The Leading Blog






04.25.25

Managing Uncertainty in the Face of Global Shocks

Managing Uncertainty

UNCERTAINTY is dominating business planning. The tariffs announced on April 2 could trigger “a self-induced, economic nuclear winter,” according to hedge fund manager Bill Ackman.

Businesses and nations are locked into a complex, international web of trade networks, just-in-time supply systems, currency exchanges, and mutual competition. And much of it is underpinned by the US dollar. Far from the US being “forced to sit on the sidelines as other nations got rich and powerful,” US GDP per capita is much higher than that of any other large country.

Consequently, global shocks — perhaps arising from unilateral decisions on international trade, climate change, or a pandemic — can trigger a negative impact that touches businesses everywhere.

In the US, tariffs will make foreign cars more costly for consumers. But US-built cars contain many foreign parts that are now set to become more expensive. And US car makers are likely to take the opportunity to raise their prices too.

Higher prices on Main Street are unlikely to come without pain. Reacting to falling consumer confidence — down 30 percent since November 2024 — Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell was warning of “heightened uncertainty” even before the April 2 tariffs. Since then, volatility in the markets has increased the risk of difficult trading conditions in the next year at least.

Fearful moments like this can lead either to paralysis that delays decisions and freezes actions or to panicky impulses to do something.

A third way, however, helps leaders find a more reliable path back to stability.

Fearful reactions are natural. But they can affect your judgement and stop you thinking rationally. You can’t prevent an emotional response to uncertainty, but you can keep it in context.

Smart leaders prepare in advance, protecting business continuity by developing resilience in their business and their people. This safety net gives them the confidence to sidestep unhelpful emotions so that they can focus on the decisions that will help to make a difference. Here’s how:

1. Reset your relationship with uncertainty

Imagine taking a daily walk in the park. Change involves taking an unfamiliar path. Complexity comes when the new path breaks into multiple different paths. Uncertainty switches off daylight and introduces a cliff edge while you try to get home safely.

The brain likes to see things clearly and confidently. Without certainty we feel fearful, which leads to two further reactions. We might either pause decisions and actions, and tread carefully to avoid stumbling off the cliff into the worst effects of a recession. Or we might try the opposite and rush to act, so that we’re doing something — anything — whether it might help in the long-run or not.

By recognizing fear as a first response rather than a final one, you can get past these fight-or-flight reactions and find the peace of mind to calmly and effectively stick to your plan.

2. Work with your people

When certainty is thin on the ground, leaders can’t be expected to have all the answers. It helps to have the support of other people. This is organizational resilience, which relies on personal character. Leaders can help their people find the confidence and creativity to cope in a crisis by encouraging a culture of social wellbeing.

Focusing on trust, respect, belonging, and psychological safety, social wellbeing brings people together, giving them the reassurance to suggest new solutions, try new things, and collaborate in effective teamwork. For example, collective intelligence rises when teamwork is stronger, dissenting opinions are allowed, and no one defaults to blame.

In times of difficulty, relationships between employers and employees can be cemented by clear-cut communication. Regular updates and honest assessments help lay the groundwork for tough messaging that may need to be delivered.

It also helps to talk to people outside the team, even outside the business. Leaders who turn to their personal network may find new ideas and alternatives that may shape their decisions.

3. Get back to making decisions

Having freed themselves from emotions and assessed information and options from both inside and outside the business, leaders can make the informed decisions that will start to restore a little stability.

A decision-making framework is helpful, especially when practiced over time. This can rely on one of the forms of critical thinking. For example, scientific thinking approaches things from the mindset of a scientist — making an assumption, looking for evidence, and using it to assess whether the assumption is correct.

Scientific thinking helps to nail down certainty. Similarly, flexible thinking (toggling between alternate viewpoints, known as “mental models”), or creative thinking (suspending conformity and workshopping new solutions), can also support decision-making processes.

Abilities in managing uncertainty — breaking free of emotions, encouraging a healthy culture, building resilience, setting communication standards, and effective decision-making — are collectively known as future skills. Together they offer decisive steps in coping with the fallout of uncertainty.

Future skills are best developed in advance. They can be learned through training, and they bring out the best in human capabilities.

In the uncertain months ahead, whether America slides into recession or not, well-prepared organizations will lead the way back to better days. Leaders who have the resilience, the preparation, and the team to get back on track will be able to reclaim a little competitive edge and help their organization make the all-important shift from surviving to thriving.

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Leading Forum
Nick Smallman is Founder and CEO of Working Voices, a consultancy and training provider. For the last 25 years he has been advising global blue-chip clients on engagement, productivity, and retention. Dan Parry is the Head of Communications at Working Voices. He began his career as a broadcast journalist and has more than 30 years’ experience in the media. Both are based in London, UK. Their new book is, Engaging Teams: How to Use Social Wellbeing to Boost Performance, Retention, and Culture (Kogan Page, March 25, 2025). Learn more at workingvoices.com

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Upside of Uncertainty Uncertainty Will Freeze You in Place if You Let It

Posted by Michael McKinney at 10:17 AM
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04.24.25

Leading Thoughts for April 24, 2025

Leading Thoughts

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with:

I.

Rosabeth Moss Kanter on developing winning streaks:

“Experiencing troubles is not all bad. Rather than interrupting the cycle of success, responding to adversity might accelerate it. New threats become less threatening when people have successfully solved previous problems. Potential leaders might become stronger when they have successfully resolved crises or weathered adversity. Troubles, in fact, might actually be good for winners.”

Source: Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End

II.

Josh Linkner on refining your work:

“It’s the ritual of refinement that’s often the difference between mediocre and legendary work. It’s been said that the one thing all great authors have in common is lousy first drafts. The difference between a bad book, a decent book, and a breakaway bestseller is often directly linked to the amount of time invested in the refinement stage.”

Source: Big Little Breakthroughs: How Small, Everyday Innovations Drive Oversized Results

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Leading Thoughts Whats New in Leadership Books

Posted by Michael McKinney at 03:11 PM
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04.21.25

Ready to Win: What I Learned About Preparing for Sustained Success as a Basketball Coach

Ready to Win

ACHIEVING sustained success hinges on consistent and well-conceived preparation. If you fail to work hard and think hard during preparation, no amount of talent or performance under pressure is going to save you.

This is something so simple and easy to understand, yet it’s a shortcoming I see over and over in sports, business, and life.

I was the head coach of the University of Kentucky women’s basketball team for 13 seasons. It was a terrific ride that included three visits to the Elite 8 of the NCAA tournament, a Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship, and three SEC Coach of the Year awards. Preparation was key to our success.

To give a very basic example of the importance of preparation in basketball, let’s say it’s nearing the end of a college basketball season, and a team is gearing up to play a tough conference game. The coach has watched enough video to design a game plan that exploits the weakness of the opponent. The plan will rely on lots of full-court press and pressure defense. The coach has correctly identified the perfect plan in terms of strategy — the upcoming opponent is definitely weak in handling pressure for a full game.

However, there’s a big problem. The coach’s own team isn’t physically capable of sustaining the strategy. Compared to the rest of the world, the athletes are no doubt in good physical shape. But they aren’t in good enough shape to apply the relentless pressure that would likely win the game.

How many businesses struggle with this same concept? Let’s say you’re a leader in a company that relies on a complex sales process with a long cycle. What your team is doing right now to make initial contact with prospects will directly impact whether you’ll meet your sales goal several months from now. You may already be losing that “game” right now, and nothing your team does later can make up for it.

There’s another huge problem for leaders who fail to get their teams ready to win: they’re guaranteed to lose the confidence of their team. People don’t like to lose, but even worse is feeling like you’re in a no-win position. If you don’t get your team ready to succeed, confidence erodes. Eventually, if it happens enough times, you’ll be a leader in name only (and maybe not even in name if you lose your position because of it).

As a leader, you show your team exactly how much you care about them when you place a premium on preparation and accountability. Great leaders are honest enough to consistently hold people accountable for the process and habits of preparation.

At a high-level, the journey to great preparation is broken into two parts. The first part is about the mindset you need — the “thinking filters” that go into your pursuit of success. The second part involves consistently applying a framework of constant preparation.

Creating a habit of mind that prepares you for success involves:

1. Evaluating your definition of success. Get clear on what success means to you. Hazy visions and unclear expectations will crush any belief in sustained success. The best place to start is honestly recognizing the unique set of gifts you have as a person. When you recognize and acknowledge your gifts, you can then take the next step and identify where you can best use those gifts to contribute your very best to the world. Ask yourself: What value can you bring, and does it fill you with satisfaction to deliver that value to others?

2. Testing your definition of success against reality. Visions of pie-in-the-sky success aren’t a way of “being positive;” they’re just being unrealistic. If a small e-commerce site CEO says, “In two years, we’re going to exceed Amazon in sales,” no one will want to climb aboard. For any vision of success, large or small, ask yourself a simple question: Do I really believe this is an attainable goal?

3. Deciding to believe in yourself. I think that many people underestimate the role of committing to a decision to believe in themselves. Belief in yourself is about understanding that you have the necessary skills, talent, and developmental abilities to enjoy consistent and long-term accomplishments. To decide this is to say, “Yes, I’m taking responsibility for this belief and affirming that it’s true.”

Additionally, applying a framework of constant preparation involves:

1. Getting crystal clear on your goals. Once again, you want to be realistic when you set your goals. Determine if your goal can be measured and what those measurements should be. Think of a clear goal as a lens that helps you see better what’s a useless diversion versus a positive pursuit. Such clarity enables you to say “no” to distractions and “yes” to worthy activities. Also important is creating specific subgoals that will comprise the steps leading to the achievement of your goals.

2. Create a strategy for how you’ll prepare to meet those goals. Essentially, a strategy has to come from your strengths and core competencies; it shouldn’t go against your identity or values. Ask yourself: What are my core competencies, and how can I use them to create the right strategy? For example, I sincerely like connecting with people. So, with any preparation strategy, I ask myself, “Will this task help me build a personal connection?” Once you begin implementing your strategy, make sure to evaluate it regularly and objectively.

3. Execute the details of the strategy with maximum effort and accountability. Five key areas that will guide you in executing a powerhouse preparation plan include: Prioritization, Timelines, Responsibility and Accountability, Resources, and Curiosity. Make decisions on what tasks have the highest priority. Decide how best to spend your time. Put in place accountability parameters. Maximize your resources. And be open to what you could explore further.

Once you’ve developed the mindset and defined the framework for a powerful preparation regimen, you’re ready to execute your preparation blueprint that will lead to sustained success.

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Leading Forum
Matthew Mitchell is a Wall Street Journal and USA Today best-selling author, speaker, three-time SEC Coach of the Year, and the winningest head coach in the history of the University of Kentucky women’s basketball program. Through Mitchell’s focus on the fundamentals, he led the program to new heights ― seven seasons of winning 25 games or more and UK’s first SEC Championship in 30 years. Mitchell’s new book, Ready to Win: How Great Leaders Succeed Through Preparation (Winning Tools, November 19, 2024) — already a USA Today bestseller — shares proven principles that lead to resilience, preparation, and growth. Learn more at www.coachmatthewmitchell.com

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Crucibles Of Leadership Sebastian Coe

Posted by Michael McKinney at 06:08 PM
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04.18.25

The Leadership Blind Spot: Why Leaders Must Invest in Their Own Well-Being

Blind Spot

STUDIES show that executive mental health is in a precarious state: 55% of CEOs in a recent 2024 study, for instance, self-reported they were having issues with their mental health. Given how private leaders tend to be about the pressures they’re under, imagine how many haven’t come forward.

There’s an unspoken truth in high-level leadership: CEOs and executives bear the weight of their organizations alone, whether they admit it or not. No matter how many advisors, direct reports, or leadership partners surround them, they remain the ultimate decision-makers. Most also operate under the assumption that their primary role is to support everyone else — driving growth, ensuring profitability, and managing crises.

Unlike mid-level managers, who have peers to turn to, CEOs and executives often find themselves with limited avenues for real support. Also, unlike mid-level managers, leaders are expected to lead at a relentless pace. Between balancing market pressures, investor demands, internal team dynamics, and personal ambition and managing the inherent isolation that comes with the job, executives’ own well-being takes a backseat. I call this the leadership blind spot.

It should be no surprise to anyone that, over time, this burden takes its toll. Chronic stress, anxiety, and even physical health issues creep in, often unnoticed, until they start affecting performance. A leader’s unchecked sacrifice leads to burnout, poor decision-making, and diminished long-term effectiveness. Further, when a leader operates from a place of exhaustion, the entire organization feels it. Productivity suffers, culture weakens, and critical missteps become more frequent. The leader’s blind spot becomes the organization’s as well.

Build a Core Dream Team

If sustained success is the goal, then leaders must stop treating personal well-being as optional and start seeing it as a strategic investment. I was there myself and I’ve seen plenty of colleagues in the same position. But there’s a simple, commonsense way to overcome it. First, admit there’s a problem. Then, build a support team: a core dream team that focuses on a leader’s well-being, not just the usual organizational and management levers. Most CEOs surround themselves with financial, operational, and strategic advisors. However, this is a team for the lead executive, installed as a protective measure to support their personal resilience. Whether or not you believe you need them, you need them. They function as essential safeguards against the pressures of executive life.

Here’s what the team should include:

Personal leadership or performance coach: A leadership or performance coach serves as a sounding board, offering strategic guidance and helping executives maintain clarity amid complexity. They provide the external perspective leaders need to make better decisions and avoid blind spots (including neglecting one’s own well-being).

Therapist or mental health professional: Emotional resilience is just as critical as financial acumen. Therapy equips leaders with tools to manage stress, process challenges, and maintain balance. Some of the most successful executives have publicly credited therapy for their ability to navigate high-pressure environments. The late Steve Jobs was known for seeking spiritual balance and integrating mindfulness and meditation into his leadership. In some cases, I’d even recommend a shaman over a traditional therapist—it depends on what resonates with the individual.

Physical trainer: High-performing leaders understand that physical health directly correlates with mental clarity and stamina. Richard Branson has long credited his fitness regimen as a core factor in his productivity and creativity. CEOs like Tim Cook and Jeff Bezos prioritize fitness, knowing that a strong body fuels a sharp mind. Regular exercise mitigates stress, enhances focus, and boosts energy levels — key for sustained leadership performance.

Nutritionist: Diet plays a direct role in cognition, mood, and overall energy. Many executives default to convenience eating — grabbing whatever’s available between meetings — without realizing the toll it takes on their performance. A nutritionist ensures they’re fueling their body and brain for optimal function over the course of an executive’s traditionally long day.

Does a Co-CEO Help?

I’ve been in discussions about the prospect of bringing in a co-leader or a co-CEO to share the burden. It’s a common question: wouldn’t having two people running the organization reduce the load by half?

It might in the short term, but it’s rarely a sustainable solution. In the startup world, the co-CEO structure has gained traction. But I have yet to find an established company that has truly mastered this model. Consider Salesforce, often cited as a case study, in co-leadership. The organization has struggled to make it work. Marc Benioff, who founded Salesforce in 1999, first appointed Keith Block as co-CEO in 2018. But within two years, Block stepped down for undisclosed reasons. Benioff tried again in 2021, naming Brett Taylor as co-CEO. Again, it didn’t last: Taylor exited in 2023.

What splitting the job doesn’t cover is the fact that the job itself requires multiple layers of support, and now an organization has two leaders who may be suffering from the same blind spot, not one. It is better to have a team surrounding the leader who can address well-being directly.

High-Level Leadership Takes High-Level Health

Executives often dismiss personal well-being as something they’ll “get to later.” Their schedules are packed. Their responsibilities are massive. And for many, there’s an ingrained belief that they’re somehow built differently—that they can endure more, push harder, and handle stress better than others. But the reality is the most effective leaders don’t just work hard—they take care of themselves so they can sustain that hard work over the long haul.

By adopting the Core Dream Team model, leaders can protect themselves from burnout, sharpen their decision-making, and cultivate the resilience needed to thrive. Because high-level leadership isn’t just about driving business outcomes—it’s about sustaining the human behind the title. Those who recognize this truth will lead with greater clarity, impact, and longevity.

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Leading Forum
Ashwin Gulati has launched international ventures, helped startups take off or land, and copiloted complex transitions for over 100 companies in various industries in the UK, US, Spain, and France. With 30 years in the trenches, he has identified the hidden pitfalls, unspoken truths, and personal twists that ultimately determine a venture’s success or failure. He holds a BA in Economics and Mathematics from Claremont McKenna College and studied at King’s College and the London School of Economics. His new book is Soul Venture: A True Life and Death Journey into the Startup Culture. Learn more at www.soulventurebook.com

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Wellbeing At Work Wellbeing

Posted by Michael McKinney at 11:47 AM
| Comments (0) | Find more on this topic in Human Resources

04.17.25

Leading Thoughts for April 17, 2025

Leading Thoughts

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with:

I.

William Vanderbloemen on complaining:

“Complaining gives us a lot of positive reinforcement. It makes us think we’re smarter than the powers that be, and it helps us bond with a group. Ask anyone who is friends with their very first coworkers from decades ago. Did breakfast sandwiches in the cafeteria and half-day summer Fridays bind them? Or was it a common enemy and a mutual sense of injustice that they could vent to another about? But complaining isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. It has a negative impact on your brain and, not surprisingly, a negative impact on your company culture. It’s better to be a Solver.”

Source: Be the Unicorn: 12 Data-Driven Habits that Separate the Best Leaders from the Rest

II.

Rasmus Hougaard and Jacqueline Carter on using AI to enhance creativity:

“One of the foundations of creativity is being curious and asking questions like What if? Why not? And What else? Human beings are great at asking these types of questions. But unfortunately, we’re limited in our answers because of our experience, knowledge, and biases. Although AI has limitations because of its programming, it can be a terrific creative partner by encouraging our curiosity. With AI, we can ask more questions, get more answers, and bring more fun into the creative process. Many of us can probably relate to painful past experiences of staring at a whiteboard, trying to come up with new, divergent or original ideas. Well, Al can be of help in those situations. Used properly, it can be a great generator of initial ideas, which can help inspire creative thinking. Al can also answer questions and punch holes in an argument or a thesis. Fundamentally, it’s more fun and cognitively easier to ask questions than it is to come up with answers. AI can transform brainstorming sessions into “question-storming sessions,” which can be inherently more enjoyable and engaging and can ultimately produce a greater number of creative outcomes.”

Source: More Human: How the Power of AI Can Transform the Way You Lead

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Leading Thoughts Whats New in Leadership Books

Posted by Michael McKinney at 03:59 PM
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04.14.25

Challenges Facing Women Negotiators

Women Negotiators

HISTORICALLY, women have faced significant hurdles in employment negotiations. Here’s what we know about these barriers, plus strategies leaders can use to improve fairness in the workplace.

The Barriers that Women Face

In 2006, Carnegie Mellon University professor Linda Babcock and her colleagues published research showing that women tend to initiate negotiations, particularly salary negotiations, significantly less often than men do. The findings appeared to at least partially explain the enduring pay gap between men and women, which has remained frustratingly stable from 2002 to 2023.

In a 2007 study, Harvard Kennedy School professor Hannah Riley Bowles, Babcock, and California State University professor Lei Lai found that evaluators penalized female job candidates who asked for higher pay, but not male candidates. Evaluators viewed women who asked for greater compensation less favorably than men who did so and were less interested in working with the women the future.

Women appeared to face a catch-22: If they asked for more, they risked being viewed negatively.

About 20 years have passed since research on gender differences in negotiation and tailored salary negotiation tips for women began to emerge. Have things changed? Yes and no. On the one hand, evidence suggests that many women are negotiating compensation more assertively. Unfortunately, however, these efforts have failed to move the needle on the gender pay gap.

Women Do Ask

In a 2024 study, researchers Laura Kray (University of California, Berkeley), Jessica Kennedy (Vanderbilt Business School), and Margaret Lee (UC Berkeley) surveyed 990 graduates of a top U.S. business school between 2015 and 2019 about whether they negotiated the salary of their first post-MBA job. The women reported negotiating salary more often than men: 54% of women said they did, while 44% of men did. And in a survey of nearly 2,000 B-school alumni, Kray and colleagues found that 64% of women and 59% of men reported negotiating for promotions or higher compensation.

It seems that after the message on gender and salary negotiations came out around 2007, both men and women—but especially women—began to negotiate compensation more frequently. Nonetheless, recent female MBA graduates still earn less than their male peers: 88% of men’s earnings, a gap that widens to 63% after 10 years, report Kray and her team.

If Salary Negotiations Aren’t the Problem, What Is?

“Our research shows that women are willing to do their part to close the gender pay gap,” says Kennedy. “Unfortunately, negotiating well isn’t enough to close the gender pay gap. It’s not the source of the problem.”

If differences in men and women negotiating salary isn’t the source of the gender pay gap, what is?

“Economic studies show that the gender wage gap is explained more by differences in men’s and women’s career trajectories than by how men and women are paid for the same work,” according to Bowles. “We will make faster progress toward closing the gender wage gap by getting more women into high-paying jobs than by negotiating a little more money in lower-paid occupations.”

3 Strategies for Reducing Bias in Employment Negotiations

It’s smart for all of us to proactively negotiate our compensation, benefits, and work roles throughout our careers. But workers can only do so much on their own. To promote fairness, organizational leaders can take the following steps.

Institute more flexible, family-friendly policies and structures. This can include persuading people of all genders to take parental leave to creating more “substitutable work” that doesn’t require high earners to work grueling hours.

Reduce bias in hiring and promotion. In their new book, Make Work Fair: Data-Driven Design for Real Results, Harvard Kennedy School professors Iris Bohnet and Siri Chilazi argue that fairness initiatives should be built into organization-wide systems. Setting clear salary ranges and standardizing job interviews and performance evaluations can make job processes fairer for all employees.

Educate and mentor. Organizations can establish mentoring programs to help women, minorities, and others feel more comfortable negotiating assertively on their own behalf. They can also educate employees about common biases that negotiators face at the table and how they hold us all back. When people believe the “women don’t ask for more” narrative, they are less likely to support laws and policies aimed at reducing bias in negotiation, Kray and colleagues found. Spreading the word that women increasingly are negotiating as assertively as men could help build support for fairer policies.

By recognizing gender inequality in negotiations as a shared problem, we can both lessen the burden on women and promote more productive negotiations.

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Leading Forum
Katie Shonk writes articles on negotiation and dispute resolution for the Program on Negotiation, a consortium program of Harvard University, MIT, and Tufts, dedicated to the study and practice of negotiation. The former editor of Negotiation Briefings, she is also a research associate at Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School. Shonk received her BS from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and her MA in creative writing from the University of Texas at Austin. She has published articles in the Harvard Business Review and other management journals. She is also the author of a novel, Happy Now?, and a short story collection, The Red Passport.

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Negotiating Nickerson Yoshida Negotiating

Posted by Michael McKinney at 11:52 AM
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04.11.25

Transition Points Are Fertile Ground for Reinvention

Cerda Reinvention

I didn’t start out as a founder. I started out as an arms dealer. Not in the literal sense — but in the early days of Silicon Valley, I was on the front lines of sales, business development, and corporate development. I knew how to close deals, spot trends, and move fast. I was valuable but always on the periphery of the real action. I was building.

I watched teams turn ideas into companies and products into platforms. After a while, it became clear — I was contributing but not creating. So I made a move.

I joined Ooma as a founding executive. We set out to reinvent home phone service and take on the telcos. It was bold and ambitious and taught me what zero to one really looks like.

From there, I co-founded Jangl, a privacy-forward voice platform that lets people connect without giving out their real number. We raised money, built the team, and got real traction. Then, the market shifted, and we hit the wall.

That kind of moment can knock you down — or wake you up.

What I’ve learned across every chapter since is this: transition points represent some of the most valuable terrain upon which you’re ever likely to stand. They’re confusing, uncertain, and usually uncomfortable. But they’re also where reinvention happens — if you let it.

Too many people try to erase what came before when they make a change. I’ve done the opposite. I’ve treated every shift in my career like compound interest. Sales taught me how to tell a story. Founding taught me to see around corners. Product leadership taught me to zoom out and engineer systems at scale. Every new move built on the last.

That’s the difference between a pivot and a reinvention. A pivot is reactive. Reinvention is expansive.

Recognizing when it’s time

But how do you know when it’s time for a reinvention? Here are five signs that I’ve learned to watch for:

  1. You know it’s time to move when you’re always executing someone else’s vision.
  2. You know it’s time when the job starts to feel too small for what you’ve grown into.
  3. You know it’s time when people keep pulling you back into what you’re already great at instead of asking what you want to learn next.
  4. You know it’s time when you feel a quiet envy toward the people doing what you wish you were doing.
  5. And you definitely know it’s time when the story you’re telling about yourself no longer fits who you’ve become.

The key is to treat transition points not as gaps, but as launchpads.

When Ooma ended, I didn’t run back to sales. I leaned harder into product. After two more startups, I shifted into leadership roles at companies like Facebook and VEVO, then helped build Disney+ and led streaming product and engineering at TelevisaUnivision. That kind of reinvention required unlearning, taking risks, and putting myself in uncomfortable rooms. But every time I did it, I unlocked new capabilities.

Carrying forward what matters

The trick is not to over-index on any one chapter — the startup that fails; the role that runs its course; the team that changes. All of it is temporary. What’s permanent is what you carry forward — the grit, the pattern recognition, the following your hunches. That’s the raw material for whatever comes next.

Reinvention isn’t something you do once. It’s a muscle. And the people who stay relevant, energized, and dangerous in the best ways are the ones who keep flexing it.

If you’re standing at a crossroads, don’t freeze. Don’t cling. Ask yourself: “Am I building something that reflects who I am right now?” And if the answer is no — what’s stopping you?

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Leading Forum
Michael Cerdá is a veteran product and technology leader who has served as Chief Product Officer and executive at several of the world’s most influential companies. As VP of Product for Disney Streaming, he helped launch Disney+ to over 100 million subscribers. Previously, he was Chief Project Officer at Goldman Sachs’ Marcus division, Chief Experience Officer at Live Nation/Ticketmaster, and Director of Product at Facebook. He has also founded multiple venture-backed startups and holds two technology patents. His new book, Build Something: Building Products, Business & Culture – A Journey of Hard-Won Lessons and Impactful Outcomes (Feb. 20, 2025), reveals the untold true stories behind some of the most transformative technologies of our time. Learn more at www.build-something.com

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Reinventing You Take Charge Of You

Posted by Michael McKinney at 09:01 AM
| Comments (0) | Find more on this topic in Personal Development

04.10.25

Leading Thoughts for April 10, 2025

Leading Thoughts

IDEAS shared have the power to expand perspectives, change thinking, and move lives. Here are two ideas for the curious mind to engage with:

I.

Eric Potterat on putting in the practice you need for success:

“Effort is perhaps both the easiest and hardest aspect of mindset to practice. Easy because you know what needs to be done: more practicing, more studying, more exercising, more time. Hard because: more work. For some people (and many high performers) hard work is innate. They keep at it naturally; they don’t have to make themselves do it. But most of us are what I like to call “human”: we have a limit. When we reach that fork in our day when we could spend an hour practicing that thing we care about or rot our brain watching viral videos or reality shows, too often we opt for the videos. We’ll practice tomorrow. We suffer from (or benefit from, depending on whether you are sitting comfortably on your couch or not) an intention-behavior gap. We intend to do something, but we don’t do it.”

Source: Learned Excellence: Mental Disciplines for Leading and Winning from the World's Top Performers

II.

Michael Pilarczyk on knowing what matters to you:

“There’s a reason behind every choice you make. There are reasons you decide to do or not do something, and those reasons chart your course. In other words, the meaning you assign to your thoughts determines your personality, your behavior, how you feel, how you react, and what you accomplish. Everything you do has a reason. There is a close relationship between your personal values and the choices you make. And this all directly affects your behavior.”

Source: Master Your Mindset: Live a Meaningful Life

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