A simple 3-step method to take ownership without losing trust
There’s a moment every manager dreads. You realize you messed something up.
Maybe something slipped. Maybe it was a decision you made. Maybe your team missed and you didn’t catch it in time.Â
Whatever it is, you feel it immediately. An...
You might be teaching your team to depend on you.
A manager told me recently, “I don’t understand why everything comes to me.”Â
Every decision, every approval, every little judgment call. Nothing seemed to get done unless he was involved. He was frustrated, and honestly, a little confused...
Sometimes the problem isn’t motivation. It’s how often the direction keeps changing.
A manager on our clinic call this week described something that will sound familiar to a lot of leaders. He described what was happening to his team as “chasing squirrels.”
Their senior leader kept spotting new o...
Most managers explain the strategy once. That’s not enough.
A manager gathers their team and explains the strategy.
Everyone nods. The plan seems clear. The priorities sound reasonable. The meeting ends on a positive note.
Two weeks later, something strange happens.
The team is busy and the work ...
What I would actually do if I inherited a new team tomorrow
Last week I wrote about the moment many managers experience after stepping into a bigger role. It’s the point where confidence dips, uncertainty rises, and the job suddenly feels harder than expected.Â
Self-doubt doesn’t disappear with r...
What’s really happening when your new leadership role suddenly feels overwhelming.
Over the past couple of years, I’ve spoken with dozens of tech industry managers who had just taken on new teams.
The beginning of their story is almost always the same.
They were excited. Proud. Energi...
You hired someone who checked every box.
They had the experience. They knew the tools. They interviewed well. On paper, they were exactly what you needed.
But six months in, something's off. They struggle to recover when things go sideways. They avoid hard conversations. They wait for clear dire...
The pressure most leaders feel has less to do with workload, and more to do with dependency.
Most leaders do not burn out in a single moment.
There is rarely a dramatic breaking point or a clear line where everything suddenly becomes too much. More often, the strain slowly and steadily builds. Le...
Leadership wasn’t meant to feel like this...
Most leaders don’t set out to become the bottleneck.
In fact, it usually happens with the best intentions. You want things done well. You want to protect the team from unnecessary friction. You want to keep momentum moving. So when something is unclear...
Why Good Teams Slip Out of Alignment
Most teams don’t fall apart in dramatic ways.
There’s rarely a single moment where everything breaks. More often, things just start to feel harder than they should. Progress slows. Conversations repeat themselves. You find yourself clarifying expectations that...
Why changing the plan is easier than changing what makes the plan succeed.
Why New Year planning so often lock teams into last year’s patterns
January is when most leaders run the same play.
They look back at what didn’t quite work last year.They look ahead at what has to be different this year.A...
How Teams Actually Hit the Ground Running
The first few days back after the holidays can feel brutal.
If you were lucky, you got some real distance from work.Time with family.A slower pace.Maybe a trip, a few workouts, a movie, a football game, or just the rare experience of not constantly thinki...
