Being a new manager can be incredibly overwhelming. As someone who has hire and trained dozens for my companies and for other companies, I understand the feeling of being tasked with a lot of responsibility and not knowing how to handle it. To help you as a new manager feeling overwhelmed, I’d like to share
What New Managers Must Do to Develop Self-Management Routines Read More »
Open your calendar from last week and look at it the way an auditor would. Count the hours that went to a decision that should have stopped one level down, at the manager's level. The approval you gave because the manager would not commit. The call you "just jumped on" because it was faster than
The Escalation Tax Has No Name Yet (and That Is Why You Keep Paying It) Read More »
Last year, a CEO I work with — let’s call her Dana — invested $180,000 in executive coaching for her six VPs. Top-tier coaches. Twelve months of biweekly sessions. Individual 360 assessments. The whole package. Each VP improved. Their communication scores went up. Their direct reports gave better feedback. Two of them stopped micromanaging for
Beyond 1:1 Coaching to Develop Your Leadership Bench Strength Read More »
Last month, your VP of Marketing subscribed to an AI writing assistant. Your VP of Engineering approved three Copilot licenses. Your head of customer success started routing ticket triage through an AI agent that she configured herself on a Sunday afternoon. Nobody told you about any of it until the Monday standup. If you are
Agent Managers at 200 People: What HBR’s Latest Concept Means for Growth-Stage Leaders Read More »
Sarah’s CTO walked into the quarterly planning meeting with a 14-page analysis. Market trends, competitive positioning, three scenario models, a recommended path forward. He had built it in two hours using AI tools his team had been running for months. The four VPs sitting across the table had nothing comparable. Not because they lacked intelligence
Decision Velocity When AI Skills Are Present and Uneven Read More »
Last month, the CEO of a 230-employee fintech company described a moment that stopped me cold. Her VP of Sales had presented an AI-generated market analysis to the leadership team. The data looked compelling. The recommendations were specific. Three of her five direct reports nodded along and voted to reallocate $400K in Q3 budget based
AI Fluency for Leadership Teams: Why Individual Training Fails and What to Build Instead Read More »
by Bill Ringle When the AI Strategy Landed — and Nothing Happened Last fall, the CEO of a 240-employee fintech company did everything right. She hired a Chief AI Officer. Approved a $1.2M budget for AI integration. Rolled out a company-wide AI initiative with a 90-day roadmap, executive sponsors, and a dedicated Slack channel. Ninety
The Alignment Tax is Unforgiving Read More »
If you took a 2-week vacation with no phone access, what would break? Be honest. Would your team know how to prioritize the roadmap without you? Could they approve the budget reallocation? Would they make the hiring decision? Could they handle the customer escalation? Or would everything grind to a halt? If the answer is
Stop Being the Single Point of Failure Read More »
Your team keeps asking you to make decisions they should own. Product wants you to prioritize the roadmap. Sales wants you to approve the discount. Engineering wants you to decide on the tech stack. Marketing wants you to choose the messaging. Every. Single. Day. You hired smart, capable leaders. So why are they treating you
The Decision Charter: Stop Being the Tie-Breaker Read More »
Your calendar shows back-to-back meetings. Your inbox has 50+ unread messages—most of them people waiting for your answer. That project you greenlit three weeks ago? Still sitting in limbo because it needs your approval to move to the next phase. And somewhere in the back of your mind, you know this is unsustainable. But you
Decision Velocity: Why Projects That Should Take 2 Weeks Are Taking 6 Read More »
You spent two days building the decision matrix. Three months later, no one uses it. Sound familiar? You’re not alone. Most decision frameworks fail not because they’re poorly designed, but because they’re never actually adopted. The Framework Graveyard Every scaling company has one: a folder (digital or mental) full of matrices, frameworks, processes, and templates
Why Your Decision Matrix Isn’t Working Read More »
