New Video Series

I’m excited to share my new video series, Lessons from The Growth Leader. Every month for the next year, this newsletter will feature a video highlighting one of the big ideas from the book. If you just can’t wait, the entire series is available on YouTube here. 

Featured Video: The Five Flag Start

The Five Flag Start is a strategy framework I created for The Growth Leader. It combines common elements present in nearly all strategy models with some unique ideas for leaders to drive growth. In particular, it focuses on the importance of placing the sales experience, a key part of the customer experience, at the center of your strategy. The framework also includes a critical step that most strategy models lack: creating a bridge from strategy to execution, which is typically an afterthought.

There are many definitions of strategy. One of my mentors, Neil Rackham used to say, “if words could sue for defamation, strategy would be making its lawyers rich.” It’s used in so many ways that sometimes it’s hard to know what it really means.

I think about strategy as a framework that guides the decisions, choices, and actions that determine an organization’s focus—and how organizations compete to win and grow. I hope the Five Flag Start can help you think more clearly about the critical questions you need to answer in your business to drive success.

Perspective: Vacation Season Is Here – Are You Ready?

I’ve jokingly said that if I were to go to market as a leadership vacation consultant, I’d quickly starve. There’s not much of a market for advice on how to take vacation time. But in the course of my work with executives, the topic of how to handle a vacation – being present and enjoying time off, while juggling the ever-present demands of work - comes up frequently. So much so, that I’ve written a couple of articles for Harvard Business Review on the topic, and I was interviewed for a third.

I’ve made every vacation mistake I’ve written about. And I have enjoyed my time off significantly more by applying the advice shared in the articles below. I hope these ideas will make a positive difference for your summer travel:

If you’re in a rush and leaving on vacation soon, here’s a summary of pragmatic ideas you can apply right now:

1. Focus on completing high-impact work before vacation rather than trying to clear your entire to-do list or reach inbox zero. Don’t go in exhausted.

2. Let key stakeholders know in advance when you’ll be away and who to contact in your absence.

3. Decide in advance how and when you’ll check in—if at all—and communicate that plan clearly. Determine before you leave what a genuine emergency (something that only you could address) looks like.

4. Block time on your calendar for reentry after your return so you’re not immediately overwhelmed. Don’t punish yourself for the time off.

5. Ask a trusted colleague to send you a brief summary of key developments while you were away.

6. Use your time off to model trust, delegation, empowerment, and boundary-setting for your team.

7. Remember that stepping away helps you return with sharper thinking and stronger leadership presence.

MOST IMPORTANTLY:

8. Give yourself permission to unplug and be present—vacation is for restoration, not remote work in disguise.

Recent Podcast Appearance

🎙️ I had the chance to join The Selling Well podcast with Mark Cox to talk about some of the big ideas in The Growth Leader.

We covered how executives must focus on growth as a leadership issue—not just a sales issue, how strong leaders align strategy and sales, and why the sales experience is the first mile of the customer experience.

If those topics resonate, I think you’ll enjoy the conversation.

👉 Listen here: Becoming a Growth Leader

LinkedIn Live

I’ll be taking a short break from LinkedIn Live for the rest of June, and I’ll be back in July. Meanwhile, please send along any topics you’d like me to cover – vacations can be a great time to think more clearly about big ideas, as you escape from the weeds of day-to-day urgency. 

Watch this short video to see how I work and the impact it creates.