NEWSLETTER
One consequential idea. Two practical tips.
Three resources worth your time.
Every other month, I send a practical newsletter for managers, senior leaders, and people developing management teams.
Each issue explores one consequential idea about management, leadership, or solving problems together—often through a story from the workplace or my own experience. It is designed to help you see what is happening more clearly, exercise better judgment, and take a useful next step.
What you get
One big idea
A clear way to examine recurring management challenges—why capable teams keep revisiting the same problem, why decisions drift upward, why hard conversations get avoided, or why agreements fail to hold. The aim is to help you look beneath the visible symptoms and see what may actually be holding the work back.
Two practical tips
Two questions, practices, or small experiments you can use in an upcoming meeting, decision, or conversation. Each is grounded in real management work and designed to help you turn insight into action.
Three useful resources
Three carefully chosen books, articles, podcasts, or videos—each accompanied by a brief explanation of why it is worth your time and what you might take from it. Together, they form a small, curated collection for people who want to keep sharpening how they think and lead.
You’ll also receive occasional news about upcoming public workshops. No constant stream of email—just one substantive issue every other month.
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You can unsubscribe at any time.
A few ideas from past issues
The Polite Meeting That Should Terrify You
When capable managers report problems without solving them together, those problems quietly drift upward. An exploration of passive escalation—and how the CEO becomes the organization’s shock absorber.
What We Tend to Miss Under Pressure
Pressure narrows attention toward plans, deadlines, and individual performance. This issue examines what leaders can miss about the larger system—and how to widen the view before acting.
The Scary Ask That Changed My Career
A personal story about one uncomfortable request that changed Russ’ career—and five practical principles for influencing people you don’t manage.
When Decisions Spark Conflict
How to recognize when useful disagreement begins carrying emotional heat—and two moves that can keep the conversation productive.
Before You Fix It, Do You Really Understand It?
Why effective problem-solving begins with current evidence—and how slowing down long enough to understand the problem can prevent costly rework.
