Insights
For the first 6 to 18 months of a bigger role
Plain, operational answers for newly promoted VPs and Directors. Not mindset, not motivation. The structure underneath the role, and what to fix first.
Executive coaching vs operating advisory: which does a newly promoted VP need?
They fix different failures. Coaching works on how you think about the role; operating advisory works on the structure underneath it. How to tell which you need.
The best executive coaching for first-time VPs: what to look for (and what to avoid)
The criteria that actually matter, the red flags to avoid, and the one question that tells you whether you need a coach or an operating structure first.
What is an executive operating structure, and why it breaks when you are promoted
The system your role runs on, separate from the org chart: direction, decision rights, and an operating rhythm. What it is, and why a promotion quietly breaks it.
The 90-day plan is a trap: what newly promoted VPs should build instead
A 90-day plan optimizes for looking credible in three months, not for the structure that makes month four easier. Why it traps new VPs, and what to build instead.
Every decision routes back to me: how new VPs stop being the bottleneck
It is not a trust or delegation problem, it is a decision-rights problem. Why it happens to new VPs, and the structural fix that stops the routing.
Just promoted to VP? Here is what to actually do first
The instinct is a listening tour and a few quick wins. The higher-leverage first move is structural: name the one outcome you own, find your first domino, set who decides what.
Promoted from within: how to make the shift from doer to leader
An internal promotion is the hardest kind, because the habits that earned it now overload you. The shift is structural, not motivational.
How to manage people who used to be your peers
It feels like a relationship problem, so people try to win back goodwill. The durable fix is structural: reset roles, decision rights, and ownership in the open.
Everything I delegate comes back broken: why, and how to fix it
Not because your team is weak, but because you handed off the task without the structure around it. Delegate the outcome and the standard, not just the task.