PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES ISSUE 20 | DEPTH PERCEPTION On what changes when the job gets bigger than your expertise. I got lucky early in my career. I just didn’t know how lucky at the time. My first role after McKinsey was an EVP position at a regional nonprofit. I was responsible for everything from programming and patient advocacy to IT and marketing. I had no deep expertise in any of those functions. That may sound like a strange setup. If you’re not the technical expert, what exactly is your...
5 days ago • 5 min read
PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES ISSUE 19 | HEAVY SPONGE On responsibility, absorption, and the cost of carrying what doesn’t belong to you. There was a stretch where I felt exhausted in a way I couldn’t explain. My calendar was manageable.My team was strong.Nothing was actively on fire. And yet—everything felt heavier than it should have. Decisions took more energy.Meetings drained me.Staying present required more effort than the work itself seemed to justify. I ran the usual diagnostics. Was I...
about 1 month ago • 3 min read
PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES ISSUE 18 | WHAT’S YOUR NUMBER? On capability, constraint, and the quiet cost of every yes. We were sitting around a dinner table, wine glasses half-empty — the kind of night where conversation could stay polite or turn real. Someone asked a question that did neither: If you couldn’t control your health, what age would you want to live to? Most people said 80.A few said 90.I said 100. (I was hedging. I fully expect to live to 110.) We were in our twenties.Time felt...
2 months ago • 3 min read
PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES ISSUE 17 | RECEIVE Why receiving praise might be the most generous thing you do all year. "You crushed it. Seriously—what you pulled off in there changed everything." You smile. "Thanks. It was a team effort." Then you pivot back to the next priority. And just like that, something was lost. We've all done it. Not because we didn't hear the compliment—but because it's easier not to feel it. You give generously. You praise. You celebrate. You were trained to lift others...
3 months ago • 4 min read
PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES ISSUE 16 | DRY RUN What a three-month alcohol experiment revealed about ritual, behavior change, and leadership. Most experiments start with curiosity—and a hunch that something might shift if you change just one thing. This one started with bloodwork. My A1C—the marker that tracks blood sugar over time—came back higher than I wanted. I don't eat much sugar. I rarely snack. But there was one variable I hadn't examined closely: alcohol. Even though beer, wine, and scotch...
4 months ago • 3 min read
PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES ISSUE 15 | SOFT LAUNCH On timing, readiness, and the quiet power of starting before it counts. We tend to think of January as the clean slate.New year, new habits. That’s when we join gyms, commit to routines, and tell ourselves this year will be different. But here’s the thing: the best time to start a New Year’s resolution isn’t January. It’s October. Why Starting Early Works The first time I joined a gym, it was in the middle of October — classic behavioral science...
5 months ago • 3 min read
PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES ISSUE 12 | TRUST FALL On truth, timing, and the trust that makes it land. We were deep in launch planning.Cross-functional team. Big initiative. High visibility. The team proposed an approach I knew wouldn’t work.Not a guess—a hard-earned lesson. I’d watched this exact move fail in two other companies. But instead of sharing that context, I said: “They’ll never go for it.” No preamble. No rationale. No path forward. Just a hard stop. They went ahead anyway. And sure...
6 months ago • 2 min read
PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES ISSUE 13 | TRUTH OR DARE On trust, storytelling, and why selling the dream can backfire. As leaders, we’re natural storytellers.We pitch the vision before all the pieces are in place.We recruit on future potential, not just current state.We keep teams motivated with milestones still out of reach. But here’s the trap:If the only story you tell is about upside, you’re building a fragile contract.And when reality hits — whether it’s a layoff, a missed funding round, or a...
7 months ago • 3 min read
PRACTICAL PERSPECTIVES ISSUE 12 | SNICKER SURE On confidence, commitment, and the courage to act before you're certain. When a Candy Bar Became a Confidence Check In 7th grade, I had a science teacher with one unusual rule. If you raised your hand to answer a question, he’d pause and ask: “Are you Snicker sure?” If you said yes and got it wrong, you owed him a Snickers bar.No reward for being right—just a small, public cost for being wrong. I don’t remember the subject.But I do remember the...
8 months ago • 2 min read