Journal

Notesfrommypractice.

Essays on executive leadership, strategic clarity, and the discipline of senior decision-making.

July 23, 2026

He Had the Best Team in the Company. That's Exactly Why He Didn't Get Promoted.

Why the most indispensable leaders often get passed over for promotion, and the succession test that reveals whether you have built a team or a dependency.

July 22, 2026

She Asked Her Team for Critical Feedback. They Gave Her a Standing Ovation.

Why strong leaders often build cultures where honest feedback is impossible, and the six signs your team is performing honesty rather than practising it.

July 13, 2026

The Second Summit Problem: Why Your Biggest Win Might Feel Like Your Biggest Loss

The Arrival Fallacy explained: why senior leaders reach their biggest goal and feel unexpectedly empty, and what to do about it.

July 9, 2026

What Automation Cannot Take From You

Leading 600 people across Canada at Sotheby's taught me the three human skills no tool can replicate: creative taste, lived experience, and authentic storytelling.

July 9, 2026

If You're Not Anxious About What You're Not Doing, You're Not Focused Enough

Why productive anxiety-the specific discomfort of knowing what you've chosen not to do-is one of the most reliable signals that your focus is actually working.

July 8, 2026

She Knew Exactly What Was Wrong With Her Organization. She Had Never Said It Out Loud.

Why CEOs often know exactly what is wrong but have no one safe enough to say it, and what the absence of honest challenge actually costs.

July 2, 2026

He Was Exhausted. It Wasn't Because He Was Working Too Hard.

Most executive burnout is not from overwork. It is from being promoted away from work that once gave you energy.

June 25, 2026

I Led 600 People I Couldn't Fire. Here's What Hostage Negotiators Taught Me.

Leading 600 independent contractors at Sotheby's taught me what hostage negotiators have known for decades: persuasion beats authority every time.

June 16, 2026

The Work-Life Balance Lie and How to Solve It

Why balance is the wrong frame, and the integration model that actually works for executives.

June 13, 2026

What Failure Taught Me That Success Never Could

Three years chasing rock stardom, a taxi to pay the rent, and the lived experience no MBA or AI tool can replicate.

June 9, 2026

The Invisible Promotion Barrier: Why Your Best Performance Isn't Getting You to the Next Level

Why high performance alone won't get you promoted-and the 10 executive readiness competencies decision-makers actually evaluate when filling senior roles.

June 4, 2026

AI Isn't Creating a New Leadership Problem. It's Holding Up a Mirror.

The behaviours AI is exposing-low trust, weak collaboration, reluctance to admit what you don't know-were always quietly limiting teams. The machine just made them impossible to ignore.

June 2, 2026

AI Just Replaced 40% of What You Thought Made You Irreplaceable

The five genuinely human leadership capabilities AI cannot replicate-and the development framework for redesigning your role around what will actually matter.

May 19, 2026

Your Team Has Stopped Thinking and You're the Reason Why

Why high-performing leaders become bottlenecks through 'Answer Addiction'-and the 4-level Question Architecture that multiplies your team's collective intelligence.

May 5, 2026

The Oracle Coaching Trap That Fails 84% of Leaders (And What Actually Works)

Why 84% of leaders show no improvement after coaching-and the discovery-driven approach that builds leadership operating systems that actually create change.

April 28, 2026

The AI Energy Revolution: Why Smart Leaders Are Suddenly Working Half as Hard

AI isn't replacing strategic thinking; it's eliminating the energy drains that prevent leaders from accessing their highest-value contributions.

April 21, 2026

Why Smart Leaders Turn Down Great Opportunities

Letting opportunities drive strategy kills businesses. Here's the Strategy-First Framework that helps leaders filter opportunities through strategic clarity.

April 14, 2026

Why Smart, Motivated Leaders Fail to Delegate (Even When They Know They Should)

The answer isn't willpower. It's a diagnostic error. Here's the COM-B framework for systematic behavior change.

April 7, 2026

The Boundary Crisis: Why Your Best People Are Burning Out (And It's Your Fault)

Talented professionals fear that saying no is career suicide while leaders unconsciously reward 24/7 availability. Here's the Strategic No Framework.

March 10, 2026

The Question That Ends Arguments and Builds Consensus

How strategic questions-not better arguments-create real consensus in leadership teams.

October 28, 2025

Your Refusal to Fire Anyone Is Why Your Best Employees Are Planning Their Exit

When endless coaching becomes an excuse for avoiding hard conversations, your high performers are the ones who pay—and leave.

October 21, 2025

The Olympic Standard: Why Champion Leaders Scout, Develop, and Recruit Like Their Lives Depend on It

No nation sends a team to the Olympics hoping to place somewhere in the middle. Why do leaders settle for participation-level performance?

October 7, 2025

The Lies Leaders Tell Themselves — and the Cost of Believing Them

Twelve lies that quietly trap high-performing leaders, and the truths that set them free.

September 4, 2025

I Spent 20 Years Working for 'Someday.' Then I Realized Someday Would Never Come.

Break free from the someday syndrome that keeps leaders postponing life for milestones that always move just out of reach.

July 15, 2025

45 Years of Wins and Losses Taught Me Something Counterintuitive About Enduring Success

The Consistency Effect just hit #1 on Amazon. The lessons inside could transform how you think about building lasting success.

July 10, 2025

The Road to 'You're Fired' Should Be Clearly Marked

Surprise terminations are leadership failures. A framework for posting the warning signs employees deserve to see.

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Occasional essays on executive leadership and strategic clarity.