing back-and-forth between major industry players and Donald Trump.

Trump is unlike any president we have ever had. A look at his behavior over more than 40 years in public life helps explain his unorthodox—but often highly effective—methods:

He uses words and every tool at his disposal to get what he wants, but adapts quickly when circumstances change.
He always plays for the end game—whatever it takes to get there is part of the plan.
“Win-win” negotiating means he wins twice.
He usually means what he says, no matter how outlandish—right up until it stops working.
I suspect he knows the oil and gas industry has not net-benefited as much from “drill, baby, drill,” energy-dominance rhetoric, and reduced regulation as it has lost from his relentless push for low oil prices.
And he also knows the industry will largely support him anyway.

In navigating these “Trump waters,” the oil and gas industry would be wise to remember a passage from the Tao Te Ching:
“Do your own work, and step back—the only path to serenity.”

That appears to be exactly what industry leaders—from Chevron to Harold Hamm, who just announced he is ceasing drilling in North Dakota due to low oil prices—are now doing.

The company lobbied hard for proximity to Venezuela’s oil wealth—but it has little appetite for making major investments there in the near term.

01/20/2026

Trust isn’t built with words alone—it’s built with consistency, integrity, and follow-through. This video breaks down what really creates lasting trust in business and in life.

For direct contact : https://mikecantrell.net/

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01/15/2026

Great leaders don’t demand engagement. They create it. Leadership & engagement isn’t a tactic—it’s a leadership responsibility.

Direct contact https://lnkd.in/gNqeWSGf

01/12/2026

Self-awareness isn’t optional; it is the cornerstone of true leadership. Leadership begins within. Self-aware leaders have the ability to inspire change. The strongest leaders are those who first take the time to understand themselves.

01/07/2026

This clip reminds me of the last time I was in Senator Langford‘s office in DC. I was in town for other meetings and got a call from his staff inviting me to get with the Senator at 9 o’clock the next morning.
I mistakingly thought it was a private meeting with the Senator. When I got there, there were 50 people waiting to go into what was a meeting with Oklahomans that were in town to meet with the Senator all at the same time. I went from feeling special to feeling slighted. I remember thinking I don’t do cattle calls. How incredibly arrogant of me! I decided to stay and just see what it was like. (My first inclination was to simply leave). The Senator didn’t talk or say anything about himself. He merely went around the room and asked everyone there how they were doing and what they were doing in town. He was generally interested in every person and offered to help . Every single person in the room except me was in some form or fashion, a social worker, most of them with children. I was honored to be in a room with Oklahomans That spent their whole lives, caring for others. My arrogance was replaced by embarrassment and humility.
We all have reasons to be cynical about politicians. None of them are perfect. But this humble and decent servant does what he does the right way for the right reasons. I’m proud to call him my Senator and my friend. This day he became more than a senator to me. He ministered to me in a way that I needed, simply by being himself!

01/07/2026

My proudest moment as an American came at the end of the First Gulf War. President George H. W. Bush used overwhelming force to free Kuwait—and then we came home. No oil seizures. No occupation. No empire.

Years later, we tried the opposite approach in Iraq. The result was a destabilized Middle East we’re still living with.

No one disputes that Maduro is a bad man. But making oil the centerpiece and talking about “taking it back” reinforces the very perception of American imperialism we once disproved—and it will ripple across the Western Hemisphere; and indeed the entire world.

I hope cooler heads prevail and that we help the Venezuelan people choose their own future with their own resources.

This is not who we are.

11/26/2025

Legacy isn’t built by what we leave behind—it’s built by who we lift up. Mentorship isn’t a role, it’s a responsibility.

11/25/2025

I was a founder of and the first Chairman of the OERB. At the time, the industry was split over the issue of natural gas pro rationing. One of our board members from a company against pro-rationing was trying to get the OERB to take a position on it publicly. As a board we made the decision that we leave political issues at the door of the meeting room, as was the intent of the enabling statute. That was and still would be a wise course of action.

This add constitutes a serious misstep as well as a departure from the industry harmony that the OERB has always represented. It comes dangerously close to violating the spirit—and possibly the intent—of the OERB’s enabling statute. The OERB has never been a weapon in intra-industry fights. That neutrality is what has kept the program strong and respected.

This message is blatantly anti-vertical-well and only partially accurate. In nearly 50 counties across Oklahoma, there are few , if any, horizontal wells. Many formations across the state are simply not conducive to horizontal drilling. Vertical wells are the economic backbone of those communities—funding schools, roads, rural tax bases, providing essential local and state revenue. Undermining them undermines Oklahoma.

The OERB was created to represent and promote all of us: pipelines, refiners, horizontal producers, vertical producers, waterflood operators, and the smallest independents. When the organization is used for political messaging, it threatens the credibility—and the very existence—of the program.

We all support horizontal drilling and the enormous value it brings to our state and nation. But this ad is divisive, unnecessary, and flat-out damaging. I strongly urge OERB leadership to rethink this approach before real harm is done. This one of a kind program is far too important to let this kind of pettiness creep in.

Horizontal drilling has transformed U.S. energy, unlocking oil and natural gas from deep shale formations and turning the U.S. into the world’s leading producer.

This cutting-edge technology allows one horizontal well to do the work of up to 6 traditional wells, reducing surface impact while increasing efficiency.
Paired with hydraulic fracturing, it's driving job creation, lowering energy costs and fueling economic growth, all while operating under strict safety and environmental standards.

Discover how this innovation is powering progress: https://bit.ly/4mJlmAs