David Dye's Blog

Episode 325: What if the secret to better problem-solving on your team isn’t having all the answers—but knowing how to handle their resistance to change?

When new ideas stall or your team hesitates to move forward, it’s not a lack of skill—it’s a signal. In today’s fast-changing workplace, great leaders know how to turn pushback into curiosity and collaboration. This episode gives you the tools to transform resistance into energy that drives results. Here’s what you’ll take away:

How to build genuine trust so your team feels ready to engage with new ideas.A strategy for creating curiosity that fuels better problem-solving and innovation.Four proven steps to turn resistance into ownership, motivation, and momentum.

Press play now to learn how to inspire better problem-solving and make change something your team embraces—not avoids.

Transforming Resistance into Momentum

00:00 – Setting the Stage for Change
David introduces the episode’s focus—how to turn your team’s resistance to change into energy and collaboration that moves everyone forward.

00:55 – When Good Ideas Meet Silence
He paints a vivid picture of presenting a solid plan only to be met with blank stares, folded arms, and polite nods, highlighting how common this challenge is for leaders.

01:57 – The Secret Behind Binge-Worthy Leadership
David compares great leadership to great storytelling—using curiosity and unresolved tension to keep people engaged and wanting to know what happens next.

03:28 – Step 1: Build Connection First
Before introducing new ideas, establish real trust. People won’t engage in change unless they feel seen, respected, and genuinely connected to their leader.

04:38 – Step 2: Create Healthy Tension
Rather than jumping straight to solutions, frame the problem and let it breathe. This helps your team feel the urgency and develop their own drive to solve it.

07:10 – Step 3: Lead with Curiosity
Encourage your team to explore solutions instead of waiting for direction. Asking thoughtful questions sparks ownership and leads to better problem-solving.

Building Ownership and Better Problem-Solving

08:14 – The Power of Questions
David explains how curiosity-based leadership transforms resistance into innovation, with questions like “What happens if we don’t change?” inspiring reflection and creativity.

09:27 – Step 4: Move to Commitment
Once ideas emerge, clarify next steps—who’s doing what by when—to ensure progress sticks and builds lasting accountability.

10:24 – Schedule the Finish
Bake follow-up into the process to keep momentum alive. Regular check-ins help refine solutions and maintain engagement.

11:16 – The Leader as Showrunner
David closes with a powerful metaphor: leaders aren’t the heroes—the team is. Great leadership means shaping the story, creating curiosity, and guiding better problem-solving through shared ownership.

The post 4 Communication Skills to Turn “No” into “Let’s Go” for Better Problem Solving appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Episode 324: Have you ever felt like your team’s stuck in the mud—spinning their wheels because you’re too “nice” to push back or have the hard conversations that would get things moving again? If you’ve ever tried to keep the peace only to realize you’re losing authority, clarity, or trust, this episode is for you. You’ll discover why empathy without boundaries can actually keep your team stuck in the A—avoidance, anxiety, and ambiguity—and how pairing kindness with clarity can help you lead with confidence and credibility.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to:

Recognize when empathy turns into enabling and what it’s really costing your leadership.Use three simple questions to bring clarity before every tough conversation.Transform “keeping the peace” into creating genuine trust and progress.

Hit play now to learn how to stop keeping your team stuck in the A and start leading with the kind of clarity that earns respect—and real results.

When Empathy Backfires

00:00 – 01:00
David Dye opens the episode with a challenge for kind, human-centered leaders—what if being too nice is holding you back? He invites listeners to explore how empathy, when unbalanced, can actually hurt leadership effectiveness.

01:00 – 01:40
He describes situations every leader knows well—avoiding conflict, staying silent to keep the peace, and saying “it’s fine” when it isn’t. These habits may feel kind, but they slowly erode authority and trust.

01:41 – 02:43
Dye explains that when empathy turns into conflict avoidance, credibility suffers. Teams lose clarity, accountability fades, and decision-making stalls. Leaders think they’re protecting relationships but are actually weakening them.

02:44 – 03:47
Empathy becomes enabling when leaders refuse to say what needs to be said. Dye reminds listeners that avoiding tough conversations doesn’t protect relationships—it damages them. This is often how a team’s stuck state begins to form.

03:48 – 04:58
He outlines three patterns leaders fall into: mistaking kindness for avoidance, trying to please everyone, and confusing respect with inaction. Each leads to indecision, frustration, and a team stuck without clear direction.

Turning Kindness into Clarity

04:59 – 06:14
Dye shifts to solutions, explaining that empathy and clarity must work together. Leaders don’t have to choose between being kind and being direct—both are essential to earning respect and results.

06:15 – 07:11
He introduces three key questions to prepare for tough conversations: What truth needs to be said? Why does it matter? What outcome do I want? These questions bring focus and confidence.

07:12 – 08:00
By answering these questions, leaders clarify their intentions and strengthen trust. Conversations become productive instead of tense, and teams move forward with shared understanding.

08:01 – 09:00
Sometimes reflection shows that a conversation isn’t needed, but more often it reveals what must be said. Clarity leads to action, and action restores momentum and trust.

09:01 – End
Dye closes by offering his Courageous Clarity Workbook—a free guide to help empathetic leaders speak hard truths without breaking trust. He leaves listeners with one reminder: great leadership isn’t about keeping the peace, it’s about creating space where truth and safety can coexist.

Head to https://letsgrowleaders.com/beclear for your free Courageous Clarity Workbook mentioned in this episode.

The post How One Common Leadership Mistake Undermines Conflict Resolution, Keeps Your Team Stuck, and Fuels Burnout appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Stop fighting resistance to change and use this binge-worthy approach instead

You’ve been working hard with your colleagues on a new initiative—one you know will make things better. The strategy is sound, and the data backs it up, but when you present it to your team, instead of momentum, you’re met with blank stares, crossed arms, or polite nods followed by silence. If you keep pushing, the best you’ll get is barely there compliance. Your normally energetic team is suddenly showing resistance to change.

Now what?

A Binge-worthy Solution When You Encounter Resistance to Change

Think about the last show you binged. You didn’t press “next episode” because everything had neatly resolved. You kept watching because you had questions. The hero just made a risky choice. A villain gained ground. The romance is uncertain. You kept going because you had to know: what happens next?

That’s not just superb storytelling—what happens next is also vital for great leadership.

As a leader, especially in today’s fast-moving, change-filled world, helping your team embrace new ideas isn’t about having all the answers. In fact, if you only lead with a bunch of your ideas, you’ll increase resistance to change.

Instead you can create the kind of curiosity that drives momentum. And you do that by investing in the four dimensions of meaningful collaboration: Connection, Clarity, Curiosity, and Commitment.

Four Steps to Help Your Team Embrace a New Idea

Here’s how you can lead your team through new ideas in a way that builds ownership and innovation (and keeps them wanting to press “next”).

1. Connection: Build Trust Before You Build Anything Else

Every great story starts with characters you care about. You need to connect with them before you can care what happens to them.

The same is true for your team. If your people don’t feel seen, heard, or respected, no amount of strategy or vision will stick.

The time for connection happens before you need to introduce a new idea or initiative. Take the time to build real connection, not just small talk. Real, human-to-human moments.

It’s not about being overly personal or forcing people to share what they’d rather not. Connection is about being real. When you start from a place of shared humanity, you create a foundation of trust. That trust buys you the grace to create a little tension… the good kind.

2. Clarity: Create the Tension, Then Don’t Resolve It (Yet)

People binge shows because they want to know what happens next.

One of the most powerful leadership tools you have to move through resistance to change is to create that same tension. Do that by being clear about what’s at stake—and then resisting the urge to solve it too quickly.

Instead of walking into the room and dropping your new plan on the team, begin by explaining the story and the stakes.

What is the problem or opportunity the team, organization, or customer faces right now?What are the consequences of this problem?What are the positive outcomes of the opportunity?

Then pause.

Let the tension live for a moment. Make space for people to feel the problem and want to think about solutions.

That desire to close the gap? That’s the fuel for transforming resistance to change into momentum. But don’t try to solve it too quickly.

Your job here isn’t to spoon-feed solutions. It’s to create an environment where people feel invited to wrestle with real problems—because the best answers don’t come from authority. They come from shared ownership.

3. Curiosity: Let Them Lean In

Once people feel the tension, shift to curiosity.

This is where your team starts to imagine, question, and co-create. Here, your best leadership move isn’t a presentation, it’s a pause.

Even if they immediately turn to you for solutions, resist the urge to offer answers immediately. Instead, get curious.

Ask questions like:

“What do you think will happen if we do nothing differently?”“How do you think we can solve this?”“What do you suggest we do next?”

These aren’t rhetorical questions. They’re genuine invitations to consider the problem and offer solutions.

Sometimes, your team will come up with the solution you’d considered—or something even better.

Those moments are gold.

And if not, then you can put your solution in the mix and it will help resolve the tension everyone feels. Then, remain curious a few moments longer, and ask how they might improve on your suggestion.

4. Commitment: Close the Loop with Clear Next Steps

Every binge-worthy story eventually resolves… at least for now. Your team needs that, too.

Once curiosity has run its course, it’s time to create clarity and momentum by turning ideas into action.

Be explicit. No vague agreements, no “we’ll circle back.” Transforming resistance to change means making it real with specific next steps, and ensuring everyone leaves with a shared understanding.

Try:

“What are our specific next steps? Who’s doing what?”“How will we hold ourselves accountable and celebrate success here?”“Let’s schedule time to talk about this again and see how our solution is working.”

These commitment closers build rhythm. You’ll keep everyone engaged beyond the kickoff meeting and ensure the conversation turns into results.

And that follow-up discussion? Maybe think of it as the start of a series, not a one-episode drop.

Final Thought: You’re Not the Hero—They Are

You might think your job is to be the visionary, the fixer, the one with the bold new idea.

But real leadership is more like being a great showrunner. You build the structure, shape the narrative tension, and then let the cast—your team—shine. You can’t have all the answers. Frame the story, stir their thinking, and co-write what happens next.

In a world with high burnout, low tolerance, and change fatigue, teams don’t need more mandates. They need more leaders who create clarity, spark curiosity, and build commitment with shared ownership.

So next time you need your team to embrace a new idea, remember: don’t just pitch it. Help them want to see what happens next.

You might like:

The Five Pillars of Effective Team Decision MakingHow to Lead Sustainable Business Culture Change: A 3-Step Framework for Success7 Crisis Leadership Skills to Help You and Your Team Navigate the Storm

Are you looking to bring an inspiring and practical leadership development program to your organization, let’s set up time to talk. You can contact us here to set up time to talk. 

The post 4 Powerful Leadership Moves that Transform Resistance to Change appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Common Mistakes, Strategic Shifts, and How to Elevate the Conversation

You know that one-on-one with your CEO or President? It’s not just another update—it’s one of the most high-leverage conversations you’ll have all month. Handled well, it moves big decisions forward, resolves friction points, and keeps momentum on what matters most. But when it misses the mark, it’s because the message doesn’t rise to the level of strategic clarity the moment calls for.

Let’s break down some of the most common misssteps we see people make in executive one-on-ones and what to do instead.

Common Mistakes We See in Executive One-on-OnesMistake 1: Starting with “Here’s everything I’ve been working on…”

The instinct to “show your work” is strong—especially when trying to prove value. But CEOs aren’t looking for activity—they’re looking for impact. This isn’t a performance review; it’s a strategic checkpoint.

Try this instead:

“Let me give you the top headline, then a 60-second overview of why it matters.”

Mistake 2: Using internal jargon or team-level acronyms

What’s clear to your team may be cryptic to the CEO. If they have to stop you to decode the language, you’ve already lost altitude.

Try this instead:

“In plain terms, what we’re seeing is ___, and that means ___ for the business.”

Mistake 3: Bringing problems without context or a path forward

You may not have all the answers—but you need to bring perspective. The CEO isn’t there to fix your issue. They want to know that you understand the stakes and are thinking ahead.

Try this instead:

“Here’s what we’re seeing, the risks I’m watching, and the options I’m exploring. I’d value your view on which direction makes the most sense.”

Mistake 4: Thinking out loud in real time

Your executive one-on-one is not meant to be a sounding board experience. They expect you to have filtered your thinking. Half-baked ideas cause confusion and ripple effects. Of course, if what you really need is a white board brainstorming session, ask for that and see if they’re game. Many CEOs will dig that from time to time, as long as they know that’s the plan.

Try this instead:

“We’ve vetted this across key stakeholders. Here’s where we’ve landed—and the key decision point I’d like your input on.”

What Strong Executive Communication Looks LikePowerful Phrases That Elevate the Dialogue

Here are a few executive-level phrases that help ground the conversation in clarity, trust, and shared accountability:

“Here’s the core issue I think you need visibility on, and my recommendation.”

“From a strategic perspective, here’s how this ties to our top priorities.”

“Let me anticipate the top three questions you’re likely to ask and address them briefly.”

“To move forward, I suggest we align on this next decision point and timing.”

“Is this directionally where you’d like us to go?”

These phrases convey preparedness, strategic thinking, and respect for your CEO’s time.

Communicating with executives isn’t about talking more—it’s about thinking higher. Elevating your message starts with preparation, intention, and the discipline to say less—but mean more.

Every executive one-on-one is a chance to earn credibility, sharpen alignment, and move the business forward.

The post Executive One-On-Ones: How to Prepare for a Strategic Update with Your CEO appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Episode 323: How can you, as a leader, stay grounded and avoid burnout when the pressure never seems to let up?

If you’re tired of the constant pressure, the never-ending uncertainty, and the feeling that sheer grit is the only way forward, you’re not alone. This episode is for you. Together with emotional resilience expert Molly Claire, you’ll discover a healthier, more effective path to lead with calm, clarity, and influence while avoiding the burnout trap.

By listening, you’ll gain:

Practical ways to reset your nervous system so you can remain calm and effective in high-stakes situations.

Tools to reduce burnout, increase self-awareness, and sustain long-term leadership energy.

Strategies for modeling well-being and resilience that your team will naturally follow.

Press play now to learn how to build the emotional resilience that helps you thrive as a leader while inspiring your team to do the same.

Building Emotional Resilience to Avoid Burnout

00:00 — Setting the stage.
Host David Dye introduces the episode, explaining how emotional resilience helps leaders stay calm, build trust, and avoid burnout in today’s demanding workplaces.

01:43 — Rethinking resilience.
Molly Claire shares why resilience is more than just grit and powering through. True resilience is about emotional awareness and grounding yourself under pressure.

05:18 — The grind and uncertainty.
David highlights how leaders are exhausted by constant change and the relentless grind. Molly points out the toll this takes on performance and well-being.

07:02 — Why pushing harder fails.
Molly explains why the traditional “work harder” mindset leads to long-term damage and why leaders must find new, healthier ways to avoid burnout.

09:43 — Practical first steps.
From sleep to exercise to mindfulness practices like tapping, Molly offers simple but powerful habits to help leaders regulate their nervous systems.

Practical Habits and Leadership Lessons

13:02 — Making habits stick.
Molly shares the importance of starting small. Focusing on one change at a time to ensure new resilience habits become lasting routines.

14:42 — Unlocking better thinking.
Resilience isn’t just about health—it gives leaders greater access to their prefrontal cortex, boosting creativity, strategy, and effective decision-making.

15:52 — Modeling resilience for your team.
David and Molly discuss how teams mirror their leaders, and why modeling wellbeing is more powerful than simply telling employees to take care of themselves.

20:17 — Finding certainty in uncertainty.
Molly introduces a reframe: focus on what’s stable within you—your strengths, values, and resourcefulness—when external circumstances feel chaotic.

24:01 — Leading yourself first.
The episode closes with the reminder that you can’t lead others well if you aren’t leading yourself. Emotional awareness and personal well-being come first.

About Molly Claire

Molly brings 10 years of experience training coaches, Master Coaches, and designing high-level curricula that are effective in creating lasting change in others. She has worked personally with moms through coaching and her best-selling book, The Happy Mom Mindset. Molly has worked with thousands of coaches and consultants to help them build their businesses and find the balance they crave, enabling them to create a satisfying life. Coach Certification and Leadership Training is a great first step! Suppose you’re already running your coaching business. In that case, Master Coach Training will teach you how to dive deep with your clients in cognitive approaches, emotion-focused modalities, and the most effective action-focused strategies to create change.

The post 1 Critical Leadership Skill You Need to Help You and Your Team Avoid Burnout appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Focus on clarity in your team decision making to make better decisions, faster.

Too many teams get stuck spinning in circles—second-guessing decisions, looping through endless meetings, having endless “meetings after the meeting,” or implementing strategies that never had a clear finish line. If you’ve ever walked out of a meeting and wondered, “Wait… what did we just decide?” or found yourself saying, “We could have avoided all this if they’d just asked us first,” then these four pillars of effective team decision making are for you.

Effective decision making isn’t just about being decisive. It’s about being clear. Clear about what kind of decision you’re making, who’s involved, who will make the decision, and how you will turn your decision into results.

Invest in Better, Faster Team Decision Making

These five pillars will help you build a team decision-making culture that is fast, focused, and energizing.

Pillar 1: Clarify the Type of Decision You’re Making

Before the conversation begins, ask: What kind of decision is this? Most business decisions are one of two types:

Where decisions—strategic direction, priorities, or goals.How decisions—tactics, methods, implementation steps.

And here’s the trap: mixing them.

We see this all the time. A leadership team gathers to define where to take the business next quarter… and suddenly the meeting spirals into tactical debates about how to do it. Or someone is trying to streamline a process (how) and someone else derails the conversation with a new vision (where).

When you separate these two decisions, you help people to focus. You avoid misaligned conversations and you make faster progress. As a leader, stating up front “We’re here to decide where we’re headed. We’ll tackle how we get there in the next meeting” saves time and builds trust.

“Let’s clarify—are we deciding where we’re going or how we’ll get there?”

Pillar 2: Define What a Successful Decision Will Do

Invest time in spelling out the success criteria. If your choice must reduce budget by 10% and remove two hours from your existing process, be clear about those requirements up front. That will help guide people towards suggestions and discussions that meet the criteria. And you’ll waste less time chase down ideas that won’t succeed.

“What will a successful outcome do?”

Pillar 3: Invite the Fewest Number of People to Make the Best Decision

You want input, not overload.

There’s a big difference between collaboration and chaos. The goal isn’t to invite everyone—it’s including the necessary people. You don’t need three different representatives from marketing. One person will do.

But the other danger is in overlooking vital input you do need. Often, these are the people the decision will affect and those who will implement it.

Too often, leaders wait until a decision is made to seek buy-in. But if people aren’t included early—especially those closest to the work—you risk missing critical information and delaying results.

One time, a middle manager at one of our clients faced a costly decision made by her executive team. It took months to roll out because no one had consulted the people responsible for implementation. When she finally weighed in, she told her C.O.O.: “We could’ve done this in half the time if you’d pulled me in at the start.”

Her C.O.O. listened—and changed how she and the executive team made decisions.

“Do we have the voices we need to get this right—and no more than that?”

Pillar 4: Clarify Who Owns the Decision

This one is deceptively simple—but it’s where a lot of teams break down.

Before the conversation begins, make it clear:

Who is the decision-maker?Will the decision be made: by one person, by a vote, or by consensus?

Each method has its place. The key is transparency. When people know how the decision will be made and who owns it, they can contribute fully without getting attached to an outcome that isn’t theirs to own.

This allows everyone to be persuasive, not possessive.

(Have ever heard someone say, “I don’t know why you ask our opinion, you’re just going to do what you want!” That statement reveals either an insincere request for input or, more often, a lack of clarity about who owned the decision.)

Let your team know: “I want your input. I will make the final call, but your ideas will shape it.” Or: “We need to decide this as a team, and we’ll go with the majority.” Clarity here avoids hurt feelings and confusion later.

“Before we jump in, who owns this decision and how will we make it?”

Pillar 5: Schedule the Finish

Let’s say your team finally reaches a decision. High fives all around. But then… nothing happens.

This is where many teams fall short. A decision without action is worse than no decision at all because it saps energy, wastes time, and crushes morale.

The fifth pillar—schedule the finish—ensures the decision translates into results.

This doesn’t mean micromanaging every task. It means setting specific, time-bound follow-ups to check in on progress, adjust course, and where people hold one another accountable.

When you schedule the finish at the time of the decision, you:

Reinforce the commitment.Create urgency.Build in accountability without nagging.

And when something inevitably goes off-track? You already have a built-in space to talk about it—without blame or surprise.

“Let’s schedule some time on [date] at [time] to talk about this again and see how our solution is working.”

Final Thought

If your team ever says, “They never follow through” or “We keep revisiting the same decisions,” these four pillars of effective team decision making are your antidote.

Start with the decision type. Include the right voices. Clarify who owns the decision. And don’t forget to schedule the finish.

With this clarity in place, you and your team will make better decisions, faster.

You might also like:Advanced Guide to Lead Meetings That Get Results and People Want to Attend6 Overlooked Leadership Skills To Run Meetings That People WANT To AttendThe Silent Ponderous Type: How to Help Your Team Member Speak Up in Meetings

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Episode 322: Does your risk-averse team stall out at the edge of progress—hesitating, overanalyzing, or waiting for one more approval?

If you’ve seen promising ideas grind to a halt because your people equate safety with smart, this episode is for you. In today’s fast-moving world, too much caution can cost more than the risks ever would. You’ll learn how to reframe risk so your team feels safe to experiment, adapt, and move forward with confidence.

By listening, you’ll discover how to:

Reframe risk as a learning tool so your team builds confidence while taking action.

Use language and boundaries that reduce fear and create psychological safety.

Build momentum through small, practical experiments that turn hesitation into progress.

Press play now to uncover practical tools that will help your risk-adverse team get unstuck and accelerate results.

7 Leadership Tools to Help Your Risk-Adverse Team Move Forward

[00:00] – Introduction to the episode: why leadership communication is the key to helping a risk-adverse team get unstuck and accelerate results.

[01:03] – How hesitation often masquerades as diligence, and why playing it too safe can cost more than thoughtful risks.

[02:39] – The roots of risk aversion: punishment for past mistakes, failed projects, cultural norms, or over-reliance on consensus.

[03:36] – Reframing risk as a strategic tool for testing, learning, and making progress without recklessness.

[04:42] – A client example: weekly storytelling exercises that normalized failure as part of growth and learning.

Practical Ways to Reduce Hesitation and Build Momentum at Work

[05:39] – Using invitational language like “let’s try it” to create psychological safety and reduce the fear of failure.

[06:39] – Setting clear success criteria and pivot points upfront so teams know when to move forward or adjust.

[07:17] – Celebrating small wins and quick experiments to rewire how teams perceive risk.

[08:20] – The “doorway” framework: reversible vs. irreversible decisions, and why most risks feel bigger than they are.

[10:16] – Mini personal experiments: how individuals can build confidence and reclaim time by testing low-stakes behaviors.

The post 7 Leadership Skills That Transform Risk-Adverse Teams into Problem-Solving Champions appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Not Every Meeting Deserves Your Time (Or Oars)

The key to smarter meetings is knowing which ones to avoid.

Imagine this.

You get a calendar invite:
“Boat ride. Monday. 2–5 p.m.”

No explanation or agenda. No clue who else is coming. And, even worse, no idea what you’re doing on the boat.

Just… boat.

You start asking around. Other people are going. Some seem excited. Others are just shrugging and adding it to their calendar as if it’s normal. And you think:

“Well… if everyone else is going, maybe I should too?”

Now replace “boat” with “meeting.”

The Meeting Metaphor That Won’t Let Me Go

Learn more in this week’s “Asking for a Friend” Video from San Diego, CA.

More in this week’s Asking for a Friend Video

I recently shared this “mystery boat ride” scenario with a leadership team I’m working with, and the light bulbs went off. That’s how so many of us treat our meetings. We hop on out of obligation, fear of missing out, or pure habit—without stopping to ask:

Where is this going?

Do I need to be on board?

Could I send a message in a bottle instead?

We’ve been working together to ruthlessly prioritize their calendars—looking at which meetings are driving real results, which could be emails, and which need to quietly sail off into the sunset.

And let me tell you—it’s changing the game.

Don’t Get on the Wrong Boat

Before you accept that next invite (or automatically show up to your 10th recurring Zoom of the week), pause and ask yourself a few important questions:

1. What’s happening at this meeting?

Is there a clear purpose? A tight agenda? And—this one’s big—does the agenda actually relate to your most important work or the strategic goals of your team?

If not, you might just be floating along.

2. Who else is getting on the boat?

Are the decision-makers there? The stakeholders? Or are the people with all the answers… on another boat entirely?

Being in the wrong meeting without the right people is like bringing your oars to a paddleboard party. Awkward. Inefficient. Wet.

3. Why you?

Why are you being invited? What specific value do you bring—and what do you need from this session that you can’t get another way?

If the answer is “just in case,” that’s not a strong enough reason to attend.

If It’s Not Your Boat, Chart a New Course

When you realize the meeting isn’t a good use of your time—don’t just bail. Be strategic:

Could you contribute via email ahead of time?

Could someone else attend and share back key insights?

Could the meeting not happen at all (gasp)?

Declining a meeting doesn’t mean you’re disengaged—it means you’re discerning. We need more discernment and less calendar chaos in today’s world of overwhelm.

Your Mini-Personal Experiment

See more on mini-personal experiments.

Look at your calendar for the week ahead. What boats are you stepping onto without thinking? Where are you showing up more out of momentum than meaning?

Pick one meeting to gracefully bow out of. (Bonus points if you help improve it or replace it with something more efficient.)

Let’s stop glorifying busy and start choosing wisely.

Because you weren’t meant to drift through your work week. Y

I’d love to hear from you.
What are your go-to strategies for dodging unproductive meetings? Drop a comment or send me a message. Let’s swap boat stories.

For more time-saving tips see Email Like a Leader: How to Write an Executive Summary That Makes You Easy to Work With

The post Are You Getting on the Wrong Boats? (A Quick Guide to Smarter Meetings) appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Episode 321: When chaos hits, do you have the crisis leadership skills to keep yourself—and your team—steady?

As a leader, you can’t always control the storm, but you can control how you show up. In today’s episode, you’ll learn practical ways to navigate upheaval with confidence. These skills will help you stay grounded, support your team’s morale, and keep everyone moving forward when uncertainty is at its peak.

In this conversation, you’ll discover how to:

Strengthen your resilience with two powerful mindsets that every leader needs in a crisis.

Apply seven leadership skills that bring clarity, focus, and stability to your team.

Communicate with honesty and empathy to build trust and loyalty—even when delivering tough news.

Hit play now to master the leadership skills that will help you inspire confidence and guide your team through the toughest challenges.

Mindset for Leading in Chaos

[00:57] — The episode opens with the reminder that leadership begins with self-leadership. You can’t choose the storm, but you can choose how you show up.

[02:48] — Introduction to the Stockdale Paradox, showing why survival depends on balancing brutal facts with realistic hope—a foundation for crisis leadership skills.

[04:58] — A reframing of the sunk cost fallacy as “gifts from past you,” helping leaders let go of “should haves” and stay focused on today’s realities.

[06:02] — A reflection on grief and acceptance: before you apply leadership tools, you must process loss and ground yourself in resilience.

[07:29] — First leadership practice: double down on values. Your culture and principles become the anchor in uncertainty.

Crisis Leadership Skills in Action

[08:55] — Be honest about the environment. Transparency and empathy are vital—if your words conflict with reality, trust evaporates.

[09:49] — Own your past decisions. Integrity matters; acknowledge what you said before, explain the changes, and guide your team through what’s true now.

[10:37] — Increase communication cadence. Frequent, transparent updates keep rumors from taking over—a hallmark of strong crisis leadership skills.

[11:49] — Re-recruit your A-players. When times are tough, retaining top talent is essential. Show confidence in their role and value in the future.

[12:38] — Closing encouragement: your steadiness is the most powerful gift you give your team. Crisis leadership skills enable you to hold onto hope, face the facts, and guide people forward.

The post 7 Crisis Leadership Skills to Help You and Your Team Navigate the Storm appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.

Everyone Hates Long Emails: Here’s What to Do Instead

You open an email and see five chunky paragraphs, eight attachments, one pivot table, and two embedded screenshots with no explanation — and your brain quietly screams, “How hard is it to do a flipping executive summary? What am I supposed to do with this mess?”

It’s not that the sender wasn’t trying to be helpful. It’s that they dumped a backpack of details on your desk and ran.

And hey, maybe you’ve done it too. You want to be thorough. To give context. To show how hard you are working, or how much you care. But somewhere along the way, that email turned into a novel. And now nobody’s reading past paragraph two.

Here’s a slight shift that makes a big impact:

Start your emails with an executive summary.

It’s simple, it’s respectful, and it gets you better responses — faster.

Let’s break down why it works, what to include, and how to build this into your communication style.

Why Start With an Executive Summary?

Because your readers are busy humans. They’re scanning for decisions, deadlines, or directions. If you want their attention (and action), give the high-level view — before they dive into the weeds.

An executive summary:

Respects your reader’s time

Prevents back-and-forth confusion

Gets you faster responses

Makes your writing clearer (even to you)

Before You Write: Ask Yourself These 5 Questions

Don’t start with what you know. Start with what they need.
Take 30 seconds before you write and ask:

What do I want this person to do, decide, or understand?Why does this matter to them right now?What’s the time frame or urgency?What context is essential, and what can wait?Who else is reading this, and what do they need from it?

 If you can’t answer these yet, you’re not ready to write the email.

What to Include in Your Executive Summary

Here’s a simple 3-part structure:

The Ask (or The Point): What you want them to do, decide, approve, or simply know.The Context: A sentence or two on what this is about and why it matters.The Scheduled Finish (or Next Step): What happens next, and by when.Example — Without an Executive Summary

Hey team,

I wanted to get these over to you before the end of the week — I’ve attached the Q4 numbers, plus the initial sales projections for Q1 (though those might shift depending on some outstanding variables, which it clear in the pivot table I’ve attached. You’ll notice there’s a bit of a drop in SMB — probably not a huge surprise, but something we’ll want to look into. I think the timing of the Product B rollout played a role here, especially around pipeline impact, but I’m still looking into that, but I’m waiting for Laura to get back from vacation, playing with those dolphins ha ha).

We’re also still waiting on finalized numbers from the West Coast team, which could affect some of the assumptions in the spreadsheet — I’ve flagged a couple areas that might need to be revisited once that data comes in with yellow in the first spreadsheet. Anyway, I’ve included the updated forecast based on what we’ve got so far, with some notes in the Excel file. Curious to hear your thoughts when you have a moment!

This version sounds well-intentioned… but your reader has to dig for the point, guess what action is needed, and open a file just to understand the issue.

Same Email — With a Strong Executive Summary

The attached Q4 report shows a 12% drop in the SMB segment. This appears to be directly linked to delayed timing on Product B’s rollout, which pushed pipeline conversion later than expected.

Despite that, total revenue grew 6% year over year — driven by stronger-than-expected growth in Enterprise and Mid-Market.

Next Step:
I’d like your input on the Q1 forecast by Thursday EOD. Focus especially on SMB outlook — is the current trajectory realistic given the rollout lag?

This version makes the summary work on its own:

You don’t need to open the sheet to understand the picture.

The ask, context, and deadline are all spelled out.

It invites the right kind of response — not “What’s this about?” but “Here’s my take.”

Common Traps to Avoid

Let’s call these out so you can dodge them with style:

The Brain Dump: If your first paragraph is your internal monologue, stop. Lead with the point, not the process.

The Mystery Novel: Don’t build suspense. This isn’t Succession. Give the spoiler right up front.

The Everything Email: Trying to cover four topics in one message? Break it up. One subject = one email.

FAQ: Making Executive Summaries Work

Q1: How can I coach others to spot weak vs. strong executive summaries?

Start with two questions:

“Could I skim this in under 30 seconds and know what’s needed?”

“Would I know what action to take, even if I didn’t read the rest?”

If not, it’s probably too vague, too long, or too buried. Use the checklist. And share before/after examples in your team to build the muscle.

Q2: What are examples of executive summaries for difficult or sensitive topics?

Keep them honest, short, and emotionally intelligent.

We missed the client deadline due to misaligned expectations. This email outlines what happened, how we’re addressing it, and what we’re doing to prevent repeat issues.

Q3: How do I balance executive summaries with email threads that evolve over time?

Use mini-summaries in replies:

Quick recap: We agreed to launch the pilot by Oct 15. This reply covers feedback from Ops on the testing scope.

For long threads, consider starting a new email with a fresh summary and subject line to reset the conversation.

Final Thought

Starting with an executive summary isn’t just good writing. It’s good leadership.

When you write this way, you show:

You respect people’s time

You know how to prioritize

You think before you type

And that earns trust. It builds influence. It clears the path so work actually moves forward.

So next time you sit down to write a long email, don’t start at the top. Start with the point. Say it in five lines or less. Then tell your story if they want more.

Because if you want your emails to be read — and your ideas to be actioned —
start with the summary.

See Also: Email Best Practices: How to Send a Better, More Effective Email

How Do I Get My Team to Stop Sending Such Bad Emails (Video)

The post Email Like a Leader: How to Write an Executive Summary That Makes You Easy to Work With appeared first on Let's Grow Leaders.