Unexecutive

Unexecutive I coach the world’s most influential and unconventional leaders and share what I learn on my blog.

I coach the world’s most influential and unconventional leaders and share what I learn on this blog. Every day I have powerful conversations with amazing people, ask unbelievably tough questions, and challenge my clients to dream bigger than their comfort zones. Then every week I create two articles from the things I’ve learned in these inspiring relationships so that anyone who wants to become a

powerful and enlightened leader can learn the not-so-secret way of making it happen. If you join me, you’ll learn how to:

Practice the mindset that leads to greater success, confidence, and an ability to show up in a powerful and vulnerable way. Identify and learn the skill set you need to not only create a deeply meaningful life but go beyond the first layers of success and find the core of delight at the center of the work you’ve been called to do. Care more than ever before, have your heart broken in the best ways, and serve the people you love like you’ve never thought possible.

When it's the end.We all have to confront the end of things. Sometimes the endings are something welcome, like a project...
09/28/2023

When it's the end.

We all have to confront the end of things.

Sometimes the endings are something welcome, like a project you completed, the end of a raise, the launch of a program, or a long week of work.

Sometimes the endings are challenging, like a team member you need to let go, a love you need to release, or a project that failed to meet expectations.

Often we're not very good at the end. We either resist them or idolize them. We try to make them bigger (elementary school graduation) or smaller (hiding a failure with an upbeat attitude), but neither entirely works. At least not in our hearts.

The people who I admire most seem to have incredible grace at the end of things. They acknowledge their feelings and the feelings of others. They mark the transition from one thing to the next. And most importantly they accept that things are changing. They accept that things are over and it's time for something new.

They don't complain about what didn't work out and they don't grab onto what was.

And it's this. The ease, permission, acceptance, and willingness to welcome the new and let go of the old is one of the most amazing human traits someone can possess.

Where in your life could you create more grace with the turning over of time?

What if leadership was fundamentally about being more alive? (And helping other people to be more alive?) Consider the D...
09/25/2023

What if leadership was fundamentally about being more alive?
(And helping other people to be more alive?)

Consider the Dalai Llama or Nelson Mandela or even a beloved teacher you had growing up. Something about them was different. They seemed more alive. They were vibrant, potent, present, inspired, hopeful, and curious.

I've worked with so many kinds of leaders: Non-profit executive directors with a big important cause, innovative start-up founders with dreams of massive scale, CEOs of small or micro businesses with just an employee or two, and the best ones were the ones that were most alive.

They were so curious about how to grow, how to improve, how to help their customers, and maybe most importantly how to help the people around them.

They were alive and came even more alive helping other people be more alive, vibrant, excited, and inspired.

When we talk about leadership often we talk about management, vision, communication, and productivity. But we never talk enough about the power of life, to fill your days with meaning, and your work with purpose.

Maybe it's too ideal or pie in the sky. But what if instead, we focused on the metric of life itself? How your work brings you alive and how you can bring those around you even more alive than they thought was possible

Manager vs DirectorSome companies hand our director titles like candy, but few really understand the distinction between...
05/24/2022

Manager vs Director

Some companies hand our director titles like candy, but few really understand the distinction between a manager and a director. So here are some simple guidelines.

Managers focus on doing things, directors focus on how things are done.

To the manager, the day is filled with tasks done in a certain order. The focus is efficiency and a willingness to get in there and do stuff or help other people do stuff.

To a director, the day is filled with understanding how things are done and how they might be done better. They are trying to make tasks happen but they are also looking at what should be happening and how it can happen better.

Managers focus on projects, directors focus on visions

To the manager, the project is the largest unit of focus. The work needs to be divided up, procedures need to be followed, and people need to be motivated.

To the director, the vision is the largest unit of focus. This is how things could be. Let’s figure out how to get there. The vision may be their own or part of a larger vision or work in coordination with several other visions, but it’s not just about doing the work it’s about changing the way things work.

Managers focus on small time scales directors on larger ones

Managers focus on the next 7, 30, and 90 days. They live in the week month and quarter. They manage priorities, they motivate people, and they keep things running on time.

Directors focus on the next 30, 90, 365, and 1800+ days (5 years) They live in how things will shift in the future. They see over the horizon to what’s coming and they make decisions that will shape what that future is.

In truth, anyone can be a director. The hardest part is the shift in focus and the shift in identity. If you’ve been a trusted team member for a long time and you’re great at getting things done, learning to shift into thinking about how things happen and what’s coming next is a challenge.

You no longer get as much done. At least not in the way that you used to. Instead of doing, you create. Instead of managing, you envision. It’s a leap beyond a simple upgrade in skills and it’s a powerful one if you have the courage to make it.

https://unexecutive.com/manager-vs-director/

Where are they right? In the book Thanks for the Feedback, the authors talk about how most of us receive feedback. Someo...
05/17/2022

Where are they right?

In the book Thanks for the Feedback, the authors talk about how most of us receive feedback.

Someone gives us feedback overtly “You’re giving too many details in the all-hands meetings” or covertly [You interrupt your director and they sigh and cross their arms], and then we filter it for if we agree or disagree with what’s been said. Often we disagree or disagree in part and dismiss the feedback outright.

A lot of leaders listen to everything this way.

Do I agree or disagree
• with that choice
• with this assessment
• with this response to a customer
• with this response to a developer
• with this feature choice
• with this order of priorities

The result is often that the leader is always right. And I can assure you it’s not fun to work for a leader who is always right.

A better way to listen to feedback is to ask:
• Where are they right?
or
• What exactly is the feedback I’m getting right now?
or
• If they want to be good at their work why would they choose or respond like that?

If you assume benevolence and then seek for the gold you just might find some.

And if you discover that the feedback is malicious or the choice careless you can always adjust your response as needed.

https://unexecutive.com/where-are-they-right/

Where do you have leverage? This isn’t about manipulating people. It’s about understanding where you have power in the w...
05/10/2022

Where do you have leverage?

This isn’t about manipulating people. It’s about understanding where you have power in the world and in your relationships.

Leaders tend to think people will agree with them if they’re right, or if they predicted the future the last time, but while this may get compliance it rarely leads to enrollment and enthusiasm.

You’re much more likely to get people to follow you if you can learn what they care about and speak to that directly.

https://unexecutive.com/where-do-you-have-leverage/

What’s the difference between an employee and a leader?You might say it’s responsibility or scope of work, but very ofte...
05/03/2022

What’s the difference between an employee and a leader?

You might say it’s responsibility or scope of work, but very often the biggest difference is mindset.

An employee thinks about their work as a series of tasks to get done.

Those tasks are clearly defined and their job is to complete them to the satisfaction of their manager or boss. If something isn’t working they might do their best to fix it, but if it’s outside the scope of their job they might also just tell their boss and wait for a solution to be offered.

A leader thinks about their work as a vision that needs to get created.

They think about what they want to happen, they assume it’s possible, and then they work to figure out how to make that happen. They have conversations, invent new ways of doing and thinking, ask tough questions, and overcome obstacles in order to bring their vision into a reality. If something goes wrong they accept and adapt as needed.

Most of us would prefer to lead teams of leaders.

And yet so many leaders treat their teams as employees. Leaders want their team to do what they would do. So they direct, control, and limit. Worse still they treat their teams as obstacles that need to get fixed, falling into their own employee mindset.

The world doesn’t need more workers. We need more leaders. And we need leaders who touch, move, and inspire others to lead.

https://unexecutive.com/whats-the-difference-between-an-employee-and-a-leader/(opens in a new tab)

04/16/2022

Creating possibility and power at the center of your life

04/10/2022

Some people say When you meet someone That makes you fall in love It’s like finding a missing piece A part that makes you whole which of…

04/08/2022

You have to be willing to miss if you want to swing.

04/07/2022

Get our blog delivered straight to your inbox with our newsletter.

Sign up here:

Address

Portland, OR
97211

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Unexecutive posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Unexecutive:

Shortcuts

Share

Category