Crawford Partners, LLC

Delivers strategic consulting in marketing, strategy, leadership, organizational design, business transformation, executive coaching, and employee experience for private organizations focused on growth.  

I also partner with many leadership development, coaching, and organizational development firms to provide shared experience and solutions for a wide range of clients.

President

Thomas More University

Provided strategic leadership in adult enrollment and marketing for the university.  Designed new revenue models and channels to drive growth.  Responsible for all advertising, media placement, digital marketing and strategic initiatives.

Vice President for Digital, Graduate & Professional Programs

Founding Dean of the College of Business

Taught strategy, innovation, marketing, MBA skills, organizational behavior, etc., at undergraduate and graduate levels.

Assistant Professor

Weatherhead School of Management at Case Western Reserve University

Assisted doctorate students in designing meaningful research.

Research Advisor for Doctorate of Management Students

Direct Opinions

Provided marketing strategy, sales, employee experience, customer research and analytics for clients across retail, healthcare, consumer products, and manufacturing.

Chief Marketing Officer

Convergys

Successfully provided cross-functional marketing leadership in creating solutions, designing business transformation, and developing innovative strategies that lead to growth.  Responsible for all value proposition creation, packaging, positioning, digital marketing, branding, creative services, web redesign, lead generation, sales center of excellence consulting services and voice of the client research.

Senior Director Marketing Strategy

University of Cincinnati

Enjoyed teaching Business Ethics and Quality Management Tools courses to students by designing a highly interactive curriculum.

Adjunct Business Management Instructor

Citigroup

Led sales and marketing business transformation efforts for private label cards, retention, and mortgage across seven sites.  Managed $230M in annual revenue, driving year over year continued growth.

Senior Vice President, Regional Sales Director

AmTrust Bank

Traveled throughout the country studying contact center best practices.  Designed, developed, implemented and managed all aspects of the retail banking contact center, internet web customer service and the B2B mortgage contact center.  The program won the National Teleprofessional Award for Call Center Excellence (ACCE).

Vice President

Partnering with Leaders to Define SUCCESS and Achieve It.

Thank you for visiting my profile.  I'm Angela Crawford, a strategist and leadership consultant who empowers people and organizations to grow through authentic connection and a relentless commitment to helping others succeed.

With over 20 years of strategic leadership experience, I provide organizational consulting, along with coaching and leadership development through my customizable Leaders SUCCEED Together© system.

Let's work together to define success for yourself and your organization--and achieve it!

Who I Help:
- C-Suite Executives in privately owned companies
- Senior Leaders tackling new challenges
- HR Professionals seeking leadership development solutions
- Education and Healthcare Administrators

How I Can Help:
- Provide consulting services across organizational development, HR, sales, marketing, and operations.
- Design custom leadership programs to attract and retain top talent
- Serve as your confidential sounding board with fresh perspectives
- Enhance team dynamics and performance with tailored solutions
- Navigate the unique challenges of education and healthcare leadership

Why Choose Crawford Partners?
- Extensive cross-industry experience
- Proven, research-backed Leaders SUCCEED Together© System
- Flexible, client-focused approach
- Deep commitment to your success
- Over 13 years of delivering results

Ready to grow your organization like never before?  Let's connect.

P.S. Even if leadership development isn't your current focus, feel free to pass my information along to someone who might benefit. I'm passionate about helping leaders become the best versions of themselves.

Angela Crawford

➡️ Here's what most leaders miss about organizational culture:

They think culture change happens from the top down through mission statements and company values.

The reality?

73% of culture transformation initiatives fail because leaders diagnose the stated culture instead of the enacted culture.

After studying Cameron & Quinn's Competing Values Framework and Schein's organizational culture theory, I've adapted a 4-phase diagnostic that reveals what's actually happening:

The Framework:

✅ Phase 1: Behavioral Evidence Gathering (Weeks 1-3)
→ Track decision patterns, not policy documents
→ Observe meeting dynamics, not org charts

✅ Phase 2: Informal Culture Assessment (Weeks 4-6)
→ Map promotion patterns vs. stated values
→ Analyze crisis responses vs. company principles

✅ Phase 3: Force Field Analysis (Weeks 7-9)
→ Identify reinforcing vs. disruptive cultural forces
→ Calculate net change pressure

✅ Phase 4: Integration & Action Planning (Weeks 10-12)
→ Plot cultural reality gaps
→ Design evidence-based evolution strategy

The difference? Companies using behavioral diagnostics see 3x higher success rates in culture transformation.

You know you've succeeded when: Your promotion patterns, resource allocation, and crisis responses actually match your stated values.

Which assumption about your company culture needs challenging?

Share your biggest culture gap discovery below. ⬇️

—

👉 DM me “GROWTH” to book a free 30-minute strategy call.

And get actionable leadership tips right in your inbox every Wednesday.

(Newsletter link in my bio).

Angela Crawford, PhD

Business Owner, Consultant & Executive Coach | Guiding Senior Leaders to Overcome Challenges & Drive Growth l Author of Leaders SUCCEED Together©

Stop trying to find your one "authentic" leadership style.

Start being the leader your team actually needs you to be in the moment.

Conventional wisdom tells us to be consistent. But what if that consistency is the very thing holding your team back?

A single leadership style applied to every person and situation is a recipe for failure.

→ Your brand-new intern feels lost because you're too hands-off.
→ Your senior expert feels micromanaged because you're too hands-on.

The most effective leaders don't have one style; they are leadership chameleons. They use the Situational Leadership Model to accurately diagnose and adapt to the needs of their people.

It’s about flexing between four distinct approaches based on your team member's competence and commitment to a specific task.

🎨 The 4 Leadership Styles:

1. Directing (S1) 🎯
→ You provide clear, step-by-step instructions.
Perfect for the Enthusiastic Beginner (D1) who is eager but inexperienced.

2. Coaching (S2) 🤝
→ You still direct, but also explain the 'why' and encourage them.
Ideal for the Disillusioned Learner (D2) who has hit a roadblock and lost confidence.


3. Supporting (S3) 🤗
→ You empower them to lead the way while you act as a sounding board.
For the Capable but Cautious Performer (D3) who has the skills but is hesitant to own it.

4. Delegating (S4) 🚀
→ You turn over full responsibility and trust them to deliver.
Reserved for the Self-Reliant Achiever (D4) who is a true expert.

Your goal as a leader isn't just to get the task done. It's to develop your people from D1 to D4. That requires you to change your approach as they grow.

Ready to try it?

Try this for one week:
→ Pick one person on your team and one specific task.
→ Diagnose their Development
→ Consciously apply the matching leadership style (S1-S4).

Who's ready to become a more adaptable leader?

—

👉 Get free weekly tips and actionable guides by signing up for my newsletter at the link in my bio.

What if we’ve been wrong about what great leadership looks like?

We celebrate the charismatic, larger-than-life CEOs on the covers of business magazines. But what if the data told a different story?

In his groundbreaking research for Good to Great, Jim Collins and his team discovered something interesting:

The most effective leaders combine personal humility with professional will.

They were Level 5 Leaders.

And the climbing looks like this:

• Level 1: Highly Capable Individual 🧑💼
Makes productive contributions through talent, knowledge, skills, and good work habits.

• Level 2: Contributing Team Member 🤝
Contributes individual capabilities to the achievement of group objectives and works effectively with others in a group setting.

• Level 3: Competent Manager 📈
Organizes people and resources toward the effective and efficient pursuit of predetermined objectives.

• Level 4: Effective Leader 🧭
Catalyzes commitment to and vigorous pursuit of a clear and compelling vision, stimulating higher performance standards.

• Level 5: Executive ✨
Builds enduring greatness through a paradoxical blend of personal humility and professional will.

Greatness is not a function of circumstance.

It is, first and foremost, a matter of conscious choice and discipline. The most powerful choice a leader can make is to subjugate their own ego to the larger goal of building something great and lasting.

You can't "fake" Level 5, but you can consciously cultivate its attributes.

—

👉 Get my free guidebook detailing the 7 essential steps for leadership growth.

Link in bio.

Have you ever seen a great strategy die a slow, silent death?

The year starts with ambitious goals and high energy. By March, the team is buried in the “whirlwind” (endless emails, back-to-back meetings, and urgent fires that keep the business running).

The whirlwind isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
But if left on its own, it can consume 100% of your time and energy.

That’s why most strategies fail. All your resources go battle against the whirlwind.

The 4 Disciplines of Execution (4DX), created by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling, is the proven system to fight back.

Before you can win, you must know your enemy:

⚡️ What it is: The energy it takes to run your daily operations. The calls, the reports, the fires.

🚨 Its nature: It is not evil. It is urgent. And urgency will always feel more important than importance.

⚠️ Its power: It can derail any initiative and act on your team every minute of every day.

The 4 Disciplines are your weapons to protect your most important goals from being lost in the storm:

1. Focus on the Wildly Important
2. Act on the Lead Measures
3. Keep a Compelling Scoreboard
4. Create a Cadence of Accountability

What’s your go-to framework to fight the daily whirlwind?

—

👉 Get my free guidebook detailing the 7 essential steps for leadership growth.

Link in bio.

70% of major change initiatives fail.

The dangerous myth? That the new ideas were flawed.

The harsh truth most people miss? It's almost always a failure of leadership.

For decades, we've watched leaders with brilliant visions underestimate the human side of change.

They treat it like a software update, issuing a memo and expecting everyone to comply.

They are unprepared for the inevitable storm of resistance, fear, and inertia.

The result is always the same: wasted money, cynical employees, and a failed initiative that poisons the well for future efforts.

But you don't have to be a statistic. Dr. John Kotter's research provides a proven roadmap for navigating the storm. His 8-Step Model is not a checklist; it's a sequential, disciplined process for leading people through turmoil.

Skipping a step is like leaving a hole in the hull of your ship.

Here is the 8-step voyage to lasting change:

Phase 1: 🌪️ Create a Climate for Change(You can't steer a ship that's tied to the dock.)

→ Step 1: Create Urgency. Make the status quo seem more dangerous than the unknown future.
→ Step 2: Form a Powerful Guiding Coalition. Assemble a credible and influential team to lead the charge.
→ Step 3: Create a Vision for Change. Develop a clear, simple "North Star" to guide every action.

Phase 2: 🤝 Engage and Enable the Organization(Raise the sails and remove the obstacles.)

→ Step 4: Communicate the Vision. Relentlessly, through every channel possible. Then do it again.
→ Step 5: Empower Others to Act. Remove the barriers—be it a legacy system or a resistant manager.
→ Step 6: Create Short-Term Wins. Build momentum and silence the critics with visible successes.

Phase 3: ⚓ Implement and Sustain the Change(Anchor the new way of working in your culture.)

→ Step 7: Consolidate Improvements. Use the credibility from early wins to tackle bigger challenges.
→ Step 8: Anchor in the Culture. Weave the change into "the way we do things around here."

What's your experience?
Which of these 8 steps have you seen leaders skip most often?

—

👉 Get free tips and guidebooks weekly by signing up for my newsletter at the link in my bio.

➡️ The highest-performing teams aren't the smartest, they're the safest.

Most leaders focus on hiring talent but ignore creating environments where that
talent can actually speak up.

Here's how 5 industry leaders master psychological safety:

Google: Project Aristotle discoveries

→ Team diagnostic surveys for psychological safety measurement
→ Blameless post-mortems focusing on systems, not people
→ GTEAM meetings discussing "how we work together"
→ Result: 67% higher performance in psychologically safe teams

Microsoft: Growth mindset transformation

→ Daily pulse surveys for real-time team health monitoring
→ Learning Fridays: 10% time for experimentation
→ Courage Conversations training for difficult discussions
→ Result: 35% increase in employee confidence to speak up

Pixar: The Braintrust model

→ No hierarchy in feedback, junior animators critique directors
→ "Plussing" technique: "Yes, and..." instead of "No, but..."
→ Rapid prototyping with expectation of failure
→ Result: 83% feel safe sharing wild ideas

Netflix: Radical candor at scale

→ "Keeper Test" for transparent performance conversations
→ 360-degree feedback including upward feedback to managers
→ "No Brilliant Jerks" policy, culture matters as much as performance
→ Result: 89% trust their manager to act on feedback

The pattern? All 4 companies:

→ Measure psychological safety consistently
→ Train leaders to model vulnerability
→ Normalize speaking up through structured processes
→ Iterate and improve based on feedback

Amy Edmondson's research shows 4 stages: 

✅ Inclusion Safety
✅ Learner Safety
✅ Contributor Safety
✅ Challenger Safety.

Most teams never reach stage 4, where breakthrough innovation happens.

Which stage is your team at? 

And what's one practice you'll steal from these companies?

—

👉 DM me “GROWTH” to book a free 30-minute strategy call.

And get actionable leadership tips right in your inbox every Wednesday.

(Newsletter link in my bio).

Why do so many brilliant strategies fail?

It’s rarely the strategy itself. It's the organizational 'body' rejecting the transplant.

After years of advising leaders, I've seen the same painful pattern: companies pour months into crafting the perfect strategic plan, only to watch it stall, lose momentum, or die on the vine.

The cause is almost always a hidden misalignment.

A visionary strategy is useless if the organization's internal machinery isn't wired to execute it.
You can't ask for speed and innovation if your systems are built for rigid control.

The most effective leaders think like doctors. They don't just prescribe a treatment (Strategy); they run a full diagnostic MRI to see the entire system. That's the power of the McKinsey 7S Framework.

The old way: (Recipe for failure)
→ Obsess over strategy
→ Shuffle the structure (the org chart)
→ Hope culture and processes magically catch up

The new way: (Roadmap for alignment)
→ Start with shared values (the organization's heart 🤝)
→ Align the "hard" elements: Strategy 📈, Structure 🏢, and Systems ⚙️
→ And the "soft" elements: Skills 💡, Staff 🧑💼, and Style 🎨

When these 7 elements are in harmony, execution feels effortless. When they're misaligned, you get friction, burnout, and failed initiatives. The difference isn't the quality of your strategy, but the health of your organization.

Take 60 seconds to run a quick diagnosis.

Which of the 7S elements is the most misaligned with your company's strategy right now?

—

👉 Sign up for my newsletter and get my free guidebook detailing the 7 essential steps for leadership growth.  Link in bio.

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JSESSIONID

Heidi De Wolf MODA

70% of cultural transformation initiatives fail within the first year.

After working with 100+ leadership teams, I've discovered the pattern: Most organizations skip the diagnostic phase and jump straight to "solutions."

The problem is that you can't fix what you can't see.

Here's what a successful cultural transformation launch actually looks like:

✅ Days 1-30: Foundation Building
→ Complete comprehensive Cultural Assessment
→ Conduct Informal Culture Analysis (observe actual vs. stated behaviors)
→ Map your Cultural Force Field (based on Lewin's Force Field Analysis)
→ Achieve leadership alignment on desired culture using the Competing Values Framework

✅ Days 31-60: System Design
→ Redesign performance management systems
→ Optimize people processes and structures
→ Evolve communication patterns
→ Choose 2-3 strategic change levers

✅ Days 61-90: Launch & Early Measurement
→ Launch pilot programs with 1-2 teams
→ Collect behavioral and outcome data
→ Begin scaling successful elements
→ Develop 2-3 year transformation roadmap

Companies using this systematic approach see early momentum indicators within 30-60 days.

Things like increased awareness, leadership alignment, and initial behavioral experiments.

Reality check: True cultural transformation takes 2-3 years. This 90-day framework gets you started with a solid foundation.

What's one cultural blind spot your organization might be missing?

Drop your thoughts below. ⬇️

—

👉 DM me "GROWTH" to book a free 30-minute strategy call.

And get actionable leadership tips right in your inbox every Wednesday.

(Newsletter link in my bio).

Cultural Transformation Toolkit: Your 90-Day Action Plan

After years of advising leaders on growth, I've seen a dangerous pattern.

Many organizations have a growth hope, not a growth strategy.

They default to one thing: "sell more of what we have."

This leaves them stuck in a saturated market, completely blind to the massive opportunities just over the horizon.

What is the typical pattern across the most successful companies? They navigate it deliberately using a compass.

The best compass for this is the Ansoff Matrix. It's a simple but powerful framework that outlines the four fundamental paths to growth, forcing clarity on your options and the risks involved.

Here are the four cardinal directions every leader must understand:

1. 📈 Market Penetration (Low Risk)
→ The Play: Sell more existing products to your existing market.
→ Think: Coca-Cola launching a new ad campaign to deepen its market share.

2. 🛍️ Product Development (Medium Risk)
→ The Play: Create new products for your loyal, existing customer base.
→ Think: Apple launching the Apple Watch for its massive base of iPhone users.

3. 🌍 Market Development (Medium Risk)
→ The Play: Take your proven products into entirely new markets.
→ Think: Starbucks taking its existing coffee shop model and expanding into China for the first time.

4. 🚀 Diversification (High Risk)
→ The Play: A leap into the unknown with new products for new markets.
→ Think: Virgin Group expanding from a record label into airlines, telecoms, and finance.

Most businesses live their entire lives in quadrant #1.

But true, sustainable growth requires a conscious strategy that considers all four.

What does your growth plan for the next 18 months look like?
Which of these four quadrants are you actually operating in?

—

👉 Get free leadership guides and tips right in your inbox every Wednesday.  Link in my bio.

Vision, Mission, Values... Do your team statements inspire action or just collect dust?

Most leaders have them, but almost everyone is messing them up.

These aren't just buzzwords. They're the operating system for your team.

Get them right, and you create clarity, alignment, and purpose.

Here's the simple breakdown of the only four statements you need:

1. Vision Statement: Your North Star
→ Dreams big about the future
→ Sets direction for everyone
→ Shows where you want to go

2. Mission Statement: Your Roadmap
→ Explains what you do now
→ Shows how you operate
→ Names who you help

3. Values Statement: Your Guardrails
→ Lists core beliefs
→ Guides behavior
→ Sets cultural standards

4. Purpose Statement: Your "Why"
→ Explains deeper meaning
→ Goes beyond money
→ Connects emotionally

When these four are clear and aligned, everything changes.

You don't just lead a team; you lead a movement.

Which statement does your organization need to revisit first?

Share in the comments! ⬇️

—

👉 DM me “GROWTH” to book a free 30-minute strategy call.

And get actionable leadership tips right in your inbox every Wednesday.

(Newsletter link in my bio).

Quick question for leadership teams:

When was the last time you had a real conversation about how you actually work together, not just what you're working on?

Here's what I've observed: Many executive teams spend 100% of their time on strategy, execution, and results. 

And 0% on the operating system that drives all three.

You know the symptoms:

→ Meetings where everyone talks but nothing moves forward
→ The same conflicts surfacing in different forms
→ Talented leaders who seem disengaged or misaligned
→ Decisions that require endless loops of "alignment"

These aren't people problems. 

They're system problems.

Because every leader processes information differently. 

Makes decisions differently. 

Gets energized by different types of work. 

And contributes value in different phases of execution.

What successful teams understand:

Your meeting structure advantages some leaders and silences others. What feels "thorough" to one feels "paralyzed" to another. 

You're asking talented people to operate outside their genius zones.

The problem is that you're running a high-performance team on a one-size-fits-all operating system.

Introducing the Superpower Pyramid.

Through four scientifically-validated assessments (DiSC, CliftonStrengths, VIA Character Strengths, and Working Genius), leadership teams discover the unique combination of personality, talents, values, and working genius that makes each leader exceptional, and how to orchestrate them for maximum impact.

The 8-week program delivers:

✅ Clear understanding of each person's natural "superpower"
✅ A map of how individual strengths complement or conflict
✅ Practical strategies for collaboration that actually work
✅ A sustainable framework for ongoing team development

The measurable results:
→ 25-40% improvement in decision-making speed and collaborative outcomes
→ $100,000+ saved per retained executive leader
→ Enhanced stakeholder relationships through leveraged strengths
→ Accelerated organizational growth through optimized team dynamics

Ready to unlock your team's Combined Superpower?

📩 DM me "SUPERPOWER" to learn how the Superpower Pyramid can transform your leadership team in just 8 weeks.

What If Your Greatest Asset Is Being Underutilized?

From my Thanksgiving table to yours.  Thank you for your continued support, friendship, and engagement.  I am truly grateful and blessed for so many of you who are in my life.

As we look forward to the holiday season, let’s also remember to reach out and help those in need.

No alternative text description for this image

Persuasion isn't manipulation. It's the most underrated leadership superpower.

Having great ideas is common. Getting the buy-in to make them a reality is what separates effective leaders from the rest.

After years of coaching executives, I've learned that the best communicators don't force, they connect.

They use these 8 persuasion secrets to build trust and inspire action:

→ 1. Show Genuine Interest: Remember personal milestones, not just project deadlines. It shows you care about the person, not just their output.

→ 2. Give Strategic Recognition: Praise achievements that directly reflect your team's goals and values. It reinforces what success looks like.

→ 3. Lead With Presence: Your positive energy and open body language set the tone for every interaction. Your team will mirror it.

→ 4. Display Your Human Side: Share appropriate vulnerabilities. It builds psychological safety and encourages others to do the same.

→ 5. Make a Personal Connection: Use names. This simple act makes your message more personal and impactful.

→ 6. Address Issues Directly: When you sense resistance, get curious. Ask questions to transform hidden concerns into productive conversations.

→ 7. Create a Positive Culture: Your authentic passion is contagious. It inspires your team and creates a magnetic workplace.

→ 8. Practice Radical Empathy: Actively work to see the situation from your team's perspective. It's the foundation of effective communication.

These aren't tricks; they are trust-building habits.

Master them, and you'll earn commitment.

Which of these 8 secrets will you focus on this week? 👇

—

👉 DM me “GROWTH” to book a free 30-minute strategy call.

And get actionable leadership tips right in your inbox every Wednesday.

(Newsletter link in my bio).

📣 A Quick Update for Those Who Follow My Work

Over the coming months, I’m making a small but meaningful shift in how I show up here on LinkedIn. You’ll still see me posting and sharing insights (I’m not going anywhere!), but my deeper focus will be on pouring even more value into my weekly Leaders Succeed Together newsletter.
Why the shift?

Because it matters to me that I can share sources, external links, research, and practical toolkits—the kind of helpful resources that social platforms don’t always make easy to share.  Posting a quick graphic is simple… but real growth requires depth, context, and access to the right tools.
If you’ve been following me because you care about:
✨ Becoming the leader you were meant to be
 ✨ Building positive, resilient cultures
 ✨ Navigating change with clarity, confidence, and purpose
 ✨ Helping your organization grow like never before

…then I’d love for you to join me on the newsletter side of things. That’s where I can go deeper, share exactly what I think will help you, and build something real with you—not just around you.

Here’s my commitment to you:
✅ No selling your information
✅ No spam
✅ No inbox overload

Just one email every Wednesday at 8 AM EST, filled with actionable insights, valuable links, tools, articles, and resources you can use immediately—or pass along to someone who needs them.

I’m incredibly grateful for the amazing people I’ve met on this journey to 25K+ LinkedIn followers. This next step is about building something even more meaningful—a community where leaders truly succeed together.
If you’d like to be part of that community, you can sign up using the View My Newsletter link in my bio.

Wishing you a wonderful weekend,
 Angela

A sneak peek of my newsletter this week.  Sign up in my bio to get the research-backed insights.

Award-Winning PR & Brand Advisor | Build Global Recognition & Demand | Forbes-Featured | 32M+ Reach | Ex: News Executive, Press US Congress |

Turn offline expertise into online recognition so capital, stages, partnerships, and press come to you.

My team advises public figures and legacy brands around the globe. To date, clients have earned $3M+ in international media from our work.

Is this you?

You’re not an influencer, you’re a thought leader. 
You can’t afford to be misquoted, unseen, or misinterpreted.

Competitors are dominating the digital conversation in your industry.

If that’s you, welcome to your next level. In high-stakes spaces, silence gets filled by whoever is more visible. 

We make sure it’s you on LinkedIn, in the media, and beyond.

Clients call me when:
— The board says, “It’s time to be visible.”
— The media starts calling.
— The moment demands market leadership not optics.

Career highlights:

• Forbes-featured as communications and LinkedIn Expert
• Award-winning journalist (NYT Regional Group, TV, radio)
• Media strategist to U.S. Congress members, Fortune 500, Elite academia
• Advisor to six- and seven-figure leaders on visibility, brand narrative, positioning
• Google News Initiative / LION Publishers alum
• Favikon Who’s Who in Influence 2025
• Featured on a Times Square billboard as a top expert (2025)
• Best PR Firms in Orlando, Florida (Expertise)
• US Congressional Record (Hispanic Heritage Month) (Women's International Month)

This isn’t vanity. It’s velocity.
Let’s put your name where it belongs, ahead of the conversation.

Iza Montalvo 🧲

I wrote this as a reminder for myself.
Maybe you needed it too.

Everyone’s waiting for the right time.
That’s why most never start.

If success doesn’t wait
why are you?

The next quarter.
The right mood.
The perfect plan.

They never come.

Success keeps moving.
It doesn’t slow down.
It doesn’t care if you’re ready.

I used to plan everything
timelines, color codes, detailed notes.

It looked productive.
It wasn’t.

I told myself I was preparing.
But really, I was hiding.

The plan wasn’t the problem.
Standing still was.

When I finally started, things shifted.
Small steps.
Real work.

Progress I could see.
If you’re waiting, stop.

Do one thing today that proves you mean it.
Name the goal.
Do the work.

Finish something.
Protect your focus.

Discipline isn’t dramatic.
It’s quiet.
Certain.

Success doesn’t visit the planner.
It meets the worker.
PS: What’s the one thing you’ve been waiting to start?

🎥 Video credit: SM
♻️ Repost if it hit you.
➕ Follow Iza Montalvo 🧲 for more

Ranked #1 in Global Branding | 35M+ Reach | 3M+ Media For Clients | Advisor To Fortune 500 & Public Figures 💎

Real winners don’t get jealous.
They get inspired.

It means winning is possible.
It means it’s happening close to you.
It’s easy to celebrate when it’s your turn.

It’s harder when it’s not.

💚 We talk about drive.
💚 We talk about ambition.
💚 We talk about getting ours.

But the people who clap for others
the ones who mean it...
they’re the ones still standing years later.

Not because of luck.
Because of wiring.

When you celebrate someone else’s win, 
your brain records it as your own.

The joy is the same.
The hit is the same.
You train yourself to see success as confirmation, 
not threat.

Your teammate gets the spotlight.
You still share their post.
Your friend gets a new job.
You still bring a bottle.

Most of the time, it won’t be your turn.
Someone else will get picked.
Someone else will be seen.

You can keep score.
Or you can see the pattern.

Their win doesn’t take yours.
There’s no cap on enough.

Be around people who clap when it’s not their turn.
Be the person who claps when it’s not yours.

PS: There is enough for all of us to win. 
🎥 Video credit: SM 

♻️ Agree? Share with others in your network 
➕ Follow me Iza Montalvo 🧲 for more

Ranked #1 in Global Branding & Comms | Refining Narrative, Authority & Market Expansion For Visionaries | Ex–US Congress Comms Director

You don’t need to reinvent yourself.
You just need to remember who you are.

We all reach a point in our careers where the version that got us here can’t take us where we are going next. 

For years, you built a name by persevering.
Now it’s time to be seen for leading.

That earlier version of you 

→ said yes out of loyalty, not alignment
→ stayed in rooms you’d already outgrown
→ mistook peacekeeping for professionalism
→ treated ambition like a secret

That version built safety.
But safety and visibility rarely coexist.

The next version of you demands:

• Precision over people-pleasing
• Proof over perfection
• Presence over performance

You don’t need a new story.
You just need to stop hiding inside the old one.

You can’t attract aligned opportunities
while introducing yourself as who you used to be.

If your brand voice still sounds like yesterday’s credibility,
start with your LinkedIn audit
it’s your mirror, not your résumé.

PS: The voice that built your career
isn’t the one that will build your legacy.

Video credit: SM

♻️ Repost if you’re leading your next chapter
➕ Follow Iza Montalvo 🧲 for more

The first hour of your day is prime real estate.
Spend it on work that moves you forward.

I see the same pattern in almost every leader and operator I work with:

They open the day with tasks that look productive, but don’t change anything.

Email.
Admin.
Quick replies.
Low-stakes work.

It feels safe.
It feels tidy.
But it doesn’t shift the needle.

The important work, the one task that demands focus or courage
gets pushed to the afternoon.

Then the afternoon fills up.
Then the task gets carried to the next day.
And the cycle repeats.

Morning is the one window where your mind is clear.
No demands.
No fires.

Use that block for the work with weight.

A project that moves the business forward.
A decision you’ve delayed.
A problem that needs thought, not speed.
A task that shapes the week, not one that fills an hour.

Block your first hour.
Protect it.

You end the day lighter.
You end the week with momentum.

If this lands, try it tomorrow: give your first hour to the task you’ve been avoiding.

Watch what shifts.

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Ranked #1 in Global Branding | 35M+ Reach | 3M+ Media For Clients | Advisor To Fortune 500 & Public Figures | Get More Clients, Stages & Press 🔥

Your product is strong.
Your message isn’t and that’s what’s costing you.

You use AI to work faster.
To fix your deck.
To shape your pitch.

I use it too.

But here’s the issue in this economy:

If your message isn’t clear or unique,
AI will make you sound even more like everyone else.
The problem isn’t the tool.

It’s how you explain:

✅ the problem you solve
✅ the answer you built
✅ and who you are as a founder

Right now, the market can’t feel any of that.

Anyone can say they fix a pain point.
Anyone can claim innovation.
Anyone can show a roadmap.

But very few founders can talk about their idea in a way that makes people think:

“I haven’t heard it said like that before.”

That’s what creates separation.
And separation is what gets you meetings, partners, and funding.

Let me give you a simple example:

I worked with a tech founder last month who kept pitching with heavy jargon.
Only people in his field understood him
but the people who needed his product the most didn’t get it.

So we refined his message.

We stripped out the “company mission” no one reads anymore.
We rewrote how he explained the problem and the solution in plain language anyone could follow.

In 30 days:

🔥 he closed 2 deals
🔥 booked a big presentation
🔥 and landed media

Nothing in his product changed.
Only the way he talked about it.

Here’s the part most don’t want to admit:

You’re not showing up as the founder people expect behind a company like yours, not in panels, not in industry talks, not in the rooms where decisions get made.

This isn’t about visibility.
It’s about positioning.

The founders who rise right now do 3 things well:

👉🏽They explain the problem in a way the market sees itself in.
👉🏽They describe the solution in a way only they can.
👉🏽They show they can move the space forward not just sit in it.
👉🏽They lead conversations others avoid 

And it’s why some founders jump ahead
while others keep waiting to be noticed.

PS: If you want to stand apart from your category,
send me one sentence: your biggest messaging challenge.

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Iza Montalvo 

Ranked #1 in Global Branding | 35M+ Reach | 3M+ Media For Clients | Advisor To Fortune 500 & Public Figures | Ask Me About My 6-Week Accelerator For More Clients, Stages & Press 💫

When life feels heavy
These 7 laws make it easier to carry.

You better save this!👇🏼

1/ Kidlin’s Law
Write the problem down.
Once it’s clear, the solution begins to form.

2/ Pareto’s Law
A small set of actions drives most results.
Identify them. Focus on them.

3/ Murphy’s Law
Fear grows when you avoid the thing you fear.
Move toward it. Momentum breaks the cycle.

4/ Wilson’s Law
When you invest in learning, opportunity follows.
Knowledge builds options.

5/ Gilbert’s Law
You are responsible for the outcome.
Not the excuses, not the limits, the outcome.

6/ Falkland’s Law
If a decision isn’t required, skip it.
Save your energy for important decisions .

7/ Hick’s Law
More choices slow you down.
Limit your options. Increase your speed.

These laws don’t fix everything.
But they make life feel lighter and more manageable.

If this helped:
👍 Like the post
🔗 Share it with someone who needs direction
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Ranked #1 in Global Branding | 35M+ Reach | 3M+ Media For Clients | Advisor To Fortune 500 & Public Figures | I Reengineer How You’re Seen For More Clients, Stages & Press 💫

7 LAWS THAT GIVE YOU AN UNFAIR ADVANTAGE

Everyone says “know your worth.”
Few say “ask for it.”

Negotiation isn’t conflict.
It’s collaboration done right. 

Steal these 7 strategies to ask for more and get it:

1/ 𝗕𝗔𝗧𝗡𝗔 (Best Alternative to a Negotiated Agreement)

🟢 Always know your fallback plan.
When you have a solid backup, 
you can negotiate from a place of confidence.

2/ Anchoring Effect

🟢 Lead with a strong number.
The first figure frames the entire discussion 
it’s your chance to set the tone.

3/ 𝗭𝗢𝗣𝗔 (Zone of Possible Agreement)

🟢 Find the overlap between what you want 
and what they can offer.
That’s where deals actually happen.

4/ Win-Win Agreement

🟢 Ask questions.
Find out what matters most to them.
Focus on building an outcome that works for both sides.

5/ The Power of Silence 

🟢  After you make your offer, stop talking.
Let the other person fill the silence.
It’s uncomfortable, but it shifts the momentum.

6/ Value-Based Negotiation

🟢 Talk about outcomes, not costs.
Show them how working with you solves their problems.

7/ Scarcity and Urgency 

🟢 Use time limits or exclusivity to motivate action.
Deadlines aren’t pushy, they create focus.

→You’re not squeezing the other side.
→You’re advocating for what’s fair.

PS: Which of these strategies will you try next?

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Ranked #1 in Global Branding | Turn Your LinkedIn Into a Deal-Flow Engine | Ex–US Congress Comms Director | I Fix The Gap Between Who You Are & How You’re Seen

I spoke with a founder who’d been in his field for almost 20 years.
Not the “social media expert” kind of experience.

The real kind.

The kind that holds companies together when everything feels like it’s falling apart.

👉 He led teams.
👉 Handled crises.
👉 Built things people relied on.

But when he tried to build something for himself, a side income, a little freedom, nothing moved.

He spent months trying to understand how others were using LinkedIn and AI to make a steady income, book stages and get featured as experts in top-tier media.

As someone who has ran campaigns for big names, and learned how to leverage LinkedIn in 1 year, I understand the pain too well. 

Then he confessed…

“I’ve signed up for webinars”
“I’ve tried posting more”
“I’ve tried writing in the right tone.”
“I’ve tried figuring out personal branding”

Every attempt ended the same way:

🚫 No traction.
🚫 No interest.
🚫 No real path forward.
🚫 Less money in the bank.

One night, he told me he sat in his car after work for almost an hour.
He didn’t want to walk into his house and pretend he wasn’t disappointed.
He said, in a quiet voice:

“I feel like I did everything right. And it still didn’t turn into anything for me.”
That’s the part most founders never share.
That’s what I call “The Hamster Wheel Trap.”

You’re not stuck because you lack experience.
You’re stuck because you think: 

I need to post more motivational content.
Which is getting you messages like: 
"You're so inspiring"
but not DMs asking for your help. 

You wait for something to click.
You spend hours prompting ChatGpt.
And none of it works.

That weekend, I showed him the part he’d been missing:

✅ How to package what he already knows.
✅ How to use AI to reduce the time it takes.
✅ How to build a simple machine that brings clients, media and stages
to him.

He didn’t expect much.
Not after months of quiet failure.

But he tried anyway.
Eleven days later, he brought in $12,400.

He didn’t cry because of the money.
He cried because something finally worked.

He said, “I just needed someone to show me the part nobody ever showed me.”
If you’re in "The Hamster Wheel Trap", era read this:

Your experience isn’t the issue.
The missing system is.
And that can be fixed.

PS: If any of this felt too familiar, that’s not failure.
It’s a sign you have been carrying everything alone. 

I speak about these topics in my newsletter: 
Sign up here: izamontalvo.com/joinnow

📸 Hotel Catalonia, Santo Domingo, November 2025

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Being the best isn’t enough.
Being seen as the best is.

For years, you won the same way:

✨ Referrals.
✨ Reputation.
✨ Relationships.
✨ Time in the field.

Do solid work.
Stay steady.
The next client shows up.
That pattern broke.
Attention shifted.

Here's what I've learned:

Decision-makers changed how they hire.
They search first.
They follow the ones who teach in public.
They stick with the voices they see often.

Familiarity moves faster than introductions.
This shift is shaking entire industries.

1/ A consultant with decades of wins loses a client to someone posting insights.
2/ An attorney with a track record gets replaced by someone explaining hard topics in simple language.
3/ An advisor with a full résumé gets overlooked because their thinking never shows up online.

This is the real risk:

If people can’t see how you think,
they assume someone else is a better fit.

🤚🏽 This isn’t age.
🤚🏽 This is access.
🤚🏽 This is presence.

Legacy trust still holds with the people who know you.
Everyone else meets their next expert on a screen.

If your voice isn’t there, the contract goes to the one who is.
Invisibility kills deals faster than lack of skill.

🔥 The experts who stay chosen do this:

They show their work.
They explain their point of view.
They build trust before the first meeting.

This isn’t ego.
This is staying in the deal flow.

If you want clients to think of you first and if you want new buyers to find you without a warm intro, your brand has to travel.

PS: If you’re ready for that shift,
DM me "TRANSFER".

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You didn’t outgrow your life.
You just got used to the desert.

This video reminded me how many people 
stay in places that no longer fit
simply because they’re familiar.

Take Lena.
She worked in corporate HR for nine years.
Good title. Steady paycheck.

Everyone assumed she had it figured out.
But at night, she restored old furniture in her garage
pieces people rushed to buy.

She kept saying she wasn’t “ready” to open a store.
Then one afternoon she heard herself repeat it
and felt the gap between her words and her truth.

Three months later, she rented a small workshop.
Now there’s a waiting list.

Then there’s Jordan.
He stayed close to friends who pulled him down
because it felt easier than walking away.
He wasn’t choosing connection.
He was choosing habit.

When he stepped back, his days grew quiet
and light.

Maybe you’re here too:

💫 A job that pays you but drains you
💫 An idea you keep pushing aside
💫 A version of yourself you keep delaying

Here’s something simple:

You can change your direction when the path stops matching who you’re becoming.

You didn’t outgrow your life.
You just got used to the desert.

And like that camel, you might shock yourself
when you step toward your ocean.
Not with a leap.
With one honest move.

PS: Leaving the desert for good in 2026?
Let’s talk in the comments.

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🎥 Video credit: ytinopp34/X

Staying in a place you’ve outgrown isn’t loyalty.
It’s a slow kind of shrinking.

Most people don’t stay because they’re fulfilled.
They stay because it’s familiar.

Because it’s quiet.
Because it asks nothing new of them.
But there’s a cost to that kind of comfort:

💔 Your skills level off
💔 Your ideas stay small
💔 Your drive dims

Your network stays narrow
Your confidence stalls
You feel it long before you name it.

The meetings get predictable.
The work stops teaching you anything.
The ceiling lowers a little more each week.

You’re not dramatic.
You’re not impatient.
You’ve simply outgrown the room.

The people who move forward don’t wait for a crisis.
They pay attention to the early signs.
They choose places that stretch them.

They leave before their talent goes quiet.
You don’t need permission to want more space.
You only need to trust the part of you that knows when the season has ended.

Staying small isn’t stability.
It’s delay.
Leaving isn’t chaos.
It’s courage.

Your life expands the moment you do.

♻️ Repost if someone you know is staying somewhere they’ve outgrown
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The struggle isn’t blocking your rise, it’s shaping you for it.

Ever feel like every step forward comes with another test?
You’re not the only one.

But what if the leaders you admire didn’t rise despite their hurdles…
but because they stayed long enough to learn what those hurdles were trying to teach?

You treat this challenge like a glitch, like life dropped the wrong assignment on your desk.

But you know this pattern.

The moment you avoid is the moment that forces the shift you’ve delayed.
Not fate.
Not a lesson wrapped in a bow.
Just pressure pointing at what needs your attention.

Try this: 

1/ Take one breath before you respond.
It gives you space to see the situation, not your fear.
2/ Ask a clear question:
“What does this open right now?”
The answer often sits in plain sight.
3/ Change the method, not the aim.
If the straight line fails, use the turn.
The target stays the same.
4/ Look at what the moment exposes.
A gap.
A habit.
A truth.

Treat it as information, not judgment.
If you’re carrying something heavy today, don’t rush past it.
Stay with it long enough to understand it.

There’s direction inside it…
And once you see it, the next step becomes obvious.

PS: What is the obstacle in front of you trying to tell you?

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The Battle

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Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Angela Crawford's LinkedIn Performance

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