The challenges of being a rising leader are unique.

Reader, Building Agency in Your Team. The word agency has been cropping up a lot lately. I love the word. Agency is the catalyst that turns regular teams into entrepreneurial teams: capable of thinking, innovating, acting, and making real progress. It’s the ability to know what to do, why it matters, and take action together. Let’s unpack this so you can find new ways to build agency in yourself and your team. Knowing what to do. If this were easy, every company would be aligned and moving in...

Reader, I live in a small canyon in the mountain range just south of Boulder, Colorado. For years, I worked in downtown Denver and made the commute each day to the city. On my drive, I’d often stop for breakfast and coffee at our local shop. But instead of being a treat, it was usually a test of patience. 1:1 thinking. The exchange went something like this: The worker to the customer in front of me: “What can I get you?”“I’ll have an egg, ham, and cheese, please.” Then the worker would pull...

Reader, In the busyness of year-end, it’s easy to sprint toward the finish line and crash headlong into the holidays. But if next year matters—and you know you want to be a better leader—you can’t afford not to reflect. And reflection doesn’t have to mean hours of deep work. Sometimes, all it takes is the courage to ask the tough questions. “I kept waiting for you…” Years ago, I had a team member I struggled to lead. I always felt like he was frustrated with me. Like we kept missing each...

Reader, Many rising leaders start off strong—only to melt into a swirl of uncertainty and waning confidence. The meeting begins and you’re ready to go…but your good intentions fade in the wake of conversations you didn’t plan. You meet with your team member determined to have that tough conversation…but you end up reacting to their frustrated response. Why is staying the course so hard for rising leaders? Responding is the job. Early in your career, success comes from responding to...

Reader, When I entered my first leadership role, I started to realize the importance of being strategic, but I didn’t always know how to do that well. This email is for any rising leader who wants to be more strategic and make strategic conversations possible with their team. Strategic planning time. One of my first experiences at a new job was participating in annual strategic planning. I admit, I didn’t really get it. We were asked questions like: How much revenue do you think we can bring...

Reader, Being around other leaders has an elevating effect. It challenges, inspires, and changes minds. I’ve had far more opportunities like this than one could hope or expect. Since I was 27, I’ve been surrounded literally by hundreds, maybe thousands, of Founders, CEOs, and senior leaders operating at the highest levels. Someone recently asked, “How is that even possible?” For most of my career, I’ve worked in business organizations and associations with statewide and eventually global...

Reader, I'm about to launch something really exciting! That’s not what this email is about, but it got me thinking about something important. My one aim is to help rising leaders develop themselves into truly great leaders of teams. Why? So they don’t feel stuck waiting around for a fabulous boss or company to make it happen. Being stuck is the worst.But, being stuck is also the best. The feeling we get when we realize we’re stuck screams to us, “Something has to change.” Without that...

Reader, This week, I have a quick favor to ask! When you finish reading this email, will you click update your profile at the bottom and select the topics you want to hear about most? I’m about to launch something really exciting, and I’d love to know the conversations you care about. And now for our topic this week... In most companies, there’s an ever-present tug of war between boundaries and freedom. It’s the most significant tension I’ve been seeing this year, and it’s equally challenging...

Reader, Last week, I shared one reason burnout is so hard to solve in a team: burnout doesn’t just drain energy. The way we respond to it often erodes confidence, too. (If you missed it, you can read it here, since I’ll be building on that conversation.) This week, let’s look at another side of the issue: Why do good intentions sometimes cause burnout? How can rethinking priorities shift the way we work? It all feels important. To borrow the opening phrase from last week: no one sets out...