We’ve normalized giving working mothers too much to do. So, this week, we’re talking about what actually helps instead.

When people feel heard and valued, they do better work. So, we create employee surveys to give them a chance to share. But, if we do nothing of value with the results, we’re actually doing more harm than good.

Every company has a handful of people who get remarkable results from AI; polished presentations, well sourced research, and detailed action plans. But the larger group are novices who use AI to create things like images of strangers with six fingers holding funny coffee mugs. They’re using the same tools, with the same subscription, on the same day.

The difference between them is the language they use to connect.

Change is hard for anyone. But, most Founders and seasoned leaders have done it enough, that it doesn’t scare them anymore. The same is not true for their teams.

Every day, I hear founders and executives say things like, “My team needs to be more accountable” or “I need this team to take more initiative”. They’re not looking for their team to produce more status updates or dashboards. They’re looking for ownership. But, they may be getting in their own way.

In a fast-growing startup, it’s easy to promote the person who’s reliable, fast, trusted, and already carrying more than anyone else. But, without support, it can be the worst investment you’ll ever make.

When we know what we’ve built and why, customer utilization that operates outside our expectations, registers as a misunderstanding to be corrected. We think it’s a sign that our customer is using our solution wrong. But, it’s not. It’s a signal that we’re not creating enough value to earn authentic customer demand.

People come to you with their biggest, messiest, most complex problems because you are the one they trust to help them solve it. Offering your wisdom and perspective is part of the gig. But, if you don’t have an infrastructure to support you – your leadership will be overwhelmed by decision fatigue.

Presence is one of the most overlooked leadership skills in the book. Presence is not flashy. It’s not immediately obvious the way a polished deck, a great idea, or a fast thinking leader might be.

But presence is the condition that makes all of those things – and so many more – possible. Without it, we offer little more than performance and end up missing out on the very insights that empower our greatest success.

Founders lose their businesses every day for completely avoidable reasons. Top among them…a lack of self awareness that leaves their blind spots unchecked. We’re talking about how to leverage self awareness to help you scale.