The challenges of being a rising leader are unique.

Reader, The real cost of silos. In part four of this series on developing agency in your team, we’re diving into silos.I’ve never heard someone use the word “silo” in a positive way, except in farming. In organizations, they’re problematic at best and damaging at worst. Let’s quickly touch on why. Duplicated work. “Wait, what? You were working on that too?”Disconnected outcomes. “That’s not really what we had in mind.”Limited contribution to solutions. “The three of us thought it was a great...

Reader, Welcome to part 3 of a multi-part series on developing agency in your team. [Agency = Knowing what to do + Knowing Why it Matters + Knowing How to Take Action as a Team] So far, we’ve covered why agency matters and the power of developing a team where every person has it. Then, we talked about the speed of clarity and building rhythms that make agency possible. Since agency is all about building your team's capacity to make decisions... In this email, we're diving into why it’s so...

Reader, Last week, I kicked off a series on building agency in your team. If you missed it, here’s a short recap: Agency is the ability to know what to do, why it matters, and how to take action as a team. This is more than words. It’s what Founders, CEOs, execs, and leaders at all levels long for, because a team with agency can: Make aligned decisions.Collaborate and work together.Figure out what matters most (and get it right).Adapt in the moment (and still get it right).Move in the same...

Reader, Welcome to the first of a 7-part series on developing more agency in your team this year. (Or maybe 8 parts, since that’s how these things tend to go.) Agency is the ability to know what to do, why it matters, and how to take action as a team. This is more than a definition. It’s what Founders, CEOs, executives, and rising leaders long for, because a team with agency can: Make aligned decisions Collaborate effectively Figure out what matters most (and get it right) Adapt in the moment...

Reader, After two decades working mostly with CEOs, founders, and senior execs, being strategic felt normal to me. But that wasn’t the case when I was a younger rising leader…and it wasn’t the case for you either. We learned it. I believe this is the single biggest gap you need to fill in your team. And in this email, I'll dive into why—and what to do about it. Being strategic by nature is different than being strategic about work. The popularity of personality and strengths assessments often...

Reader, When I was younger in my career, it was unfathomable to say no to something important. Less was simply not an option. More was always better.Saying no.One year, our team was preparing to expand our offerings. The whole process of deciding our strategies, laying the foundation for new things, and thinking deeply about the changes ahead…it was overwhelming.If you’d asked what our team capacity was on a scale of 1–10, we would have said -10.Our largest, most-loved event was on the...

Reader, For more than a year now, I’ve been leading live sessions with rising leaders: smart, capable people in their late 20s to mid-30s who are hungry to lead well. When they struggle, it's not because they lack ambition or commitment. It's because leadership feels so different from everything that made them successful as individual contributors... and many haven't been shown what it looks like to lead well. The gaps they experience say a lot about how the next generation of leadership is...

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...