Hey Reader,

Happy Saturday!

Gotta admit, I'm so hyped about the podcast launching that I had a hard time getting hyped about writing the regular newsletter this week.

The team got the podcast mini-site up at GoodWorkShow.com. You'll always be able to find the episodes, show notes, and links to listening platforms there. The mascot and art work is up in all of the directories.

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We ready! If you haven't yet, subscribe on your favorite platform below:

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I'll send you an email with links to all three of the first episodes dropping on Tuesday morning.

Let’s get to it.

A quote to make you think from a book worth reading
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"First, we all have an inner teacher whose guidance is more reliable than anything we can get from a doctrine, ideology, collective belief system, institution, or leader.
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Second, we all need other people to invite, amplify, and help us discern the inner teacher's voice for at least three reasons:

• The journey toward inner truth is too taxing to be made solo; lacking support, the solitary traveler soon becomes weary or fearful and is likely to quit the road.
• The path is too deeply hidden to be traveled without company; finding our way involves clues that are subtle and sometimes misleading, requiring the kind of discernment that can happen only in dialogue.
• The destination is too daunting to be achieved alone; we need community to find the courage to venture into the alien lands to which the inner teacher may call us."

- Parker Palmer, A Hidden Wholeness​

Four links to encourage deep thought and breakthrough growth

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1 Culture is a Talent Multiplier by Yours Truly | Read time: 14min
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“You can take a world class person and put them in a lackluster environment and all of a sudden that person will become a middling B-player. The inverse is also true – you can take a middling B-player in one environment, surround them with incredible culture and talent, and you might find out what they’re really capable of. [...] It’s up to you as a founder or leader to create a culture that brings out the best in your team.”
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I've gotten great feedback from everyone who read this one last week. Yes, you should recruit talented people. But talent is not enough. Culture is the talent multiplier.

Questions to consider as you read: What is the standard at your company? How can you encourage peers to hold each other to that standard? What can you do to deepen the trust within your team?

2 Choose Self-Trust Over Authenticity by Patricia Mou | Read time: 9min
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“A good holding environment is a catalyst for transformation, a sacred space where old wounds can be alchemized into new sources of strength and insight. It is a partner who mirrors our shadow with compassion and skill, helping us to transmute anger into grief, and grief into self-love. It is a coach, therapist, or spiritual guide who refuses to provide easy answers, but instead shines a light on the path to our own inner wisdom.”
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Selfishly, this is the closest thing I've read to a manifesto for why coaching work matters. But unselfishly I know this to be true because of my own experience of learning to once again trust myself.
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I knew I had to start my own business again when I realized that the leader I kept trying to find was... me. As the leader of your company, you deserve a centered self-trust to guide you and a good holding environment to redevelop that trust.
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​Questions to consider as you read: What old wounds or hardships led you to question whether you can trust yourself? How has that shown up in your leadership up to now? What kind of holding environments do you have or need in order to rebuild that self-trust?

3 So You Wanna De-Bog Yourself by Adam Mastroianni | Read time: 18min
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“Sometimes people will be like, “Well, whatcha gonna do, life is suffering,” and I’ll be like, “Haha sure is,” waiting for them to laugh too, but they won’t laugh, and I’ll realize, to my horror, that they’re not joking. Some people think the bog is life!
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[...]
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They’re usually people with lots of education and high-paying jobs and supportive relationships and a normal amount of tragedies, people who have all the raw materials for a good life but can’t seem to make one for themselves. Their problem is they believe that satisfaction is impossible”
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We all get stuck from time to time. Stuck in our heads. Stuck in a relationship. Stuck in a job. Stuck in a depression. Stuck in grief. Sometimes we don't even know why we're stuck. And getting stuck feels the absolute worst when you feel like you shouldn't be stuck because you're in charge!

This essay is an excellent guide (with funny names!) to different ways we get stuck -- on the hypothesis that if we can name why we're stuck, we might be able to help ourselves get unstuck.
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Complement with my essay on Coaching Questions to Help You Make Breakthroughs at Work and in Life. The headline might sound cheesy, but I can assure you it's my best distillation of deep coaching work in writing.

Questions to consider as you read: Are you stuck? If so, which version of stuck are you? Now that you know, how do you plan to get unstuck?

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4 The Catastrophe of Success by Tennessee Williams [1947] | Read time: 11min

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“The sort of life that I had had previous to this popular success was one that required endurance, a life of clawing and scratching along a sheer surface and holding on tight with raw fingers to every inch of rock higher than the one caught hold of before, but it was a good life because it was the sort of life for which the human organism is created.

I was not aware of how much vital energy had gone into this struggle until the struggle was removed. I was out on a level plateau with my arms still thrashing and my lungs still grabbing at air that no longer resisted. This was security at last.

I sat down and looked about me and was suddenly very depressed.”
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We've talked about this topic in a past issue, but there is a very real thing that happens when you finally make it to the top of that mountain you've been climbing. And often that thing is a sense of purposelessness or depression.

This iconic essay is about finding your way back to why you got into this to begin with. Read this one with a good cup of coffee or maybe even a cocktail this evening.

Questions to consider as you read: What are the conditions that made you an artist, creator, or entrepreneur to begin with? Once (now that?) you've achieved a level of comfort, which of those conditions can you maintain so that you can keep making impact? Separate from the success, why are you in this?

A Short Essay Based on My Work with Founders

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This has been a long one already and while I know you expect that of me, I'll keep this essay short.

You have habits and patterns that are holding you back as a leader. I know this because I do too. As does every one of the founders who walks through my proverbial door.

And if you have patterns that are hold you back, those patterns are holding your team and company back as well.

The first step to changing a pattern is to acknowledge that it exists and then begin to notice it as it happens. Some real examples:

• "When my team disappoints me, rather than give them feedback I do it myself."
• "When someone on my team is acting immature, I get frustrated and tell them to get their shit together."
• "When I get a piece of negative feedback from the team or a snarky comment on social media, I beat myself up about what an imposter I am."

Once you know that it's happening, you're going to want to change it. That's what makes you qualified to be a founder and leader. But it doesn't work that way.

You have to start by building your capacity to notice it happening in real time. Only then do you have a chance to start making a different choice.

So, what pattern is holding you back as a leader? What can you do over these next couple of weeks to notice the pattern as it comes up? Feel free to send me a note with the results!

Much love and respect,

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If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward it to a founder friend. You can also recommend me to a founder or creator as a coach.