As you might know, 42 is the answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe, and Everything, at least according to “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” The only problem is that nobody knows the question. Which couldn’t be more timely. We’re living in a time that’s obsessed with answers. Open any app or tune into any media and you’re bombarded with all kinds of answers on all kinds of questions you never asked. Even worse, when you do ask a question, you’ll get all sorts of answers...
6 days ago • 1 min read
By now, many of you have been through your annual strategy retreat. How did it go? Too often, this is what happens next: What hurts most is that everyone poured their heart into this. Didn’t you? You locked yourself away. You had good debates. Which turned into heated discussions. And still, you landed on something that feels really good. It’s logically sound. It’s brave. It’s clear. So what happened between the retreat and this chart? Often, I hear it’s an “execution problem”. I don’t buy...
7 days ago • 1 min read
I have three core values:Honesty. Empathy. Trust. And I’d argue they’re all you need to know about communication. If you take these three values seriously and apply them to how you speak and write, they become the most ruthless, demanding communication strategy you can possibly use. Honesty requires a true story worth telling.If you commit to only ever saying what is true, you lose your ability to spin. You can’t use clever words to dress up a bad idea. You can’t hide behind corporate jargon....
8 days ago • 1 min read
Strategic clarity at the top. Confusion below.That’s the status quo in too many organizations. The CEO knows exactly what she wants. The board refines and approves it. It sounds brilliant. But then the relay chain takes over:Directors “translate” the business terms → managers “interpret” what it could mean for everyday tasks → and teams can only guess what the strategy actually is. Every layer adds a thought, nuance, perhaps fear and no one can really explain the original intent. But why does...
11 days ago • 1 min read
There’s a very simple reason why most messages don’t spread. It has nothing to do with how smart the message is or how polished and elaborate your argument is. Me and you have seen too many smart, polished, and elaborate arguments fail. The reason is much simpler: People are selfish. They treat their message as if it’s their own. They want others to spread it exactly as they said it. And then they wonder why no one repeats it. Here’s the problem: Sharing is not about you. It’s about what the...
13 days ago • 2 min read
Is this the biggest lie we tell ourselves:“I’ve made it very clear”. Well, not in the strict sense of the word, of course. It’s not technically a lie. You did make it very clear. But we both know that clarity is not really what happens on the stage (or in the email). Clarity is what happens in the hallways, two days later. The actual lie is this: It’s the middle managers’ fault. They just didn’t get it. They passed it along wrong. Spinned it. Mis-quoted you. Which they did. Only that it...
14 days ago • 2 min read
What the Best Leaders Say Issue 7 Walk into any office kitchen five minutes after a Town Hall, and you will hear the real strategy of the company. It won’t sound anything like the slides that were just presented. It will be shorter, blunter, and usually, much scarier. And yet, we spend weeks polishing the slides, but zero time designing the gossip, while the gossip is what actually manages the company. This issue is about taking control of that conversation. It’s about designing the message...
17 days ago • 10 min read
“I’m not a charismatic speaker. Really. I’m an operator.”Well, I don’t believe that matters. I hear this “apology” all the time. Usually from the people who actually run the business. They say things like “I’m too quiet. I’m not funny enough. I hate the spotlight.” Good!, I say. Because your team doesn’t need another entertainer. They have Netflix for that. Don’t forget that you aren’t doing a TED Talk. You are doing Leadership. A TED Talk is designed to entertain strangers for 18...
19 days ago • 1 min read
You’ve done everything the modern leadership books told you to do. You stopped micromanaging.You gave your team ownership.You “empowered” them to find their own solutions. So why does it feel like you're just watching them waste time?Shouldn't “letting them fail” feel like progress? It’s certainly not because your team isn’t smart. And it’s not because you’re a control freak. It’s because you’ve been sold a false binary. Most leaders bounce between Control (which burns you out) and...
21 days ago • 2 min read
