Free Resources
Tools you can use today, and writing on the parts of leadership nobody trains you for. No 47-step funnel.
Use them today, on your own.
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Nine questions, about two minutes. It tells you which of the three usual culprits (clarity, confidence, or follow-through) is costing you the most right now, and one thing to try this week.
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If someone asked what you want in three years, you’d have a clear answer.
The newsletter
Research-backed ideas on confidence, leadership, communication and building a life you want. Sent occasionally, not daily.
Spam-free. Opt out anytime, but you’ll be missed.
Assessments worth your time
There’s a lot of junk in this category. These three hold up: they’re research-backed, they cost nothing, and none of them are mine. I use results from all three with clients.
VIA Institute on Character
10–15 minutes · free
Ranks 24 character strengths from most to least core to you. The free result gives you the full ordered list.
Best for: understanding what you’re naturally good at, and why some work energizes you and some drains you.
The survey is free; the in-depth reports are paid. You don’t need the paid version to get value.
Take it on their siteU.S. Department of Labor
10–15 minutes · free
30 work-activity descriptions that produce your Holland Code (RIASEC) and link it to 900+ real occupations.
Best for: career direction, career changes, or checking whether the field you’re in fits how you like to work.
Government-built, no signup, no email. The results link straight to real occupations rather than stopping at a label.
Take it on their siteInternational Personality Item Pool, via bigfive-test.com
10–20 minutes · free
The Big Five model (openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, neuroticism), measured across 30 facets.
Best for: a genuinely evidence-based read on your personality, rather than a type label.
120 statements from the public-domain IPIP-NEO-120. Open source, no signup. The Big Five has far stronger research support than type-based systems like MBTI.
Take it on their siteRunning on empty?
Not a diagnosis and not a test, just the things I hear most often from people right before they realize something needs to change. Tap the ones that sound familiar.
Tap any that sound familiar. Nothing is recorded.
Coaching helps with direction, momentum, and the choices you keep postponing. It isn’t therapy or medical care. If you’re struggling with your mental health, please talk to a doctor or a licensed therapist. That’s the right kind of help, and asking for it is a strength, not a failure.
The toolkit
Not a teaser: these are the real thing, so take them and use them. If you’d rather have someone ask them back at you, that’s what the call is for. Three more sets are in this piece.
When you’re stuck
Work through these in order. Write the answers down. Thinking them through in your head lets you skip the uncomfortable one.
Insights
Longer pieces on what I see most often with clients. No newsletter wall, no “subscribe to continue reading.”
“I’m doing well. So why does it feel like I’m waiting for something?”
How to choose an executive coachI’m a coach, so take this with the appropriate grain of salt. But I’d rather you hire the right coach than the wrong one.5 min read
What to do with feedback that stingsThe advice is to not take it personally. That advice is useless, because you already have. Here’s what to do from there.4 min read
Three sets of questions I use in sessionsFor the conversation you’re dreading, the thing you can’t start, and the quarterly review almost nobody does.4 min read“I got the title. Nobody taught me how to lead.”
Founders: building it versus running itThe skills that got the company started are not the skills that keep it going. Most founders find this out the hard way.4 min read
Your first 90 days as a new managerYou were promoted for being excellent at the work. The job you have now is almost none of that work. Here’s how to spend the first three months.4 min read
You were promoted for the wrong skillThe thing that got you the title is almost none of the job you now have. That gap is not a character flaw. It’s a training problem nobody named.6 min read
You’re not bad at delegating. You’re bad at being replaceable.Every delegation guide treats this as a scheduling failure. It’s usually an identity one, which is why the scheduling advice never works.5 min read“There’s a conversation I keep putting off.”
The meeting you keep not having is the jobThere’s usually one conversation you’ve been postponing. It is almost always the highest-value thing on your list.4 min read
The five-minute prep that changes how hard conversations goMost difficult conversations go badly for a structural reason: we rehearse our side thoroughly and never consider theirs at all.4 min read“I’ll go for it once I feel more confident.”
“I’m crazy busy, and not getting where I want.”
If your calendar disagrees with your priorities, your calendar is rightYou can tell what someone values by looking at where their hours went. This is uncomfortable and extremely useful.5 min read
Burnout can be about more than workloadWorkload matters. But if rest isn’t fixing it, something else is usually part of the story too.5 min readThe newsletter
Research-backed ideas on confidence, leadership, communication and building a life you want. Sent occasionally, not daily.
Spam-free. Opt out anytime, but you’ll be missed.
