Blog

Burnout does not come from the workload. It's the leadership pattern underneath it.

Most leadership advice pushes you to do more: More clarity.More delegation.More velocity. But doing more doesn’t help when you’re solving the wrong problem. You don’t need more output. You need a better diagnosis. Great leaders don’t just lead well. They know exactly where they’re stuck. That’s what makes forward movement possible. It took me months to […]

Every leader knows the rush of inspiration: the all-nighter, the surge, the just one more thing moment. Last week, I shared one of mine: the 48-hour build that became the first version of my Beyond Incremental website. But breakthroughs don’t come from bursts of energy alone. They come from creating systems that make that energy repeatable. This week, I put my […]

My daughter got it right: "Wow, that was quick." I'd just told her I built the first version of my website in 48 hours. What I didn't mention initially was that I barely slept during those two days. Which led to the obvious question: Why do we do that? This Is What Breakthrough Leadership Actually Feels […]

High performers are wired for more. More goals. More progress. More achievement. It’s a part of our DNA. But, I have learned the hard way, that more for the sake of more isn’t the goal. You see it all the time. Someone who, from the outside, looks to be at the peak of success. Yet […]

You've already said no to most things. So why does the wagon still feel impossible to pull? The Pumpkin Patch Moment I have this photo of my daughter at a pumpkin patch. She's maybe three years old, determinedly pulling a wagon with a few pumpkins in it. Her whole body is leaning into it. She's […]

They told me I’d be fine in 72 hours. It took 3 years. Two prescription pills triggered a brain injury that turned my world sideways. Doctors called it a rare side effect. They said the symptoms would fade once the drugs were out of my system. They were wrong. Progress during my recovery came unpredictably: […]

I used to preach that solo work was the future. Then I built a team I’d stake my career on, and it changed how I see leadership forever. Every leader’s real job is this: Build the best team you’ve ever been a part of. Anything less is falling short. So the question becomes: What would […]

You know you need to innovate faster, but you feel trapped in systems that demand certainty for breakthrough decisions. What’s worse, these systems were built with the best intentions and stifle breakthrough innovation while keeping people feeling productive and responsible. I’ve seen this play out in my own teams, and in dozens of leaders I’ve […]

I built my career on grit and strategy. But the biggest breakthroughs came when joy was in the room, and my team actually enjoyed the climb. Early in my leadership journey, I championed 3 principles: That third one? I'd completely lost sight of it. This weekend, reconnecting with old friends reminded me: the best conversations happen […]

If your team can’t think strategically without you, that is not a compliment. It is a warning sign. This is the essence of what I call The Context Keeper Trap, one of the most common ways capable product leaders unintentionally limit their impact. On the surface, it looks like leadership: you are in every pivotal meeting, […]

Autopilot doesn’t look like failure. It looks like plateaued growth, endless meetings, and a calendar so full of escalations you can’t remember the last time you shaped the market instead of reacting to it. You’re not broken.You’re not failing.You’re not even underperforming. You’re hitting quarterly targets.Your team respects you.Stakeholders know they can count on you. […]