Scale Your Impact: 5-Level Delgation Framework
Imagine the scene: If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. As a leader, this is the battle that we all face. But can I be truthful here? The problem most likely lies with your approach. The easiest path is usually to: But simply working harder will not end this cycle, and the simplistic advice of […]
May 31, 2025·Andrea Michalek
How Building Relationships Will Pay Off for Decades
When I look back on the most pivotal moments of my career, there’s one thing that stands out above all else: the relationships I’ve built. It wasn’t my education, technical skills, or just being in the right place at the right time. It’s the people I’ve connected with. It’s the relationships I’ve built. These connections […]
February 18, 2025·Andrea Michalek
After life throws a curve ball, what's next?
We set goals to move forward. But what happens when life derails our plans overnight? Everyone knows about setting goals. We set them at work, at home, and in the organizations we support. Goals give us direction. They define success and help us measure progress. And there’s another practice I’ve found equally powerful: setting daily intentions. […]
February 8, 2025·Andrea Michalek
My Waterfall Moment: A Story of Strength and Rediscovery
Do you have a photo that takes you back to the exact moment your life shifted? The kind of moment that showed you strength you didn’t know you had? For me, it is a picture of a waterfall. I keep this photo on the wall above my desk, and to most, it probably just looks […]
January 18, 2025·Andrea Michalek
Leaders: Are You Optimizing for Process… or Progress?
It’s easy to fall into the trap of blindly following frameworks that ‘everyone’ says work. But what happens when those frameworks hold you back instead of pushing you forward? Frameworks are the training wheels of problem solving. Think about when you first learned to ride a bike. Training wheels helped you get comfortable with balance, […]
January 11, 2025·Andrea Michalek
Is your Product Lovable Enough?
Are you striving to create products that truly resonate with your users? What happens when you decide to build a product not for market validation, but to share something that brings you joy? That’s exactly what happened to me when I was sick with a cold. I was just sick enough to not want to […]
November 18, 2024·Andrea Michalek
"So, how does it feel to fail?"
This lovely question was once asked of me when I was most vulnerable as a leader. In this issue of Leadership Advantage, we will talk a little about the underbelly of all success → failure. – Andrea Leadership Story: So, how does it feel to fail? It was January 2001. The first Monday after the […]
June 1, 2024·Andrea Michalek
The Role of Leadership in Building a Culture of Innovation
After decades of leading product and tech teams, I’ve learned that great teams don't innovate by accident or rely on one-hit wonders. They create environments where ideas consistently thrive. Great leaders also understand their people as whole humans, not just employees. Here's how to master both. Building a culture of innovation Innovation doesn't just happen; […]
March 4, 2024·Andrea Michalek
Becoming a leader in everyday life
Leadership where you least expect it This issue I wanted to explore is how we often become leaders when we least expect it. I start off with my coming-of-age story of being ripped from the keyboard and asked to lead for the first time. I also wanted to talk a bit about the areas in […]
February 12, 2024·Andrea Michalek
It's more than leading authentically…
Are you looking for a way to maximize your team's impact? It's not just the charisma of leadership. It's also the grind of management. You need both for team success. 🌛 The world craves authentic leadership. But what’s leadership without its other half: management? It is vision without execution. It is like dreaming of climbing […]
February 5, 2024·Andrea Michalek
Feeling burnout creeping in? Don't buckle down or back away, try a different approach.
This week, while I was on a coaching call, the topic of burnout was front and center. Looking back at my career, with the clarity of hindsight, the factors that both got me to that point, what helped, what didn't, and what I have learned are so much more apparent than when I was facing […]
January 24, 2024·Andrea Michalek
Has your team got rhythm? The kind that leads to success?
Nothing screams 'successful team' like a well-oiled rhythm. But how do you create it? Having led numerous teams that excelled in delivering products throughout my career, I want to share the structure that will help you get a solid start. 👇 First and foremost, as a leader, it is important to think through what needs […]
January 11, 2024·Andrea Michalek