Practical Guides for leaders at all levels

Podcast episodes & articles!

How to work with your peer Leads as a “first team” and why it matters

Working as a "first team" with our peer leaders means that we prioritize our peers rather than focusing mainly on our direct reports. Read about how this approach can help you bridge departmental gaps, level up as a leader, and based on what signs you can tell if leaders are operating as a “first team.”

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How to find an effective leadership development coach

Leadership coaching has become increasingly popular amongst leaders at all levels in the tech space, which means there are a lot of options to choose from. In this article, I lay out how to find the right coach for your needs, and how to get the most out of your coaching experience.

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Gaining more experience won’t make you more confident at work (and what to do instead)

The topic of confidence at work is tricky - many of us want to feel more confident, but here’s the thing: Doing more, or developing more skills and experience won’t actually help you get there. So how is confidence actually built, and what you can do to feel more confident at work?

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Accountability in leadership: how to hold teams accountable

Struggling with Accountability in Engineering Teams? You're not alone. Learn how to build a culture that thrives on accountability—without sacrificing psychological safety. Marry your leadership values with accountability, overcome common misconceptions, and lead by example for a high-performing team. Master accountability, the unsung hero of effective leadership.

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How to increase accountability while you build high-performing teams

Read about what accountability is and isn’t, how to set up a culture of accountability, and learning from other departments, from my inspiring conversation with Jasmin Jackson-Irwin, a seasoned Revenue Leader who’s built enablement programs in hyper-growth startups.

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How to create accountability in your engineering organization 

Build a culture of high accountability in your organization. In the second article of this series, we’ll talk about what accountability is in the context of engineering organizations, lay out how to get started with building a culture of accountability and cover how it benefits your teams.

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Signs that accountability is low in your organization

Accountability is key component of building high-performing teams, enabling team autonomy, and fostering psychological safety. And yet, many leaders ignore the topic - until they can’t. The first of three articles in my accountability series, I’ll help you spot low accountability in your organization.

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What to do when you've been laid off

If you have been unfortunate enough to lose your engineering job, I’m here to help. In this article I lay out three practical sets of steps to take after you’ve been laid off, to help take care of admin, while preparing yourself for what comes next.

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Leading in an economic downturn

Leading during an economic downturn means adapting our thinking, shifting from high-growth and scalability to efficiency. In this article, I lay out concrete steps you can take to prepare for and lead in an economic downturn.

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Questions to help you become a better leader

Use these 28 questions to ask yourself about how you show up as a leader, to help you become the best leader you can be. I’m also giving away a free worksheet format of this article, for those who want to work through the questions on paper or distribute it to their team.

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How to lead in a hybrid environment (1): Know the challenges

As leaders, we cannot be everywhere, all the time. As more and more companies move to hybrid working models, new leadership challenges are brought to the table. Understanding the nuances of remote work and what it means for different groups of people can increase empathy and form a solid basis for a more effective, and more equal, hybrid working environments. 

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Becoming a strategic leader (1): What is strategic leadership and why does it matter?

“Strategic leadership” is a nebulous concept for many leaders - and something that gets thrown around a lot without much explanation. In part one of the ’Stop, Strategy time’ series, I introduce the concept of strategic leadership, what strategy is and isn’t, and outline my three golden rules of strategic leadership.

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How to lead in a hybrid environment (2): Practical steps and examples

Hybrid working contains multitudes, it’s not a singular experience. Here are practical steps you should take to create a highly effective hybrid working environment for your teams.

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How to stop making hiring so hard: getting out of your own way

Most startup leaders have no plan, rely on reactive hiring and, here’s the big one, look for copies of themselves. Read my tips for addressing the main issues leaders face when hiring and how to overhaul your hiring process to focus on impact.

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The most common startup hiring mistakes and how to fix them 

Hiring is mission-critical, yet most leaders treat it as an afterthought. Learn about the 15 most common startup hiring mistakes, and offer some tips for how to fix them. By the end, you’ll know how to hire in a way that supports growth and maximizes the impact of your teams.

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How to onboard the first manager(s) in your startup (with a free onboarding plan template!)

Use the exercises in this article to create an onboarding plan for the new manager in your startup. I’ve also put together a downloadable onboarding guide that you can use to guide your onboarding process with not just new managers, but all new employees.

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Becoming a successful change leader: introducing the theory of change 

Times of change are some of the hardest to lead in - not only do leaders need to be able to respond to change and deal with high degrees of ambiguity, but they also need to take charge of creating change. Learn the theory of change and successfully lead change in your organization.

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Pitfalls when you’re hiring your first manager in your startup

In my work, I’ve seen many early-stage startups make similar mistakes as they start to hire for scale. In this article you’ll learn how to identify warning signs and avoid the common traps startups often fall into when scaling. 

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How to overcome change resistance in your organization

Employees may question or outright be against organizational changes. Many startups and scale-ups handle a lot of change, often complicated by initially puzzling employee reactions. Here are concrete steps you can take to address this.

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