Hi Reader, If you saw my LinkedIn post last week, you know that December has always been a strange month for me. For years, I felt stuck in limbo—caught between the goals I didn’t hit this year and the pressure to set massive new ones for the next. I’d spend the holidays with an undercurrent of scarcity, waiting for January 1st to "start fresh." But recently, my perspective shifted. I realized that the anxiety didn’t come from missing the goals. The anxiety came from knowing that if I didn't...
about 2 months ago • 1 min read
Hi Reader, I used to believe that growth was just a matter of working harder. More clients, more revenue, more success. But when I ran our agency, the harder we worked, the more chaotic everything became. We had the revenue. We had the client volume. We even had a team. But what we didn’t have was structure. We were reacting instead of leading. My mom and I would look at each other and say: “Why does this feel harder now that we’re successful?” We weren’t scaling - we were surviving. And the...
3 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, Lately, I’ve been having a lot of conversations with business owners who feel stuck and like they just can't break through to the next level. Their first thought is usually, “I just need to hire a manager to take things off my plate.” But here’s the thing: hiring a manager doesn’t always solve the root issue. When I joined my family’s insurance agency, it had already been running for 10 years. On paper, things looked great — steady revenue, loyal clients, and a team that worked...
4 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, When I was in the trenches of running our family insurance agency, there was a moment when I sat in my car outside the office and couldn’t bring myself to go inside. Not because of any single crisis, but because I knew another day of putting out fires was waiting for me. Sound familiar? The Reactive Leadership Trap When I took over the agency, my focus was pure survival: streamline processes, build a team, get things running efficiently. I told myself I’d work on the bigger picture...
5 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, I've been having conversations with business owners and leaders across various industries lately, and they're all seeing the same troubling pattern: AI is making their quality and productivity problems worse, not better. Employees are taking AI's first response without providing proper context. They're accepting solutions without understanding the underlying logic. Teams are skipping the critical thinking steps that ensure quality deliverables—the very skills that separate good...
6 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, Last month, I had several conversations with business owners and leaders that revealed a troubling pattern. In one instance, an employee pushed back on constructive feedback, claiming they felt "singled out." For another, a client questioned their protocols and suggested they were being "unfair." In these moments, something shifted in these leaders—suddenly, they weren't just delivering necessary feedback or upholding important standards. They were defending themselves, seeking...
7 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, Do you ever feel like you’re speaking a different language than your team? Like your vision isn’t translating into action, or you’re constantly putting out fires instead of driving growth? The issue might not be your team—it could be that you haven’t clearly defined what kind of leader you are. The Three Leadership Archetypes Most business owners and leaders fall into one of these categories: The Visionary sees big opportunities and paints compelling futures, but struggles to break...
8 months ago • 2 min read
Hi Reader, Have you ever felt like you can't get anything done because your team constantly interrupts you with questions they should be able to answer themselves? I lived this reality every day at our insurance agency. My business partner and I became the ultimate bottleneck – our staff depended on us for nearly everything, from basic client inquiries to routine policy procedures. The phone never stopped ringing, and we prided ourselves on providing exceptional service. But here's the brutal...
10 months ago • 3 min read
Hi Reader, Have you ever felt like you're on an island? Lately, many of my clients have been sharing how isolated they feel as leaders and small business owners. There's a freedom that comes with being at the top, but the price you pay is having nobody to answer to but yourself. The Silent Burden of Leadership As business owners and leaders, we carry a unique burden. We're expected to have all the answers. To know the direction. To make the tough calls. Yet paradoxically, we're often the ones...
10 months ago • 4 min read