Redefining Leadership

Companies experience a productivity decline when they surpass 150 employees. We hear it consistently from our clients, regardless of industry, growth, or tenure. They tell us that they have to hire more people to get the same amount of work done, or spend more time and attention to get the same result. They have to...

The recent waves of sweeping layoffs in large tech companies are deeply unfortunate and painful, but not surprising. We’ve talked about the fallacy of the ‘wartime’ CEO, and the free flowing capital markets that made tech companies believe that growth was never-ending. Those companies could overinvest, manage poorly, and largely ignore what wasn’t working. When...

Of the many challenges that our clients encounter, a persistent one is the frustration that founders and leaders experience when they attempt to move from “doing the thing” themselves, to enabling others to execute. In some cases our clients are perplexed by how difficult this is. In others, they don’t even realize how much their...

We have the benefit of talking to hundreds of executives every month about their fears and challenges, and unsurprisingly, themes emerge. We’re hearing that people expect their leaders to be coaches, not “just” managers. What does that mean, and how do you do it? Talentism defines management as a responsibility that achieves goals through the...

The human species didn’t plan to use fire. Fire happened. It was probably scary. And then someone or some group decided to see what they could do with it. The wheel didn’t happen because a genius set out to make one. Someone made a mistake and got confused. Instead of dropping the whole business and...

Most people are taught through our educational system, managers, and culture that there are “right” answers. A failure to find the right answer is often chalked up to an issue with someone’s intelligence or character. At Talentism, we call this a BSL narrative: it’s common to attribute mistakes to your own or someone else’s bad,...

Transcript below, for those of you who prefer reading over listening! Angie Jeff, I’ve often heard you use the analogy of swimming to shore against a strong current to describe the role of leadership. Can you say more about what that means? Jeff The origin story is that I was on a family vacation down...

In the inaugural episode of Coaching In the Clear, Jameel talks to Jeff about addressing systemic racial injustice, takes us inside the world of working with icons, and shares his perspective on how coaching unleashes potential. Jameel has been a force in the world of fashion and brand management for over 20 years. He has...

Chloe and Jeff talk about the value of empathy in the workplace, and using self-skepticism to catch personal blind spots in a leadership role. Chloe has 20 years of experience in designing, scaling, and leading strategies in corporate social impact, philanthropy, and diversity and inclusion. At Compass she launched the firm’s first social impact and...

Neil and Jeff talk about accepting shortcomings and leaning into strengths, catching frustrations at the root of the logical fallacy, how safety plays into acceptance, and discovering capabilities that the perfectionist in us wants to hide. Neil is the Co-Founder and CSO of Casper, one of the most popular mattress manufacturers in the US. He...