The Journal
Tools & frameworks for leaders.
Field notes on coaching, strategy, and leading well — written by Jay and selected colleagues.
Why Great Leaders Become Bottlenecks. And What to Do About It
“I’m the only one moving things forward.” I hear a version of this same sentence from leaders all the time. It usually surfaces after months of quiet frustration, right before they decide to fire a person or blow up a process. I always encourage them to pause and take a step back. Then I help…
The 7 Top Personal Issues for Leaders
Most leadership advice centers around business. Podcasts and books are filled with frameworks and strategies to run better meetings, build stronger org charts, and write better mission statements. Those are important challenges and a lot of the work I do is built around helping CEOs and teams wrestle through them. But the more I sit…
You Don’t Hate Planning. You Hate Planning Theater.
Let me start with a confession. I understand why so many leaders roll their eyes when someone says, “we need to do strategic planning.” Honestly, sometimes I do too. It’s not because planning is bad. It’s because many leaders have sat through planning processes that felt like an enormous waste of time. You know the…
The Answer Trap: Why the most capable leaders often become the biggest bottleneck
Leaders that become bottlenecks for their teams usually do so because they’re at leading.
Executive Coaching and Mentoring: Which Do You Need?
Discover the difference between executive coaching and mentoring and why both matter for your growth as a leader, with guidance from Jay Hidalgo.
Annual Planning vs. Strategic Planning
Learn how annual planning and strategic planning work together to guide your business. Discover which one your team needs as you plan for next year.