Melissa’s Memos

A director I worked with last quarter said the same thing in three different sentences during our first session: “Sorry, I’m rambling.”“This might not be helpful, but…”“I know I’m probably wrong here…” I asked her if I could share a pattern I was noticing. She nodded. I told her: in the first 15 minutes of…

Senior leaders are told constantly to “be coachable.” I think it’s the wrong frame. “Coachable” suggests being open to whatever someone wants to teach you. Accepting feedback. Adjusting. Improving. That sounds healthy. In practice, at the senior level, it often produces a specific kind of damage: leaders who absorb every piece of feedback indiscriminately and…

Something I don’t talk about often: I spent 20+ years on the corporate side of talent acquisition before I started this business. In rooms where senior hiring decisions got made. Reviewing resumes that would land senior leaders the rest of their careers, or wouldn’t. Coaching hiring managers through interviews. Watching, repeatedly, how the same small…

I want to show you what one of the most useful sessions I run actually looks like. ↓ One of the sessions I run most often is what I call a language-shift session. Here’s what it actually is. Most senior leaders are using language that worked for them five years ago, in a role that…

Senior leaders ask me all the time how to position themselves for a promotion. Most of the advice they’ve been given is the wrong advice. It’s:• Make your accomplishments visible.• Build relationships across the org.• Take on stretch assignments. All true. None of it tells them what actually determines whether they get promoted. Here’s what…