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Earlier in my career, a high potential program was created at the organization I worked for. A lot of my peers were included. I wasn't. I was frustrated, honestly more than I'd like to admit. I thought I was more diligent, more careful, more thorough than some of the people who made the list. And I probably was. But that wasn't really the point, and it took me a while to see that. What I eventually understood was that I had been keeping my head down, doing good work, and assu

Most of the leaders I work with aren't over-involved because they're bad at delegating. They're over-involved because they care, because they're busy, and because stepping back is genuinely harder than it looks from the outside. If you're doing too much yourself, there's almost certainly a good reason. Probably several. In my experience, they tend to fall into two categories: the fears that make letting go feel risky, and the personal rewards that make holding on feel right.

Most of the senior leaders I work with have tried to solve their busyness problem. They've blocked focus time on their calendar. They've done the Eisenhower matrix. They've read the books about saying no. And they're still running from meeting to meeting, working too much, and feeling behind all the time. That's because the problem isn't a time management problem. The days are full for a reason. There's always something urgent, always someone who needs something, always a fir

There's a moment a lot of senior leaders hit that nobody really prepares you for. Everything looks fine from the outside. You have the title, you're delivering, you're the person people come to when something needs to get done right. You've built a reputation on being really helpful and also great at executing. And then the feedback starts to shift. "Think more strategically." "We need to see you operating at the next level." "Something to work on is executive presence."

Managing people is hard. And managing underperformance? It's the hardest thing you'll do as a manager because the stakes are high, the emotions run hot, and the right path forward is rarely obvious. If someone on your team isn't performing and you're trying to figure out what to do, this is worth reading before you take any next steps. When someone isn't hitting the mark, the instinct is to focus on the person. What are they doing wrong? Why aren't they hitting the bar? What

One of the most common things I hear from leaders is that you have to tailor your feedback to the individual. Some people want direct. Some want gentle. Some need context first. Some need data. The idea is that you have to read the person and adjust accordingly. I get why that's appealing. It sounds thoughtful. But in practice, it trips a lot of managers up because now they're spending so much energy trying to figure out the how that they lose sight of what actually matters.

Leadership is hard in the way that it’s constant. You’re pulled in a lot of directions, things stack up quickly, and at some point you shift into just trying to keep things moving. Most leaders don’t notice when that shift happens, but I see it all the time in coaching. You move into get-it-done mode. You’re reacting more than thinking. You’re solving what’s right in front of you. And usually, that’s when curiosity drops off. I had a conversation today with a leader who i