Mindset

I’ve been thinking a lot about the phrase, let the work speak for itself. This phrase is often spoken with a certain pride, as though the person saying those words has resisted something corrosive that might cheapen the work if they were to explain it out loud. They believe that good work shouldn’t require a […]

The last big job is different, mostly because you finally understand what it costs. “I’ve got one last big gig in me,” they’ll say, usually followed by something along the lines of, “and I want to make this one count.” Not necessarily in the old sense of making it count, either. They’ve done the big […]

This week, Simon Sinek said something that gave me hope. “AI can do many things, but it can’t struggle for us. In a world of accelerating tech, it’s not certainty that makes great leaders. It’s the willingness to wrestle with uncertainty, sit in the discomfort, and still show up.” Lately, leaders have been asking the […]

This is not a typical “3 tips to build your personal brand” article wrapped in fake promises. Ok, there are three things. But they’re not tips! Think of them as a call to cut the BS and come home to yourself. Most executive brands are too polished and too safe. They’re optimized for approval and […]

A wandering essay on the quiet, murky, liminal space after a Very Big Chapter ends By Kate Allinson June 2025 I’ve always been curious about what happens in the blank bit. That bit after the big job ends but before the next thing makes sense. I’ve been watching it unfold in a few of my […]

“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” — Emerson, Self-Reliance. I’ve been reflecting on reinvention, thinking deeply about the whispers of change that come when the summit has been reached. It’s a different kind of overwhelm, the kind that doesn’t come with sudden deadlines or boardroom battles […]

The messy, weird, identity-questioning limbo between exec roles, and why search firms that can hold space for this are the ones who earn lifelong trust. We don’t talk enough about the space between jobs. Not the glossy resignation announcement or the new-title LinkedIn update, but the middle bit. The weird, quiet, unsettling bit. High-achieving, deeply […]

He built billion-dollar companies – and still finds LinkedIn awkward. This week, I had a call with a CEO who spent 26 years building things – teams, products, billion-dollar exits. He’d led global P&Ls, grown a $30 million business into a $1.5 billion one, and sold it for four times that. Now he was brushing […]

As I sit on my balcony in Colorado, looking out over wide open space, my mind won’t shut up. Not in an anxious way. In a sifting way. I’m sifting through conversations I’ve had lately with CEOs, founders, CMOs, COOs. Some of the brightest, sharpest people I know. People who built billion-dollar things from nothing. […]

In those first few weeks, you finally remembered how to breathe. There’s no calendar stacked with back-to-back meetings. No relentless ping of emails. No agenda beyond your own soul’s. You sleep deeper. Walk slower. Float in your pool and wonder if this is what peace actually feels like. And for a time, maybe days, maybe […]