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Start Here — The 3 Doors

I need to say something hard

Scripts for feedback, PIPs, terminations, layoffs, and escalations.

I need to run my team better

Systems for hiring, onboarding, meetings, and delegation.

I need to figure out my own career

Being good at the job isn't the same as having a good career.

Real Questions

My former peer is now my direct report. What do I do?

Name it once, then keep the relationship, change the context.

My 1:1s turned into status updates. How do I fix that?

Say it directly, then stop them when they slip back into it.

How do I ask for a promotion without sounding entitled?

Point at evidence, not time served.

Quizzes

Leadership Style Quiz

What kind of manager are you, actually?

Personality Quiz

What's actually true about you?

Situation Navigator

Just got promoted

You just got a promotion into management. Start with the Playbook.

Underperforming report

Someone on your team isn't hitting the mark.

Putting someone on a PIP

What to ask yourself first, and the structure that holds up.

Giving tough feedback

You need to give feedback that's going to sting.

When the team isn't the problem, but something's still off

Diagnosing before you reach for a fix.

First review cycle

Your first formal review cycle is coming up.

Letting someone go

You have to let someone go.

Managing a remote team

It changes what you can see, not whether the work gets done.

Onboarding a new hire

You're onboarding someone new to the team. The 30-60-90 plan to use.

Your best performer is bored

You can feel them starting to drift.

Hiring your first team member

The job description is the easy part.

Handling a resignation

One of your direct reports just resigned.

Managing someone more senior than you

They've been doing this longer than you've been managing.

Giving or denying a raise

You have to tell them what happened with their raise.

Common Questions

How do I tell an employee they're not meeting expectations?

Naming an issue without making it a confrontation.

Can I put someone on a performance improvement plan?

What to ask yourself first, what to gather, and the structure that holds up.

How do I fire someone I actually like?

Direct, brief, and honest.

How do I give feedback that doesn't come across as harsh?

Direct without being harsh.

How do I take feedback without getting defensive?

What to do in the first sixty seconds after it stings.

How do I keep my best employee from quitting?

Keeping and growing the person you can't afford to lose.

How do I interview candidates for the first time?

Interviewing job candidates well when you've never sat on this side of the table.

How do I run a one-on-one that isn't just a status update?

A repeatable structure for weekly 1:1s.

How do I structure my first performance review?

Structure for your first written review.

How do I delegate without micromanaging?

Clarity, capability, then trust.

What do I do when my team doesn't get along?

Diagnosing before you reach for a fix.

How do I manage a remote or hybrid team?

It changes what you can see, not whether the work gets done.

How do I know if I should quit my job?

A genuine dead end versus a rough stretch.

How do I actually quit my job well?

Notice, the script, and the follow-up email.

How do I negotiate a raise or a job offer?

Know your number before you're in the room.

How do I tell someone I can't give them a raise?

Give the real reason, not a vague one.

How do I build a case for my own promotion?

First build the case, then make the ask out loud.

How do I manage up to my own boss?

Making their job easier without losing yourself.

How do I deal with a boss who micromanages me?

Earning more room without a confrontation.

How do I onboard a new hire the right way?

The 30-60-90 day plan, free, no signup.

How do I write a job description that attracts the right people?

Specific enough to repel the wrong fit.

How do I write an SOP or process document?

A process document someone new could actually follow.

How do I make a decision when my team disagrees?

Structure, not just a gut call.

What do I say when announcing a policy change?

Get ahead of the rumor mill.

How do I deliver a promotion conversation well?

Delivering good news well.

What do I say to a new hire on their first day?

Their first day, not their first test.

What should I focus on in my first 90 days as a manager?

The stage after week one, before month six.

What should I focus on in my first week as a manager?

Watch before you touch anything.

How do I run a team meeting that doesn't drag on?

Not another status-update spiral.

How do I track my accomplishments for a review?

Never walk into a review blank.

How do I set goals for my team?

Write them down instead of carrying them around in your head.

How do I show executive presence in meetings?

A framework for meetings above your usual level.

Career Advice

Negotiating a raise or offer

Know your number before you're in the room.

Knowing when to leave

Telling a genuine dead end apart from a rough stretch.

Making your manager's job easier without losing yourself.

Switching industries or functions

Translating your track record, not just transferring it.

Working with a micromanager

Earning more room without a confrontation.

The first sixty seconds after hard feedback

What to do right after it stings.

Your three reps

If they give you three reps, make the most of those three reps.

How to quit your job like a pro

Notice, the script, and the follow-up email.

Becoming a Manager

How to get promoted to manager when you've never managed anyone

Breaking the catch-22.

Start with small leadership opportunities

Practice the work before you own the title.

Learn to delegate before you have direct reports

Practice giving work away, not just doing it.

Build relationships across the organization

Before you need a favor, not after.

Become comfortable with accountability

Authority without accountability isn't management.

Ask for responsibility, not just a promotion

A question your boss can actually answer.

Do not confuse visibility with value

Contribution-based visibility beats attention.

Prepare for the conversation about readiness

Find out where you actually stand.

How to get promoted to manager in the next 12 months

A month-by-month roadmap, not just advice.

Templates, Scripts

One on One Script

A repeatable structure so 1:1s stop being a status meeting.

Performance Conversation Script

Naming an issue without making it a confrontation.

Performance Review Script

Structure for your first written review.

Difficult Feedback Script

Direct without being harsh.

Promotion Conversation Script

Delivering good news well.

New Hire Welcome Script

Their first day, not their first test.

Policy Change Announcement Script

Get ahead of the rumor mill.

Executive Status Update Email Template

Built to be scanned in thirty seconds.

Client Escalation Response Script

Make them feel heard before you've solved anything.

Layoff Conversation, Manager Template

Not performance-related, say that plainly.

Inspire Before You Inform

A story, one spark, then the ask, for rolling out goals or change.

Compensation Conversation Script

Word-for-word scripts for approving a raise and denying one.

Templates, Documents

Accomplishments Tracker Template

Never walk into a review blank.

Team Goals Template

Write them down instead of carrying them around in your head.

Team Meeting Agenda Template

Not another status-update spiral.

New Manager Action Plan Template

Six areas, made specific.

Job Description Template

Specific enough to repel the wrong fit.

A process document someone new could actually follow.

Decision-Making Template

Structure, not just a gut call.

Performance Improvement Plan Template

Writing a PIP that's specific enough to actually work.

Termination Conversation, Manager Checklist

Short, direct, defensible, with every Legal/HR tip.

Employee Recognition Template

A process for making sure exceptional work actually gets seen.

Delivering Bad News to a Customer

Pre-call checklist, the script, and what to say versus what never to say.

Interviewing a Candidate, First-Time Manager Template

A legally sound interview structure and script.

Sales to Ops Handoff Template

Everything the receiving team needs after a deal closes.

Time Allocation Template

Map a process and let cost and headcount fall out as formulas.

Implementation / Project Planner Template

A phase-by-phase tracker for a multi-week rollout.

The SaaS Headcount Model Template

A companywide framework plus nine functional capacity models.

Tools

Career Path Builder

Build your team's competency framework once, then generate a real plan per report.

Employee Turnover Cost Calculator

What one departure actually costs, checked against the industry benchmark.

Job Offer Comparison Calculator

Two offers, normalized for cost of living, equity, and time.

Client Incident RCA Builder

12 guided questions, one client-ready root cause report.

Build Your AI Team

See if your job needs a Chat, a Project, a Skill, or an Agent.

AI Hub

Stop and Learn AI: Your First 15 Minutes

Step 1. What AI actually does, and how to try it on a real problem.

How to Think About AI

Step 2. Talk to it instead of copy-pasting into it, and keep your own mind in the loop.

Stop Searching. Start Giving AI the Whole Problem.

Step 3. Hand over the actual mess and let it help you think.

Using AI as a Thinking Partner

Step 4. Three real conversations, and what actually got unstuck.

Build Your First AI Assistant

Step 5. A 10 to 15 minute no-code build, with two copyable prompts.

Using Projects and Agents for Repeat Work

Step 6. Set it up once, stop rebuilding the prompt every time.

AI Agents, and How to Build Your First One

Step 7. What makes an agent different, and how to build one.

Connecting Multiple AI Agents Together

Go further. The handoff pattern for when one agent hits a ceiling.

Your First Agent, One Example All the Way Through

Advanced. An email triage agent, taught step by step, with the actual code.

AI Isn't the Problem. What You Do With the Time Back Is.

Step 8. A 3-part framework for where saved time should actually go.

Stop Thinking of AI as a Chatbot. Start Thinking of AI as a Team.

Framework. Chat, Project, Skill, and Agent, one example all the way through.

Workplace Skills

One Message, Four Readers

The same facts, four different versions, for your manager, an executive, a client, and a coworker.

How to Walk Into an Executive Meeting Ready

Prep the ask, not the speech, and know their altitude before you walk in.

How to Ask for What You Need

A hint isn't an ask. The direct version, for your boss, an executive, budget, or a follow up.

How to Give Bad News Without Burying It

The longer the windup, the worse it sounds, in person or on a slide.

How to Disagree at Work

With your boss, an executive, or a full room, without becoming the problem.

How to Say "I Don't Know" Without Losing the Room

The three words people avoid, and the sentence that makes them safe to say.

Email, Slack, or Meeting?

Three questions that actually decide it, not habit or convenience.

How to Speak Up in a Meeting

Staying quiet costs you. So does talking too much, asking, and getting interrupted.

How to Build a Presentation That Leads With the Answer

Most decks bury the conclusion. Put it on slide one instead.

Make It Simple Without Making It Sound Easy

Taking something messy and making it feel simple, without sounding like it was easy.

How to Read the Room

The signals that tell you before anyone says it out loud.

Your Boss Never Gets Surprised

The FYI, Input Needed, Decision labels, and the escalation test that goes with them.

Giving and Taking Credit at Work

The person who shares credit is usually the one who ends up with more of it.

How to Handle a Mistake at Work

Nobody remembers the error a year later. They remember whether you owned it fast.

Busy Is Not the Same as Valuable

"I've been slammed" isn't the flex it feels like when you say it.

How to Make Your Numbers Say Something

A chart with no conclusion asks the room to guess.

The First Time You Speak to the Whole Company

A different kind of nervous, plus the all hands question that represents the room.

Inform or Ask? And When Going Over Your Boss Is Okay

Confusing the two costs you in both directions. Say the one you actually mean.

Ask for Responsibility, Not Just a Promotion

Don't fixate on the title. Ask for the work the title actually requires.

How to Ask for a Promotion

Lead with your case, not "do you think I'm ready?"

Running a Calibration Meeting

Nobody explains calibration before your first one. Here's how to hold your ground.

How to Lead Without a Title

You become one when people start looking to you for direction, not when you get the title.

How to Earn Respect From Your Coworkers

Nobody respects someone for trying to be respected. A short list of things, done consistently.

How to Handle Difficult People and Coworker Conflict

You usually don't need to fix the relationship, just manage it well enough.

Back Your People Before They Have Proven It

A specific, visible bet you make on someone before the evidence fully supports it.

Taking Initiative Without Stepping on Toes

Initiative and overreach look identical from a distance. Up close, one clear difference.

How to Stay Calm Under Pressure

Your team doesn't need you to feel calm. They need you to act like it.

The Play: Becoming a Ted Lasso Leader

A 6 play system for building people, not just winning, plus a 30 day challenge.

When Someone on Your Team Makes a Mistake

The two minutes after you find out decide whether you hear about the next one early.

Did We Get a Little Better?

A six word question that quietly changes how a team thinks about outcomes.

Leadership Skills

Show Up Like an Executive in the Room

A framework for meetings above your usual level.

Why Your Team Needs SOPs

Writing process docs people actually use.

The Playbook, First 90 Days

Your First 90 Days, Week by Week

What to do, what to say, what to avoid, from listening before you diagnose through your first real improvement.

The Playbook, Month 6

Deal With the Performance Issue You've Been Avoiding

By month six there's usually one.

Handle Your First Real Conflict

Directly, not by hoping it resolves itself.

Run Your First Full Review Cycle

Deliberately, running a review cycle, step by step.

Notice What You've Stopped Listening For

The habits from week one fade by month six.

Lead With Story, Not Just Data

A specific example beats a bullet list.

Recognition That Actually Lands

Specific and timely beats a generic "great job."

The Conversation About Where They Want to Go

A growth conversation, not a performance one.

Say No to Something, on Purpose

You have the credibility now, use it.

The Playbook, Year 1

Decide What You'd Change

If it were fully yours.

Build the Thing Nobody Assigned You

The clearest signal the role is actually yours.

Start Developing Your Own Manager

Someone on your team is close to where you were.

Write Down What You'd Tell Yourself on Day One

Not for anyone else.

Decide What Kind of Manager You Want to Be

What's actually you versus what you copied.

Audit Your Own Habits

Not just your team's.