Hey Reader, I asked my team for honest feedback about how I was leading. I expected a few comments about workload or priorities. Instead, I got something that stopped me cold: “We’re not always sure what done looks like.” At first, I wanted to explain myself. I thought I had been clear. But the more I sat with it, the more I realized they were right. I was giving direction without painting the full picture. The team was left filling in the gaps, which created confusion and wasted effort. That...
30 days ago • 3 min read
Some time ago, I worked with my first client, visibly worn down from the job search grind. She had sent out dozens of applications, rewritten her resume six different ways, and still hadn’t gotten a single interview. “I feel invisible,” she said. That line stuck with me. Does it resonate with you? Have you heard it from a friend? Because I’ve heard it a lot from highly qualified people, across industries and roles. The common thread? They aren't being seen for what they could truly do. And...
about 1 month ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, Here’s a habit that I was recently reminded of. It is one that snuck up on me today as I was working with a client. For months (maybe years if I'm honest), I found myself reaching for my phone at every idle moment. Waiting in line? Instagram. Red light? LinkedIn. First thing in the morning? Facebook. It wasn’t “fun” anymore. It was automatic. What startled me most wasn’t how often I checked social media. It was how little intention there was behind it. I wasn’t choosing to scroll....
about 2 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, A few weeks ago, someone reached out to me with a desperate message: “I know you don’t normally do resumes, but would you mind looking at mine? I’ve applied for countless jobs and I’m not getting any interviews.” When I opened their resume, I hit a wall. They were in a field that I knew nothing about. I wasn’t familiar with the industry jargon, the role expectations, or the keywords that would make sense to a recruiter or applicant tracking system (ATS). And that’s when I brought...
2 months ago • 2 min read
Hey Reader, I still remember the day I walked into the conference room, knowing the conversation ahead would be one of the hardest in my career. Our company had been hit by a sudden market downturn, and despite every effort to protect jobs, layoffs were unavoidable. As a leader, I had been through challenging quarters, tense negotiations, and major organizational changes. This was different. When you are the one delivering the news, you carry the weight of more than just the business...
2 months ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader, There’s nothing like a glitchy podcast recording to remind you that nothing goes as planned, and maybe that’s the point. Doris and I sat down with our dear friend Heather Wolcott for a podcast episode on wellness in the workplace. We had sound issues, echo cancellations, browser mishaps, and the kind of start-and-stop chaos that makes you wonder if the universe is trying to teach you something. It was. Because even though we were scrambling to get everyone’s mic working, the...
3 months ago • 3 min read
Hey Reader, Last night, I joined a group of folks going through career transitions. I was asked to speak to them about adjacent skills, but instead we dove in and did some deep work. One participant had just earned their master’s degree and was finally ready to pursue the role they’d been dreaming about. However, after years of running their own business, they were unsure how to position themselves in a corporate HR role. Midway through the session, they saw it clearly. After the meeting,...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Reader, One year ago, I met Doris on a walk. I was the slowest in the group by a mile, but she stayed back and talked with me. We connected instantly and now, a year and twenty-something podcast episodes later, we may not walk together but we are still talking, and still turning life’s awkward moments into leadership insights. This week on the podcast, we celebrated our one-year anniversary and tackled a topic that most people can relate to but few talk about with honesty: nervous energy....
4 months ago • 2 min read
{ subscriber.first_name }}, years ago, I ran the worst meeting of my life. I gathered my team for what was supposed to be a strategic planning session. But I hadn’t set a clear agenda. I was vague about the goal. And I invited everyone “just in case” they had something to add. It was a mess. People talked in circles. No one made a decision. One teammate left early. And someone told me afterward, “That could have been an email.” Ouch. That moment changed how I lead meetings. And then I...
4 months ago • 2 min read