Hi Reader, Human beings are wired with a negativity bias. When something goes wrong, our brains naturally give it more weight than everything that has gone right. A single disappointment, missed expectation, or awkward interaction can begin to color our entire view of a person. Over time, we stop describing behaviors and start defining character. “They have always been this way.”“They don’t take feedback well.”“They’re impossible to work with.” When we let those stories take root, we quietly...
11 days ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, There is no shortage of conversation about artificial intelligence right now. Executive teams are investing heavily in new tools, platforms, and infrastructure. Boards are asking about AI strategy. Leaders are under pressure to “do something” so they do not fall behind. But there is a critical investment area that very few leadership teams are talking about. To make the most of AI, you don't just need better technology. You need stronger teams. A recent Deloitte insight shared by...
18 days ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader, One of the most encouraging things we see at the beginning of each year is leadership teams doing the hard work of clarifying their shared focus. They step back and they commit to a small set of strategic objectives that will guide the year ahead. And then something predictable happens. The calendar fills up and urgent issues take center stage. Meetings become reactive. And without meaning to, teams drift away from the very goals they worked so hard to define. This is not a failure...
25 days ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, There is something uniquely energizing about the beginning of a new year. Leadership teams re-enter the work hopeful, motivated, and ready to make meaningful progress. But hope without intention rarely leads to alignment, and it rarely leads to meaningful results. One of the most common patterns we see in executive teams is this: they begin the year with a lack of clarity on what their most important shared goals are. Sometimes the CEO has it in their head, but it's not nearly as...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, As the year comes to an end, our team has been practicing something we encourage all our clients to do: slow down long enough to reflect on what went well, what could have gone better and what you learned on a regular basis. The wins, yes, but also the moments that stretched us, revealed something new, or reshaped the way we think about our work and personal lives. Below are our favorite memories from the year, and one lesson each of us is taking into 2026 to guide the way we lead...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader, Last week’s newsletter was about why your team needs a Charter. This week we dive deeper into each section, offering examples of each part to help your team start developing one. Think of your charter as the structured design work that every high-performing team does before they step onto the field. It is the intentional preparation that allows a group of talented leaders to operate as a unified team instead of a collection of individuals. In the absence of a charter, leadership...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader, Imagine a NFL team showing up to a game with no playbook, or no clear scheme to guide the way they play. Everyone is talented. Everyone is working hard. But each person is operating from their own playbook. That’s backyard football, not professional sports. A team that showed up like this would be considered incredibly unprepared. Every sports talk show in America would be talking about it. Now compare that to what NFL teams actually do - they embrace a style of play that gives...
about 2 months ago • 4 min read
Hi Reader, Leadership teams pride themselves on being problem solvers. It is one of the reasons they exist. But even the strongest teams struggle with something far more foundational: accurately identifying what their real problems are in the first place. From our experience working with hundreds of executive teams, we’d argue that most teams do not have a problem-solving problem. They have a problem-diagnosis problem. And when teams misdiagnose the cause, they unintentionally revisit the...
2 months ago • 6 min read
Hi Reader, Every organization begins with belief. Before there is a mission statement or a strategic plan, there is a conviction, something that feels too important to ignore. It is the “why behind the why.” The deep conviction that made someone say, “This matters enough to build something around it.” But over time, as organizations grow and new people join, those founding convictions can fade into the background. What was once intuitive to the founders becomes harder to see, harder to teach,...
2 months ago • 5 min read