Although I work with clients in a wide range of leadership positions, the most common role in my practice is startup CEO. And while every client engagement is unique, I do see patterns and themes in my practice as a result of working with this particular group of leaders so intensively. The resources below have grown out of my coaching practice and my teaching at Stanford over the last decade. To learn more about me and how I work, start here.
1. Effectiveness
Early-Stage Survival and Later-Stage Success
Happy Workaholics Need Boundaries, Not Balance
How to Scale: Do Less, Lead More
The Importance of Slowing Down
“Work Hard or Work Smart?” Is the Wrong Question
Three Buckets (On CEO Job Descriptions)
2. Interpersonal Issues
How to Deliver Critical Feedback
Merciful Exits (On Underperforming Executives)
Brené Brown, Vulnerability, Empathy and Leadership
Coaching and Feedback Tools for Leaders
How Leaders Create Safety (and Danger)
Learning to Yield (Navigating Tough Conversations)
On Firing a Senior Team Member
Risk Management (The Importance of Speaking Up)
3. Leadership Challenges
Leadership as a Performing Art
Leadership, Decision-Making and Emotion Management
The Cognitive Dissonance of the CEO
Watch That Next Step (CEO Problems)
Three Buckets (On Transparency and Truth)
Hammering Eggs (Leadership and Problem-Solving)
The Ruling Out of Possibilities (On Failure)
4. Self-Management
Open Space, Deep Work and Self-Care
How to Think (More on Open Space and Deep Work)
Leadership as Professional Practice
Don’t Just Do Something, Sit There! (Mindfulness for Busy People)
Get Moving! (Exercise for Busy People)
Ignoring Bandits and Building Resilience
5. Organizational Development
The Judicious Imposition of Structure
Startup Leadership 1: Are We Video-Gaming or Ditch-Digging?
Startup Leadership 2: Are We Rowing or Rafting?
Startup Leadership 3: A Greater Us
Rules Aren’t Norms (On Better Meeting Hygiene)
Accountability and Empathy (Aren’t Mutually Exclusive)
Role Clarity and Role Confusion
The Truly Strategic People Leader
Three Stages of Executive Assistance
Capacity, Methodology, Innovation (On Hiring)
Daniel Kahneman on Conducting Better Interviews
Updated April 2021.
Photo by Jason Jenkins.