Craig Leach, MBA

Welcome to where transforming companies and careers with precision-tailored executive placements and progressive leadership coaching meets personalized solutions that align with your unique culture and strategic goals. If you're here, you're likely seeking to attract and retain top-tier talent in a competitive market, align leadership teams with corporate strategy and culture, navigate leadership transitions without disrupting operations, and ensure new hires are the right fit for long-term success.

With over 30 years of experience in leading teams, I guide executives from uncertainty and misalignment to building high-performing teams that drive results. Is reducing time spent on recruiting or mis-recruiting on your radar? Do you aspire to increase productivity and performance? If these aspirations resonate, you've found your path.

I blend my diverse skills in negotiation, business planning, operations management, sales, market development, and leadersip with my passion for talent development, crafting strategic solutions that truly represent your organization's needs. This strategy allows you to transform your leadership capital and achieve sustainable success.

My 21st Century technology-influenced approach uses personalized executive search and coaching to create long-term impact that delivers reduced commercial downtime, improved employee retention rates, and reduced overall costs to hire. I empower hiring managers to make confident decisions, so 96% of our placements are still in place after 12 months.

What you can expect:
• Minimized client commercial downtime
• Improved new employee retention rates
• Reduced overall costs to hire

Your outcomes:
• 96% of placements still in place after 12 months
• 94% of placements still in place after 24 months

Embrace a journey that transforms your organization through strategic leadership development and succession planning. Ready to start?

I offer different ways to work with me to suit your budget and needs:
• Retained Search: Exclusive tailored executive search and coaching solutions, best suited for senior leadership positions (C-Suite, VPs, Directors)
• Contingency Search: Exclusive search for technical, sales, and marketing roles
• Executive Coaching: Tailored, one-on-one partnerships to empower leaders and high-potential professionals to maximize performance and achieve personal and organizational goals

Who it's for:
• C-suite executives
• Senior managers
• Emerging leaders
• Professionals transitioning to higher leadership roles

Begin your journey: https://calendly.com/6202205911/30min

President

Craig Leach

The most expensive thing a CEO can have is a recruiter who won't say no.

A Fortune 500 company offered me $75K to find their next CFO.

I walked away.

Not because of the money. Because of what I heard in the boardroom.

"We need someone who can clean house. Fire 30% of finance. No questions."

I asked what was driving the 30% number.

"We promised the board headcount reduction. Easier to hire fresh talent at lower salaries."

They weren't looking for a CFO. They were looking for an executioner.

Their last three CFOs? All lasted under 18 months. Turnover rate? 47%. One former CFO told me they made him fire people who'd been there 20 years—good people—then blamed him when culture imploded.

A "yes" recruiter would have taken that search. Cashed the check. Placed someone. And watched them burn out in a year.

Then done it again. And again.

I offer a 1-year placement guarantee. Risk definitely outweighed the reward.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗬𝗲𝘀-𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗿𝘂𝗶𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂:

• The $75K fee—three times over
• Six CFOs in three years
• Stock down 34%
• Glassdoor rating: 2.1 stars
• Every good candidate now knows to stay away

The recruiter fee was never the expense.

The expense was nobody saying: "This isn't a search problem. This is a leadership problem."

After 200+ placements, I've learned this:

The best thing I can do for a client isn't always finding them a candidate.

Sometimes it's telling them they're not ready for one.

They called me unprofessional when I walked away. Threatened to blacklist me.

That was three years ago.

I sleep fine.

Would your recruiter tell you no if you needed to hear it?

I Work with Senior Leaders to Build Teams that Shape the Future | Executive Search | C-Suite | 2x Top Voice

Most leaders misdiagnose their team problems.

They see the same symptoms—low energy, missed deadlines, tension in meetings—and reach for the same fix: motivation.

200+ placements taught me something different.

A stressed team and a checked-out team look almost identical. But they need completely opposite interventions.

𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗗𝘆𝘀𝗿𝗲𝗴𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺:

• Small issues trigger big reactions
• People seem on edge, scanning for threats
• Exhaustion that doesn't improve with time off
• They care deeply but can't perform

These people are in survival mode. Their nervous systems are overwhelmed.

𝗦𝗶𝗴𝗻𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗮 𝗗𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗧𝗲𝗮𝗺:

• Flat reactions to good news or bad news
• Minimal effort—just enough to not get fired
• Silence that feels like surrender
• They've stopped caring altogether

These people have emotionally left. Something broke the connection.

Here's why this matters when I evaluate leadership environments:

You can't motivate a dysregulated team. Pep talks and incentives don't work when people are overwhelmed. They need safety first.

You can't regulate a disengaged team. Breathing exercises won't help people who've already checked out. They need honest conversations about what's broken.

Before I place any executive, I look for this:

Does leadership understand the difference between a team that's drowning and a team that's already gone?

The executives who fail often walk into dysregulated environments and push harder. Or they walk into disengaged cultures and try to inspire their way out.

Same symptoms. Wrong diagnosis. Predictable failure.

The executives who last? They read the room before they try to change it.

What's the first thing you look for when assessing a team's health?

I Work with Senior Leaders to Build Teams that Shape the Future | Executive Search | C-Suite | Top Voice 2024 - 2025

Why I Tell Candidates to Negotiate AGAINST Their Own Salary

Most recruiters coach executives to ask for more.

I ask them to argue for less.

Not as a trick. As a test.

200+ placements taught me this pattern:

The executives who can articulate why they might be overpriced are the ones worth every dollar.

Here's what I tell candidates in final rounds:

"Give me three reasons a company shouldn't pay you what you're asking."

The weak candidates freeze. Deflect. Get defensive.

The exceptional ones? They go deep.

"My industry experience is strong, but I've never led a team this size."
"I'm asking for equity I haven't earned yet."
"My last company's brand opened doors—I need to prove I can do it without that."

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘀:

• Self-awareness that can't be faked
• Intellectual honesty under pressure
• The ability to see their own blind spots

The executives who can argue against themselves are the ones who won't oversell and underdeliver.

They know what they're worth. And they know what they still need to prove.

I've watched candidates talk themselves into higher offers by being honest about their gaps. Boards respect it. CEOs remember it.

The ones who can't find a single reason they might be overpriced?

They're usually the first to underperform.

Confidence is knowing your value.
Self-awareness is knowing your limits.

The best executives I've placed have both.

Is there a question you ask that reveals more than a resume ever could?

Your LinkedIn headline doesn't matter as much as you think.

Controversial? Maybe. But after 200+ placements, here's the truth:

I spend about 2 seconds on your headline. Then I scroll straight to your experience section.

I've seen candidates with perfectly optimized headlines—all the right keywords, clever formulas, impressive-sounding buzzwords.

Then I look at their actual work. Nothing there.

I've also seen candidates with headlines that just say "CFO" or "VP Operations." No formula. No flair.

But their experience section tells a story. Clear results. Specific impact. A thread I can follow.

Guess which one I call?

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗡𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲:

• Does your experience section show progression or just job hopping?
• Can I understand what you actually did, or is it buried in jargon?
• Do your results have numbers, or just vague claims?

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗦𝗰𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗹 𝗣𝗮𝘀𝘁:

• Headlines stuffed with buzzwords that mean nothing
• "Thought Leader | Visionary | Change Agent"
• Anything that sounds like marketing copy instead of a person

Here's the uncomfortable truth:

A great headline on an empty profile is like a beautiful cover on a blank book.

And a boring headline on a strong profile? I'll still pick up the phone.

Your headline is the wrapper. Your experience is the product.

Stop optimizing the wrapper. Start building something worth unwrapping.

What's the first thing you actually look at when you review someone's profile?

I Work with Senior Leaders to Build Teams that Shape the Future | Executive Search | C-Suite | Top Voice 2024

Apple Just Created a Head of Executive Retention (And Every Fortune 500 Should Follow)

Most companies treat executive retention like an afterthought.

"We'll worry about keeping them once they're here."

Then their best leaders walk out the door to competitors. And suddenly everyone's scrambling.

Apple just did something different. They created a dedicated role focused entirely on keeping their top executives.

Not recruiting them. Keeping them.

After 200+ placements, I've watched this pattern destroy companies:

They spend $500K finding the perfect CFO.
They spend $0 figuring out how to keep her.
Then they spend $750K finding her replacement 18 months later.

The math never works.

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗠𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀:

The war for executive talent isn't about hiring anymore. It's about holding.

Every Fortune 500 company has recruiters hunting your best people. LinkedIn messages. Competitor calls. PE firms dangling equity.

Your executives aren't wondering if they have options. They're wondering if you're worth staying for.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗠𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗚𝗲𝘁 𝗪𝗿𝗼𝗻𝗴:

• They assume compensation is enough
• They ignore the small frustrations that compound
• They wait until the resignation letter to ask what went wrong
• They treat retention as HR's problem instead of a strategic priority

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝗨𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀:

The cost of losing a great executive isn't the replacement search.

It's watching them build your competitor's empire with your blueprints.

I've placed the same executive three times because their previous bosses didn't understand this. They all called me afterward asking for "another Mike."

They had Mike. They lost Mike. And they still didn't get it.

Creating a Head of Executive Retention sends a message: We're not just investing in finding you. We're investing in keeping you.

That's the difference between companies that build dynasties and companies that build revolving doors.

How is your company thinking about executive retention?

Stop chasing “talent” as if it’s a fixed trait.

Most companies believe talent is something you’re born with. Either you have it, or you don’t.

That’s a myth. Talent isn’t fixed. It’s potential waiting for the right environment.

I’ve seen “average” candidates become legends. I’ve watched “top talent” burn out fast.

The difference? Leadership.

Great leaders don’t just spot talent. They build conditions for it to thrive.

They challenge before people are ready. They see potential others overlook. They push past perceived limits.

The best hires I’ve made weren’t the most credentialed. They were the ones someone believed in.

Talent is everywhere. What’s rare is the environment that unlocks it.

Are you hiring what they’ve done? Or what they could become?

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Most hiring fails for one reason nobody wants to admit.

Companies hire for skills. They should hire for mindset.

200+ placements taught me this pattern:

The candidate with the perfect resume flames out in 8 months. The one with "potential" becomes a company legend.

Skills can be taught. Mindset can't.

I've watched CFOs with flawless credentials crumble under pressure. And I've seen "underqualified" operators build teams that transformed entire divisions.

The difference was never what they knew. It was how they thought.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝘀𝗰𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗻𝗼𝘄:

• Do they take ownership when things break?
• Do they learn from feedback or defend against it?
• Do they lift others up or climb over them?

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁:

• The "right" certifications
• The prestigious company names
• The polished interview answers

Here's the uncomfortable truth:

You can teach someone your systems. Your processes. Your industry.

You cannot teach someone to care. To persist. To adapt when the playbook stops working.

The executives who last 10 years don't have better skills than the ones who last 18 months.

They have better mindsets.

Your next hire's resume tells you where they've been.

Their mindset tells you where they'll take you.

Which one are you screening for?

6 Principles That Separate Great Hires from Expensive Mistakes

If you're questioning your role at year 4, you're not impatient. You're right on schedule.

Here's what nobody tells executives:

In my experience, average Fortune 500 C-suite tenure often hovers around 5 years. CEO tenure? About 7-8 years.

200+ placements taught me this pattern:

The executives who stay too long aren't loyal. They're on autopilot.

The ones who start asking hard questions at year 3 or 4? They're the ones who end up in their best roles.

I placed a CFO two years ago who almost didn't take my call. She'd been in her role for five years. Good company. Solid performance. But something felt off.

She kept saying, "I should be grateful. It's a great job."

I asked her one question: "When's the last time you were excited about a Monday?"

Silence.

Six months later, she was leading finance at a company twice the size, building something from scratch. She told me recently it was the best decision she almost didn't make.

The signs were all there. She'd just convinced herself to ignore them.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴:

• Give yourself permission to evaluate fit (not just performance)
• Revisit the impact you want to have in the next 5–10 years
• Start strengthening your network now, not when you need it

The real risk isn't exploring your next move too early. It's waiting until external forces push you out.

Executive careers are a series of strategic moves. The best leaders know when to make their next one.

When did you know it was time to write your next chapter?

If Your LinkedIn Says "Executive Recruiter" in 2026, You're Leaving Placements on the Table

A candidate asked me something last week that stuck:

"Why should I work with you instead of the 50 other recruiters in my inbox?"

Fair question. I had an answer. Most recruiters don't.

Here's what 200+ placements taught me about positioning:

The generic title is killing your pipeline.

"Executive Recruiter" tells candidates nothing. It tells clients even less. You're competing with thousands of people who have the exact same two words on their profile.

Meanwhile, the recruiters winning the best mandates?

They don't call themselves recruiters at all.

They're "FinTech CFO Specialist." "Private Equity Operating Partner Talent." "Healthcare C-Suite Search."

The shift isn't about being clever. It's about being findable.

When a PE firm needs a portfolio company CEO, they're not searching "executive recruiter." They're searching for someone who understands their world.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗪𝗼𝗿𝗸:

• Industry-specific positioning attracts inbound
• Niche expertise commands higher fees
• Candidates trust specialists over generalists
• Clients stop comparing you to commodity recruiters

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝗙𝗮𝗶𝗹:

• "Full-service" positioning that means nothing
• Trying to be everything to everyone
• Competing on speed instead of insight
• Hiding behind a corporate brand instead of building your own

The recruiters who'll thrive in 2026 won't be the ones with the biggest databases.

They'll be the ones clients and candidates think of first when a specific need arises.

Your title isn't just a label. It's your first pitch.

Make it count.

What does your LinkedIn headline actually say about your expertise? Recruiter or not?

If you're questioning your role at year 4, you're not impatient. You're right on schedule.

Here's what nobody tells executives:

In my experience, average Fortune 500 C-suite tenure often hovers around 5 years. CEO tenure? About 7-8 years.

200+ placements taught me this pattern:

The executives who stay too long aren't loyal. They're on autopilot.

The ones who start asking hard questions at year 3 or 4? They're the ones who end up in their best roles.

I've watched executives ignore the internal signals for years. The role changed. The organization shifted. Their goals evolved. But they kept showing up to the same job.

By the time they finally moved, they'd lost momentum. Lost leverage. Lost options.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜 𝗧𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗘𝘅𝗲𝗰𝘂𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝘀 𝗪𝗵𝗼 𝗔𝗿𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴:

• Give yourself permission to evaluate fit (not just performance)
• Revisit the impact you want to have in the next 5–10 years
• Start strengthening your network now, not when you need it

The real risk isn't exploring your next move too early. It's waiting until external forces push you out.

Executive careers are a series of strategic moves. The best leaders know when to make their next one.

What's driving your questions – a problem, or a readiness for growth?

I just placed a VP of Technology who never finished college.

She beat out five Ivy League candidates.

Here's why the board chose her:

She taught herself AI, rebuilt her company's entire tech stack, and led a digital transformation that doubled revenue in 18 months.

The others had perfect resumes.

She had proven learning velocity.

This is the shift I'm seeing after 200+ placements:

Skills-based hiring is replacing credential worship.

Boards don't ask "Where did they go to school?" anymore.

They ask "How fast can they learn what we need next?"

The data backs this up:

Skills assessments reduce mis-hires by 88%.
They predict job success better than any CV.

What companies prioritize now:

• Learning agility over tenure
• Digital literacy over job titles
• AI proficiency over degrees
• Pivot speed over pedigree

Our 96% retention rate comes from one philosophy:

Hire for mindset and adaptability.
Train for skills.

The executives thriving today don't have the longest credentials.

They have the sharpest learning curves and measurable impact.

That VP of Technology?

Still crushing it two years later.

Outperforming every "safer" candidate on paper.

Are you still hiring resumes or hiring potential?

The best interview question I've ever asked isn't on any list.

After 200+ placements, I've sat through thousands of interviews. Watched hiring managers ask the same tired questions. Watched candidates deliver the same rehearsed answers.

Everyone's prepared for "Tell me about yourself." Everyone's got a weakness that's secretly a strength.

So I stopped asking what everyone else asks.

Now I ask this:

"Tell me about a time you were wrong about something important, and what it cost you."

Silence. Every time.

Because this question does something the others can't. It forces honesty.

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜'𝗺 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗙𝗼𝗿:

• Do they own the mistake or blame circumstances?
• Can they quantify the impact or do they minimize it?
• Did they actually learn something or just survive it?

𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜'𝘃𝗲 𝗦𝗲𝗲𝗻:

• Candidates who can't answer have never been accountable for anything meaningful
• Candidates who blame others will do the same in your company
• Candidates who get specific and own it? Those are your people

The resume tells you what someone did. The interview tells you who they are.

But only if you ask questions they can't prepare for.

Your best hires won't be the ones with the perfect answers. They'll be the ones who can sit in discomfort and tell you the truth anyway.

What's the one interview question that's revealed the most about a candidate for you?

Most executives ask the wrong question about their career.

"How long can I keep this job?"

That's survival thinking. Not strategy.

Here's what 200+ placements taught me:

The moment you step into a C-suite role, you're on a 3-7 year runway. That's not pessimism. That's the data. Average C-suite tenure hovers around 5 years. CEOs get about 7-8.

The best executives I've placed don't think about how long they can stay. They think about what this chapter will be known for.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆 𝗠𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗲𝗿:

• What do I want this chapter to be known for in 3-5 years?
• What needs to be true for me to stay energized here?
• At what point will it be time to design the next move?

High-performing executives treat their career like a portfolio. Regularly reviewed. Intentionally rebalanced. Aligned with where they can create the most value next.

I've watched executives cling to roles that stopped fitting years ago. They weren't loyal. They were comfortable. And comfort has a cost.

The executives who build remarkable careers don't wait for a crisis to reassess. They build reflection into the rhythm of how they lead.

If your current role no longer matches the leader you've become, that's not a problem.

It's your signal.

How often do you step back and evaluate whether your role still fits?

Most companies call me when they're desperate.

CFO just quit. No succession plan. Board meeting in 30 days.

Then they ask: "How fast can you find someone?"

Wrong question.

The right question is: "Why didn't we prepare for this six months ago?"

Here's what reactive hiring actually costs:

• 6-9 months average search timeline under pressure
• $2M+ in lost productivity per vacant C-suite role
• Remaining executives burning out covering gaps
• Strategic initiatives stalled or abandoned
• Competitors poaching your best people during chaos

I've seen it destroy companies.

One client waited until their COO announced retirement. Two weeks notice.

No pipeline. No internal candidates ready. No transition plan.

They promoted someone unprepared. He lasted four months.

Total cost: $3.7M in severance, recruiting fees, and operational disruption.

Compare that to my clients who build partnerships before crisis hits:

We map their leadership bench quarterly.
Identify succession gaps before they're urgent.
Build relationships with potential candidates over time.
Coach internal talent for future roles.

When someone leaves? We're ready in weeks, not months.

One CEO told me: "Craig, having you embedded in our strategy saved us when our CFO got recruited away. We had her replacement starting within 45 days."

The companies crushing it aren't reacting to turnover.

They're anticipating it.

Because in executive search, preparation isn't expensive.

Desperation is.

When's the last time you stress-tested your succession plan?

I've placed 200+ executives.

96% are still there after 12 months.

Here's what separates the ones who thrive from the ones who don't:

It's not credentials.
It's not pedigree.
It's not even experience.

The last five years in executive search taught me retention comes down to three things:

1. Strategic Alignment

The executive's vision must match where the company is actually going.

Not where they say they're going in the job description. Where they're really going.

I've seen brilliant CFOs fail because they were hired to transform, but the board wanted stability. And vice versa.

Misalignment kills placements faster than anything else.

2. Cultural Fit

Skills get you hired. Culture keeps you employed.

An executive can have every qualification on paper and still be gone in six months if they don't fit how the company operates.

I don't mean they need to be best friends with everyone. I mean their leadership style needs to work within the existing culture or have the mandate to change it.

3. Leadership Agility

The ability to adapt when things don't go as planned.

Because they never do.

The executives who last are the ones who can pivot, read the room, and adjust their approach without losing sight of the goal.

They don't need perfect conditions. They create them.

Here's what I've learned:

You can't fake these three things in an interview.

But you can assess for them if you know what to look for.

That's why our placements stick. We don't just match resumes to job descriptions.

We match people to reality.

What do you think matters most for executive retention?

Repeatable Client Acquisition & Fulfillment | Our mastermind community helps you convert online income into a real business | Book a call or DM to apply

I'm an operator documenting what I've learned building revenue engines over the past decade.

CEO @ MSP Sales Partners. Managing Partner @ Repeatable Revenue. Former PE-backed CEO. Former Managing Director at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Spent six years building sales systems for Robin Robins (TMT, sold to PE). Built revenue engines for 100+ service businesses.

I write about what I've learned: how sales systems actually scale, the difference between activity and productivity, why hard choices matter more than hard hours, building a business without burning out.

This isn't guru content. It's lessons from the work... what I got wrong, what finally clicked, patterns I see across businesses, frameworks that actually held up under pressure.

I write for three types of people: Strategists thinking about exits and scale. business owners stuck at a plateau trying to break through. Thinkers who want to build intentional lives, not just businesses.

If you're one of those (or all 3), follow along.

Ray J. Green

6 years ago I started posting on LinkedIn because I actually enjoyed creating content. 

I also had a decent amount experience turning around sales teams & businesses using some unorthodox practices. 

So, I wrote about it. 

And wrote about leaving the C-Suite, moving my family to Cabo, and figuring out how to generate income from a Mexican beach. 

My wife and a couple friends were the only people who liked my posts. Sometimes not even them. 

But I actually enjoyed the process. And I wrote just about every day. It was easy. It was light. It was enjoyable. 

With just 3 or 4 likes per post (I don't have many friends), I even managed to get a couple clients from content. They saw a post, looked at my half-assed "optimized" profile, and hired me to give them advice. 

Shortly after that, creating content became a task. Something I had to do every day to be seen and known. To generate some business. 

Sit down. 
Think of something to write. 
Hammer out a post. 
Make it look pretty with descending lines. 
Post. 
Every day at the same time. 

It started to consume every morning. 

Then I learned that commenting on everyone else's posts helped my posts get more reach. So I'd block time every day to "engage" with people's content. A couple hours a day... on a slow day. 

Then I decided to start "batching" content, sitting down and hammering out 6 or 7 posts in one setting and scheduling them all out in advance. 

Then I started recycling content, taking old stuff, refreshing it, and adding it to a second publishing slot for the day. 

Before long, I was cranking out 21 posts a week and racking up who knows how many hours of commenting. 

For all intents and purposes, I was a machine. 

And that's before AI got added to the mix. 

But along the way, I stopped enjoying the process. 

I managed to systematize the joy out of writing. 

Content was forced. Engagement was forced. 

I wasn't sharing a viewpoint I felt strongly about. I wasn't enjoying the process. I was just "building an audience" and generating leads. 

And to some extent, that's perfectly fine. It's LinkedIn. We're all here to do business in one way or another. Myself included. We all gotta eat. 

But today I made a decision: I'm going to start spending more time doing things I genuinely love doing. And one of those things is writing for the sake of writing. 

Not for leads. Not to check a box. Not at a specific time. Not on a schedule. Not in conjunction with 7 hours of commenting on other people's posts. 

But for the joy of it. 

And hoping it adds value in one way or another to someone else here. Even if it's back to 3 or 4 likes per post. 

This post is the first stab at that. And I'm already enjoying this process a hell of a lot more. 

If you want to follow along, comment "WRITING" to receive my.... kidding. 

You'll never see another handraiser post like that from me again. But that's a post for anther day. Maybe tomorrow. But then again, maybe not. 

See you around.

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Chief Executive Officer

Managing Partner

Writer & Podcaster 

Expert In Residence: Sales & Sales Management

CEO @ MSP Sales Partners | Man. Partner @ Repeatable Revenue | Ex-PE Backed CEO | Former U.S. Chamber Man. Director

When people say, “just stay consistent” or “it’s about volume,” what I hear is: work hard, cross your fingers, and hope you get lucky. 

Just read a post from a popular ghostwriter on how to go viral. His hack? Just have to keep posting. 

Over the weekend watched a YouTube video from a popular business guru on how to find the right growth strategy. Solution? You just have to keep trying new things until it works. 

But if you take this advice literally, and completely, you’re essentially saying “Just keep doing shit until you get lucky.”

And if you’re wired anything like me, that’s not going to fly. Not is it going to be sustainable. 

Volume does matter. Consistency does matter. 

But just like driving to the office everyday doesn’t train you to be an F1 race car driver, volume and consistency aren’t enough. 

It’s intentional volume. Combined with focused reflection and aggressive iteration. 

A critical mass of effort done on purpose. Then regularly reflected on to discern what’s working and what isn’t. And adjusting accordingly. 

Volume without intentionality and iteration is wasted energy. Or lottery ticket-type betting. 

And a good way to burn out.

My inner critic is a loud SOB.

Good workout? 
You could've gone harder. 

Eating okay? 
Could be cleaner. 

Time with your kids? 
Could be more present. 

Productive at work? 
Could've done more.

It never stops.

I used to fight it. Try to quiet it. Tell myself that I should be easier on myself, like everyone says you should.

And you know what happened?

It made things worse.

Because then I had the critic AND a voice criticizing the critic. 

Layering noise on top of noise.

So I stopped fighting.

I realized my inner critic is a feature. Not a bug.

That voice... the one constantly pushing me... is what I credit for jumping literal generations for my family.

Growing up with divorce. Absent father. Broken homes. In a foster home at one point. Not a lot of money. Or formal education. And layers of other challenges. 

Today? Happily married. Two healthy boys who know nothing of that instability. MBA from a top school. Living in Cabo. Traveling the world.

That tough critic that pushed me said "This is not for you. You can do better. You will do better."

And I did.

Here's the nuance though.

I've learned to allow the critic to push my actions. My habits. My standards.

Without allowing it to define my worth.

I can accept that my actions will never be "enough" while also knowing that I am enough as a person.

And that's a big effing difference.

One keeps you sharp. 

The other keeps you whole.

Dropped a podcast expanding on this a bit if you're interested: https://lnkd.in/eAm7GyPn

Most salespeople treat discovery like a podcast interview.

"Tell me about your business. How many users? What's your current setup? Walk me through your IT history."

Like you're only there to gather information and collect facts.

And I promise you it's costing you deals. 

Something that's helped the hundreds of consultative sellers I've coached: 

Discovery isn't information gathering.
It's the first step of a strategic close. 

Run a bad discovery and the rest of the process is going to pay the price. 

Example for IT companies:

Bad discovery: "How many servers do you have?"

Good discovery: "How is IT accelerating your growth or holding it back right now?"

One gets you data. The other gets you business impact—the ammunition you need when you're actually trying to close the deal 3 weeks later.

The same thing happens in assessments.

Example for IT companies: 

You find cracked passwords. You find too many O365 admins. You document the vulnerabilities.

Then you present them like a checklist: "You have X problems."

But the MSPs who close? They explain why that matters: "You have cracked passwords on essential systems. Let me tell you what happened to a company last month when a disgruntled employee knew they were leaving…"

Every step in your process—from first call to final proposal—has one job: move the deal forward.

Not educate. Not inform. Not "let them think about it."

Move. The deal. Forward.

I shared a podcast on this, and why despite the stigma attached to it, it really is Always Be Closing. 

I explain why and how here: https://lnkd.in/e7SVFiVx

Years ago I gave my wife terrible business advice.

Not because it didn't work.

But because it did.

She had a custom baby bedding business doing $25K/month on Etsy. Six-month waiting list. Countless 5-star reviews. People literally begging her to make "just one more."

She asked for my input.

I looked at all the indicators and told her what any business advisor would say: "It's time to scale."

She had some resistance. "Yeah, but I love sewing."

But she pushed on.

She hired people. Built systems. Went from spending her days doing what she loved—talking to customers, designing patterns, creating with her hands—to managing quality control and dealing with employee issues.

The advice worked. The business scaled.

And she fucking hated it.

Her initial resistance? That gut instinct she had?

Spot on.

She didn't want to build a business. She wanted to do the thing she loved and get paid well for it. Those are two completely different games.

My advice was biased by what I believed a business should be. Not what her business could be for her.

I see this happen quite a bit. And I'm more aware of it having gone through my wife's experience with her. 

I recorded a podcast breaking down: 

→ Why you should pick advisors carefully (even if you love them)
→ Why product-market pull doesn't mean you should scale
→ How to filter advice so you build the right thing (for you, not for them)

Listen in here: https://lnkd.in/eCtMPwpn

I wish there were more 'right' and 'wrong' calls in business. But what I've learned from 20 years of leading teams, divisions, and businesses? 

It's a lot more "good bet vs bad bet' and a lot less 'right decision vs wrong decision.' 

Regardless of whether you're running $500K business or a $500M business, when you're making high level decisions about where the business should go, you're operating with uncertainty. 

You may be 55% sure on some days. 90% sure on a good day. But that's the job description. 

The problem is, I see this crush a lot of founders. 

They go this direction. Then that direction, Start this project. Change to that project. Pick this priority. Then that priority. 

It's exhausting just to watch. 

Even more exhausting to do. I know from experience. 

I recorded a 10 min podcast for any founder or business leader that's felt overwhelmed by uncertainty. And anyone that's let that uncertainty lead to perpetual pivots and indecision. 

You can tun in here: https://lnkd.in/eVNUZDuY

The thing you're most certain about in your business is probably the exact thing keeping you capped.

Just took my kids to a Museum of Illusions in Utah. Your brain swears things are true that aren't—by design.

Same thing happens in business. 

I've spent a lot of time this past year with founders of $200M businesses. And founders of $2M businesses. 

Biggest difference between them? 

A few simple beliefs. 

I break down what this looks like in a 10 min podcast. 

Tune in to listen here: https://lnkd.in/eCpt5-i7

Our 4th graders were begging for cell phones. 

Parents made a pact: rewind the clock & meet 'em halfway. 

No smartphones... 

But they were genuinely thrilled to get these retro beauties instead. 📞✨

One of the biggest challenges with digital marketing is remembering that the people in your feed aren’t the people buying your stuff. 

(Unless you sell products and services to online creators.) 

I’m guilty of forgetting this myself. 

I scroll here and see a bunch of people using AI in really cool, new ways. 

That gets baked into my head when creating a podcast or YouTube video on AI. 

Then I go to an event and talk to my actual customers and prospects and realize, they’re not using AI in their sales process in some of the simplest ways. 

But it’s not just with AI. It’s with all our messaging. 

We have what’s called “the curse of knowledge.” 

When we forget what it’s like to not know what we know so well. It’s a trap a lot of experts fall into. 

So, reminder (to myself as much as anyone) to spend a little more time creating for the people we want to listen. 

Not other creators.

I'm on Facebook the other day and see an ad: "Every sales expert is telling you the same lie—you need to build rapport before you sell."

The pitch? Buy my $37 course to learn how to sell without rapport.

If you read on, you'll see this supposed sales expert was making a common mistake: 

Confusing rapport with small talk. 

Rapport = trust & credibility. 

Small talk = likability. 

Talking about the weather. The local football team. The family pictures on the desk.

That might make you likable. But it doesn't make you credible.

And if you're selling anything of real importance to someone, likability only goes so far.

Think of it this way: If you need brain surgery, are you going with the doctor you like most, or the one you trust to get the job done? 

I recorded a podcast breaking down the common misconception. 

In it, I break down:

→ Why small talk doesn't equal rapport (and what does)

→ How to establish credibility in the first 5 minutes

→ The questions that prove you're an expert, not just likable

→ Why rapport is an ongoing process, not a one-time event

Listen now: https://lnkd.in/eDs2mfSZ

You know why so many salespeople waste 10 minutes talking about the weather?

Because they think being liked is the same as being trusted.

It's not.

Here's how I think about it:

If I needed brain surgery, I wouldn't pick the surgeon who makes great small talk.

I'd pick the one who asked questions that prove they've seen my exact condition 50 times before.

Likability gets you in the door. Credibility gets you the deal.

(If you are selling anything of high importance.) 

But there's the psychological trap a lot of reps fall into:

Small talk feels safer. It's comfortable. It doesn't require you to demonstrate expertise or challenge assumptions or risk saying something that might make the prospect uncomfortable.

So you hide behind it.

You talk about dogs and football teams instead of asking the question that might make them think: "Wait, maybe our current IT setup isn't as solid as we thought."

Real rapport is built on confidence, not comfort. 

Confidence that you know their industry. That you've done your homework. That you're not afraid to respectfully push back when they tell you something that's not accurate.

I recorded a podcast breaking down: 

→ Why people confuse likability with trust (and how to fix it)
→ The preparation work that builds real credibility
→ How to show up as an expert, not an order taker

Listen to the whole thing here: https://lnkd.in/eDs2mfSZ

There's a name for what happens in a business when leaders have no spine. 

You know what I'm talking about. When the people responsible for making the tough calls... just don't. 

They ignore underperformance. 
Avoid difficult conversations. 
Procrastinate making hard decisions. 
Or just never make them at all. 

From a business standpoint, it's called 'management debt.' 

'Management debt' compounds just like financial debt. 

It destroys cultures. And it can stunt growth just as much as irresponsible financial debt can. 

I recorded a quick podcast breaking down: 

→ What management debt is (vs. real leadership)

→ The compounding impact it has on companies 

→ How to keep it from accumulating in yours 

Tune in here: https://lnkd.in/eT3aBrt2

We all have beliefs that aren’t true. Every single one of us. 

The question is: How much are those beliefs holding us (or our business) back? 

Last week we took our beach kids on a ski trip to Utah for a few days. 

(“Dad, is that real SNOW?!?!) 

We had an unexpected delay in Salt Lake City and stopped by the Museum of Illusions—which is basically an hour and a half of mind bending experiences. 

It’s display after display of, “How in the hell is that happening?” 

And what it comes down to is your brain creates shortcuts with limited data. It stitches information together in a way that makes sense… but isn’t true. 

Like this picture. 

The tops of both of these boxes are the same size. Hard to see. But they even give you a block to hold over it to confirm. 

It’s harmless in this controlled environment. 

But what if the tops of these boxes represented a critical belief you held about something of importance that was holding you back. 

You know, the belief that: 

— “This business just doesn’t have the potential.”

— “That idea will never work.”

— “I’ve got to have [money, experience, connections, etc]  before I can do that.”

— “I’m too [young, old] to do this.” 

— “That channel doesn’t work anymore.” 

And what if it was just completely… wrong? 

An illusion that was holding you back from a monumental shift and achieving what you wanted. 

I've spent a lot of time this past year with entrepreneurs who've built $50M, $100M, $200M businesses.

I've also spent a lot of time with entrepreneurs who are struggling to get there. 

And the biggest difference I see is their belief systems. 

Founders who struggle to get to the next level typically have a belief that’s holding them back. Something they know to be true… that simply isn’t.  

A common one being that they are more essential to day-to-day operations than they really are. 

The question I’m asking myself today: What am I dead certain is true… that isn’t?

How about you?

The MSP owner on the phone with me sounded defeated.

His sales rep had just spent three weeks and 20+ hours on what looked like a perfect fit.

Discovery had uncovered real pain points. The assessment was thorough. The proposal meeting went well—good questions, engagement, positive energy.

Then... nothing.

Not a “no thanks.”
Not a “we’re going with someone else.”
Not even a “we need more time.”

Just complete radio silence after weeks of investment.

“This keeps happening,” he told me. “How do we stop bleeding time on deals that were never going to close?”

This was my response:

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The Battle

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