The Library | Lead Your Power
Field notes for leaders who carry a lot
Short reads on the things leaders rarely say out loud. Start with the one that sounds like your week.
I wrote these for the leader I used to be, the one giving everything out and running on empty. Each piece takes a few minutes, and none of them asks anything of you.
Leading Yourself
You did the thing you set out to do, and the quiet afterward felt more like a question than a reward.
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You Don’t Get Over Childhood Trauma. You Learn to Walk With It.
You don’t get over childhood trauma. You learn to walk with it. How the old survival plan shows up in how you lead, and…
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Why Success Feels Empty, and What It’s Telling You as a Leader
Feel successful but empty? It’s not ingratitude. It’s a signal about how you’ve been building. Three causes and four steps to take this week.
The Conversations
Maybe you’re surrounded by people all day, and nobody knows what’s really on your mind.
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Lonely at the Top Is a Communication Problem
Lonely at the top? It’s rarely about who’s around. It’s the filter on every conversation. Signs it’s on, and how leaders break it early.
Decisions
What wears you down is how many decisions are still waiting on you, and that number can change.
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Decision Fatigue Is a Leadership Problem, Not a Willpower Problem
Decision fatigue in leaders is a structure problem, not willpower. Why, then who, then what: how to get fewer decisions on your desk.
Stories
These three short stories are where I learned what I share. Read one, or all three.
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Stories: The First Door
In 1993 I knocked on a stranger’s door with nothing but nerve. The lesson that stuck: find the hardest part of their day.
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Stories: We Make Marines
What the Marine Corps taught me about leadership: a person can’t be copied, a process can. That’s how you make leaders.
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Stories: A Message Is Not Decoration
Public affairs training taught me a message is an instrument, not decoration. What that means for how leaders talk to their teams.
When one of these feels close to home
Reading helps you name it. Saying it out loud to someone you trust is the next step, and I’d be honored if that someone were me. Do a little homework on what you’re building and how your weeks really feel, then pick fifteen minutes on the calendar. If it feels right to us both, we’ll keep talking.
Let someone fill your cup for a change
You’ve given so much, for so long, to so many people. You’re allowed to receive a little of it back.
The first step is small. Do a little homework on where you are, then pick fifteen minutes on the calendar.
Not ready to talk yet? That’s fine. Start here, with short reads sorted by what’s on your mind.