Insights Newsletter
This is where I share what I’m thinking, what I’m reading, and what the leaders and organizations I work with are wrestling with.
A few things you’ll find here:
- Hey Babs: leaders write in with real challenges and I respond with what I actually think. No hedging. Anonymity protected.
- The List: a periodic round-up of the readings, viewings, and listenings that have caught my attention. The librarian in me cannot help it.
- Reflections and Musings: longer essays and shorter takes on the complicated, fascinating, occasionally absurd business of leading well.
Everything here is free. If you’d like it delivered directly, subscribe at the Courageous Leaders Project newsletter in the black box to your right — I’d be glad to have you there.
Latest Articles
Hey Babs, The Missing Connections
The story that Babs got tired of waiting for, so made it up. Sort of. Hey Babs, We recently worked with a consultancy firm to design and implement a...
A Bit of Finnish Sisu for Your Workday
In short, it is time for a new Nordic trend. Luckily, Finland has just the thing: sisu—a personality trait or philosophy combining inner...
October 2025 List
Whispered messages on the mound, the trashing of psychological safety, Babs being a small fish, and Dostoevsky. 1 Amongst the home runs, 100 mph...
Language Lessons, Expense Approvals, and Conferences as Treats
The high costs of low integrity. Exchanging Atoms I’m a big fan of meeting in person. There’s something about the exchange of our teeny-tiny atoms...
Hey Babs: My Rights and the Team Agreement
Babs responds with wants are not rights and a bucket of dandelion wishes is not an agreement. Hey Babs, I consider myself a seasoned professional...
Choose to Have Good Conversations
Poets and moving beyond networking, influence, advocacy, and talking points. Somewhere in the recent archives of my letters to all of you, I have...
August 2025 List
Leadership factories (no thank you), the neutrality of ambition, design thinking, Dr. Gabor Maté , the Buddhist Chef, Doug and the Slugs, Rainer...
Musings on the World’s Toughest Exam
The Indian Ministry of Railway exams and our complex relationships with certificates, badges, and external validation. The only thing that...
Hey Babs: Dreading Upcoming Team Retreat
Facilitators, Ice-Breakers, and Not Trusting the Process. Hey Babs, I’m dreading an upcoming team retreat. While we work well as a team, we haven’t...
Reflections on Picking Leadership Pals
Looking for something more than monkey bar antics and blowing smoke rings. We tend to want to hang out with people who make us feel good about our...
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