When that job offer finally lands, after you do your happy dance, the first thing you’re probably looking at is the compensation and benefits package. A coaching budget isn’t usually on the radar — and typically, no such thing exists anyway. But it should. Leaders have a blast radius when…

Originally shared to the Design Dept. newsletter Ah, the beloved “you can make and manage” model. As much as I want to believe in this as a sustainable approach (I love both too!), for most organizations, it is not. And the leaders who try to take it on, aren’t typically…

Design Dept.’s Mia Blume joined Abstract’s Scott Welliver for a conversation and Q&A about building trust in a remote environment. This post is based on the actionable advice Mia shared about how we show up for our teammates. Watch the video recording. As we’re settling into a new normal, sheltering…

To be honest, writing and sharing anything has been a difficult task the last few weeks. With the world in chaos, it’s hard to sit down and write about management tips. But I observed a trend this week on Twitter that I thought I should address. I don’t know if…

Ah yes, the elusive goal of having “executive” or “leadership” presence. Everyone wants it, most can’t define it. It comes up in performance reviews and reasons why leaders aren’t progressing, but rarely is it helpful feedback or guidance. It’s also one of the most common curriculum requests and topics we…

Many of us hear voices in our heads. No, I’m not talking about those adorable emotions from Pixar’s Inside Out — although who wouldn’t love to be perpetually entertained by the wit of a shimmering green Mindy Kaling? The Inner Critic is many things: an outdated response to old stimuli…

If you search for best practices around team one-on-ones, you’ll find endless content on how to structure your meetings with your reports and even templates for your shared docs. While this is all valuable, one of the major shifts I made as a manager was shifting to thematic one-on-ones. First…

The key to leading more fully in 2020 Late December is a time of excess. During the last month of every year, holiday treats abound, as do opportunities for extra sleep, extra champagne, and extra pampering. It’s also a time of extra guilt. We’re pressured to think about New Year’s resolutions as soon as the first “Best Of”…

The key to becoming a successful startup leader is to develop the ability to scale yourself. That doesn’t just mean handling a growing list of demands: it’s about finding the appropriate level of focus, zeroing in on problems that matter, leading through others, and building processes and structures that don’t…