We can do it better and faster. I coach Scale-ups CxOs to boost their business with their current team, making minimal changes.

Empowering Founders and CEOs of Scaling Software Companies to Unlock Sustainable Growth

We specialize in aligning teams, simplifying systems, and empowering leaders to scale without chaos.

✅ Team and Department Alignment: Creating clarity and cohesion, so every team works in harmony toward the same goals.
✅ Market Understanding: Pinpointing opportunities and crafting strategies that resonate.
✅ Delivering Market Value: Building systems that prioritize impactful delivery over inefficiencies.

Our Approach:

🌟 Simplicity: We focus on the essential changes your team needs to scale effectively—no fluff, just results.
🚀 Challenge: We’ll push you to break limiting beliefs and overcome obstacles, ensuring you grow alongside your company.
💡 Honesty: Expect transparency. We’ll give you the hard truths needed to move forward, faster and better.

Why It Matters:

As a founder or CEO, you’ve done an incredible job getting your company this far. But rapid growth introduces new complexities—misalignment, communication breakdowns, and inefficiencies that can stall your momentum.

That’s where we come in. With a proven track record of transforming teams and operations, we help you regain clarity and control, ensuring you meet growth milestones without sacrificing creativity or culture.

Are you ready to scale smarter, not harder? Let’s talk.

Santi Pozo

If you think hiring QA engineers will reduce your bugs, read this.


I’ve worked with dozens of software companies. Most of them had QA teams. Some had entire QA departments.

The pattern is always the same.

QA complains developers make too many mistakes. Developers complain QA is a bottleneck.

Both are right. And both are missing the point.

The real problem isn’t QA. It’s developers not being accountable for the quality of their own work.

So tickets get thrown over the wall. Poorly defined. Poorly thought through. Then rejected by someone with less technical experience and half the salary.

That’s not quality assurance. That’s organizational dysfunction.
Hiring QA doesn’t fix that. It just hides it longer.

Santi Pozo 

Fix slipping deadlines · Align tech with business · Ship predictably at scale

La mayoría de “seniors” en software no son seniors.


Y no lo digo por provocar.
Lo digo porque lo veo constantemente en empresas reales.

Para mí es bastante simple:

1. Eres junior si no te vales por ti solo.

2. Eres mid si eres autónomo y el valor que generas compensa lo que cuestas.

3. Eres senior si lo que te pago no solo sirve para que tú hagas un buen trabajo,
sino para que otros trabajen mejor gracias a ti.

Ser senior no va de años,
no va de stack,
no va de escribir código “más complejo”.

Va de impacto.
Va de influencia positiva sobre el sistema y sobre las personas.

A partir de ahí, el apellido es secundario:
senior IC, team lead, staff, principal, CTO… lo que toque.

La diferencia real es a cuánta gente ayudas a rendir mejor.

Esto conecta mucho con un post reciente de Emilio Carrión,
donde explica muy bien lo que NO es un senior 

👇
https://lnkd.in/dRr29rsv

Staff Engineer @ Mercadona Tech | Convierte tu código en impacto de negocio. Mentor de Ingenieros hacia una mentalidad Product-Led.

Hubo una época en la que me encantaba ser el "Cuello de Botella".

Me gustaba pensar que si yo era el único que sabía cómo demonios funcionaba el módulo de pagos, mi trabajo estaba asegurado. Me aferraba al conocimiento como si fuera el Anillo Único. (Un poco triste ahora que lo pienso. Y qué estrés por dios 😅).

Creía que eso era ser Senior: ser imprescindible. Pero eso no es seniority, eso es un secuestro.

Si nadie puede tocar el código sin que tú des el visto bueno, no eres un líder técnico, eres un punto único de fallo con patas.

De esto es de lo que voy a hablar en el próximo T3chFest, de "El Senior Egoísta". Porque me he dado cuenta de un par de cosas después de sudar tinta en muchos deploys:

- El Mentoring no es "cosa de RRHH": Es una herramienta de arquitectura. Si no eres capaz de explicarle tu sistema a un Junior en 20 minutos sin que le explote la cabeza, el problema no es el Junior. El problema es que has diseñado un sistema demasiado complejo.
- Tu código tiene fecha de caducidad: Lo que escribí hace 3 años probablemente ya sea "legacy" o se haya reescrito. Pero lo que le enseñé a mis compañeros en ese tiempo, eso sigue ahí.
- Enseñar es egoísta (del bueno): Cuanto más saben los demás, menos me llaman a mí cuando se rompe producción un viernes a las 6 de la tarde. (Y solo por eso, ya vale la pena).

La verdadera maestría no es ser el mago que guarda los secretos en su torre. Es conseguir que, si mañana me atropella un autobús (o me toca la lotería, seamos optimistas 🙏), el equipo siga funcionando igual de bien sin mi.

Ahí es cuando sabes que has hecho bien tu trabajo.

Así que voy a estar en Madrid en marzo intentando convencer a mi "yo" del pasado de que suelte el control. Si te pasas, nos tomamos algo y nos contamos las penas.

¿Os ha pasado esa fase de querer controlarlo todo o soy el único que ha tenido ese "ego"?

Most engineering managers think their problem is "velocity."
They’re wrong. Their problem is anxiety.


I’ve seen developers who can’t sleep because of their Jira boards. People going to psychologists to manage the stress of "pollos sin cabeza" (headless chicken) management.

When you have 15 things open and 0 things finished, you aren't "agile." You’re just vibrating with stress.

The way out?

You don't need more developers. You need a system that lets your team breathe. Order isn't just about speed; it's about peace of mind.

Imagine this: A Monday morning where everyone knows exactly what to do, and nobody is drowning. Want that calm? Its your choice to stop that chaos and start the flow...


Elevate Your Delivery.

Read twice. In your life or business, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?

Comment and share below.

If you think adding more testers will solve your quality problems, read this.


I’ve seen this play out at some of the most recognizable SaaS companies in the country. The cycle is always the same.

QA complains that developers ship broken code. Developers complain that QA is where speed goes to die.

Both are right. And both are missing the point.

The problem isn’t your headcount. It’s your handovers.

When quality is "someone else’s job," nobody takes ownership. Tickets get tossed over the wall half-baked and poorly defined. You aren't testing code; you’re managing a lack of discipline.

That’s not a QA issue. That’s a systemic failure that more people simply can't fix.


I’ve helped the biggest names in the industry stop the blame game. The reward? High-velocity shipping without the "Friday night" fear.

Is quality a department in your company, or is it a shared habit?

The more I learn about business, the more I’m convinced that less is more.


We’re constantly fighting our action bias.
Doing things feels like progress.
Thinking feels slow.

But every time I’ve seen real results,
they came from spending more time deciding what not to do.

Not paralysis by analysis.
Just clarity.

When I learn from the best operators in the world,
I’m always struck by the same thing:

Their systems are boring.
Simple.
Almost disappointing.

And incredibly powerful.

They all say some version of the same idea:
learn to enjoy boredom.

The more boring a business is,
the more reliable, repeatable, and profitable it tends to be.

That’s a shock for the startup world,
where energy, adrenaline, and constant movement are almost a badge of honor.

But businesses don’t scale on adrenaline.
They scale on consistency.

We don’t need to be taught more.
We need to be reminded more.

Refine.
Reduce.
Strip the business down to its essence.

I’ve never seen anyone “outpower” a business successfully.
But I’ve seen many outsmart it.

Curious:
What’s the biggest simplification or realisation that moved your business forward?

This single question changed how I think about managing people.


“What version of me would you like to meet one month from now?”

I heard it recently in a conversation about relationships. 

A couple has been asking each other this question every month for the last five years. 

Their marriage is strong. 
Their careers are better. 
And They couldn’t be healthier. 

And it hit me: this summarizes almost every difficult conversation I’ve had about people management. At some point, a company and an employee meet. 

Both are in a current state. 
Both want to evolve.

The company wants new results, new markets, more impact. 
The person wants growth, recognition, better balance. 

Is not about blaming where you are is about choosing where you’re going next.

Any other tip for people management (or marriage) that worked well for you?

Hiring more developers to fix a "slow" team is like adding more cars to a traffic jam. Read this


It doesn't make things move faster. It just creates more metal to crash into.

The real "bottleneck" isn't talent. It’s the WIP (Work In Progress).

Like with many of my clients, I recently saw a board with 17 open tickets. The team was "busy," but nothing was moving.

We changed one rule: "No abras otra patata hasta que no tengas cerrada la que tienes en la mano." (Don't open a new potato until you've finished the one in your hand.) 

The result?

- Less stress.
- Higher quality.
- Faster delivery.

I couldn’t emphasize it any more:

Complexity is a choice. Simplicity is a discipline.
Stop starting. Start finishing!

I just spoke with a recently promoted VP
at one of the biggest tech companies in Europe.

What surprised me wasn’t the scale of his challenges.
It was how familiar they were.

Same patterns I see everywhere:
- Projects going late
- Backlogs with poor ROI
- Teams struggling with seniority and accountability

Nothing exotic.
Nothing “enterprise-only”.

Every software company hits the same wall.

If you’re dealing with this, I have two pieces of news for you.

The bad one:
You’re not alone — and that’s actually sad.
Because I keep seeing smart people getting overwhelmed or burning out
over the same problems, again and again.

The good one:
These problems are surprisingly fixable.
We’ve been working on them for years
across startups, scale-ups, and large tech companies.

Same root causes.
Same patterns.
Same tools.

If you’re facing any of these challenges,
DM me.

I’ll share the single most useful tool we have for your situation.
No pitch.
No sales.

Just trying to fix a pandemic we’ve normalized for way too long.

Not delivering all your projects last year might not have been the problem...



The problem is you assumed delivery would create impact.
I’ve seen this pattern repeat across companies and industries.

A quarter starts with a roadmap.
The roadmap turns into pressure.
Pressure turns into execution.
Then the quarter ends.
Some things shipped.
Some didn’t.
And the retro sounds familiar.
“We overcommitted.”
“Too many dependencies.”
“Not enough focus.”

All true.
And still missing the point.

Then there’s the big project.
The expensive one.
The one that promised to disrupt the business.
It gets delivered.
And when the impact doesn’t show up,
no one is really accountable for that gap.
The team shipped what was asked.
The roadmap moved on.
And the business quietly absorbed the disappointment.

What changed things for the founders I work with wasn’t better execution.
It was changing what gets defined before committing to any deliverable.

Before a single project makes it onto the roadmap, they get clear on three things:
- Who exactly needs to be different after this ships
- What behavior or decision should change for them
- Which business metric would tell us this didn’t work

Once that’s clear, something interesting happens.

Even if not everything ships,
the business still moves forward

Most “user-centric” roadmaps are actually investor-centric.
And pretending otherwise is what creates frustration.

Let’s be honest for a second.
Most startups are VC-funded.
That means they’re not profitable yet.
And salaries are paid because investors trust that some metrics will move.
(MRR, LTV, AVG SPENT, ...)

Those metrics don’t move by “good vibes”.
They move when specific users do specific things that change the business.

User centricity is important.
But it’s not the starting point.

The starting point is:
 
"Which metric needs to move so the company survives?"

What I see over and over is companies avoiding that adult conversation.
Instead, they hide intentions behind fluffy language:

“This project is strategic”
“This will unlock the future”
“We’re doing this for the user”

And then… surprise:
It’s actually for one big client
Or for a board narrative
Or to hit a quarter

People feel the inconsistency.
 And that’s where the complaints start.

I’m not against user centricity.
I’m against treating adults like children.

If the real goal is:
“We need this deal to close to move the needle”
Just say it.

Clarity beats inspiration every time.

Curious to hear your experience:
 Have you seen this play out in startups you’ve worked in?
 On either side?

Welcome back everyone! 

Let's rock 2026 🚀

We hope you enjoyed the holidays.

Holiday mode is healthy. 
Company pause isn’t.

Good systems let people disconnect 
without disconnecting the business.

Most teams don’t fail because they aim too low.
They fail because their system can’t deliver.

If your 2026 plan is:

• more goals
• more initiatives
• more planning sessions

You’re likely reinforcing the same bottlenecks.

The leaders who win next year will do something different:
They’ll stop asking “What should we achieve?”
and start fixing “How does work actually flow?”

Because results don’t come from ambition.
They come from designed delivery.

If 2026 matters to you, don’t set better goals.
Build a system that makes outcomes inevitable.

This is exactly what we’re doing with our clients this year,
and it’s shaping up to be a very strong one.

Elevate Your Delivery 🚀

Connector of Talent and Success 💼 | Empowering Businesses to Thrive through People | Culture Growth Strategist | Coach | Writer | HR leader | #1 LinkedIn Belgium | Top #150 LinkedIn 🌍

Who I help: Ambitious introverts and people-first companies

Problems: Visibility without burnout, quiet leadership, culture that enables deep work

Outcomes: Promotions, role transitions, retention, high-trust cultures

STRATEGIC HR LEADER AND COACH WITH HANDS-ON APPROACH AIMING FOR THE BEST EMPLOYEE/BUSINESS EXPERIENCE - INTROVERT ADVOCATE

International HR Executive passionate about the link between employee experience and business dynamics. Combining a strong focus on strategic thinking and planning with a structured and factual hands-on approach. A positive well connected team coach with a natural sense of empowering team members in a spirit of challenge, learning and mutual recognition. Sound decision making capabilities based on critical reflections within companies focusing on innovation, change, digital transformation and learning.

A. Group HR Director Alter Pharma (200 FTE - BE/IRL/US) – private equity backed firm defining & implementing HR strategy (from strategy to operations) including definition of mission/vision/strategy & values.
B. Global HR Business Partner BU Kerley international/Tessenderlo Group (+/-300 employees - 11 countries) developing/transforming key HR processes (talent resource planning, talent acquisition, performance management, competency management, learning, reward,..) - HR project lead new factory Rouen, France. 
C. Global HR Executive SWIFT (+/- 3.000 employees in +25 countries) transforming/coaching business and HR into new ways of (digital) working/thinking to improve the employee and business experience 
D. Global Head of Reward Tessenderlo Group (+/- 5.000 employees in +25 countries) - strategic development/transformation reward strategy
E. Development new holistic performance management framework for Tessenderlo Group, including full implementation recognition stream.
F. HR Project Manager : move of the Chiquita EME Headquarters from Belgium to Switzerland (social plan negotiations, c&b setup, recruitment, mobility, new policy/process design,...)

Professional coaching certification Better Minds at Work               2018 - 2019
Centre for Creative Leadership - senior leadership program           Q1-2 2018
Management Development Programme Vlerick (17 days)		  2010 - 2011
Strategic Compensation & Benefits Management, Vlerick 		  2007      
Master degree in Law&Taxation, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven    1997 - 1998

Steven Claes

She had the highest retention in the company.
They passed her over twice.

The feedback? "Needs more presence in leadership meetings."

But when I dug deeper:
→ Her teams stayed longer than anyone else's
→ Her projects delivered early, consistently
→ Her cross-functional relationships were the strongest in the division

She wasn't lacking presence. The organization hadn't learned to recognize her kind of leadership yet.

I've watched this play out for 20 years as a CHRO.

The quiet leader gets labeled "not a team player." The thoughtful contributor gets told to "speak up more." The one who needs processing time gets dinged for lacking executive presence.

Meanwhile, they're the ones noticing what everyone else missed. Thinking three steps ahead while others are still talking through step one. Building relationships that actually matter instead of collecting business cards.

We're not shy. We're not stuck up.
We're listening. Observing. Taking it in before we speak.

And if an introvert opens up to you? Know that trust was carefully given.

Your way of showing up isn't wrong. It's just different, and often exactly what your team needs.

📩 Daily success as an introvert? These are the techniques I swear by: 
https://lnkd.in/eSdKpkMs

🔁 Know an underrated introvert? Repost this to remind them they’re not alone.

undefined undefined

CHRO | Introvert Advocate | Career Growth for Ambitious Introverts | HR Leadership Coach | Writer | Newsletter: The A+ Introvert (60% Open Rate)

Louise Corbin

They said I was too much.
Turns out they were too limited.

A brilliant CHRO told me recently: "Steven, I've spent 15 years toning down my opinions, holding back, pretending shallow conversations were enough when depth is all I've ever craved."

I understood immediately.

I've lived it too.

Softened my directness to seem "diplomatic."
Smoothed my edges to appear "approachable."
Pretended small talk satisfied me when I was hungry for real connection.

And I ended up feeling like an outsider.

Because I WAS an outsider in places where I'd shrunk myself just to belong.

The pond people have labeled me:

→ Too quiet (meaning: you're hard to read, and that unsettles me)
→ Too direct (meaning: you skip the performance, and I can't handle that)
→ Too intense (meaning: you make me think, and I'd rather not)
→ Too ambitious the "wrong way" (meaning: you chase impact, not just visibility)

But two decades as a CHRO taught me this: Every time you shrink yourself, you train people to expect less from you.

When you're constantly making yourself smaller:
→ You attract relationships that require you to stay small
→ You master the art of being less than you are
→ You construct a career that fits everyone but you

I once believed the introvert advantage meant networking like an extrovert. Speaking louder. Being more visible.

I was wrong.

The true advantage? Recognizing that your need for substance IS your value.

When I stopped apologizing for choosing depth over surface, everything shifted.

1️⃣ You stop dimming your light so others feel comfortable in their mediocrity.

2️⃣ You surround yourself with people who see your intensity as integrity.

3️⃣ You discover your tribe. The ones who view thoughtfulness as strength, not a flaw to fix.

The teams needing someone to navigate complexity? They relied on me.
The cultures hungry for authentic leadership? They found me.

But only because I showed up fully. Not the diluted version.

Not everyone can handle you at full strength.
That's not yours to fix.

The people meant for you? They'll swim out to meet you in deep water, even if it scares them.

The rest will stay on shore, insisting the ocean is "too much."

Let them.

If you're an ocean, stop shrinking yourself into a pond.

If you're built for depth, you don't have a career problem.
You have a boundary problem.

The moment you address that, everything transforms.

As 2026 starts: Which boundary will you finally protect in the year ahead?

💾 Save this & ♻️ share if you're an ocean refusing to become a pond

📩 Join Weekly depth in The A+Introvert Newsletter: https://lnkd.in/e7xQPNtn

Quiet does not mean weak.
It means intentional. And that changes everything.

For 20 years, I heard the same advice:
"Speak up more."
"Be more visible."
"Get more executive presence."

I tried. Really tried.
But forcing myself to be louder never made me a better leader.
It just made me exhausted.

So I stopped fighting my wiring.

Today, I'm a CHRO.
Still introverted. Still leading.

And here's what I've learned from two decades in the C-suite:
Introvert isn't a limitation. It's a leadership advantage.

Every letter in INTROVERT reflects a strength I lead with and build teams around.
(See image)

My favorite? “T is for Trusted.”
Because trust doesn’t come from speaking the most.
It comes from meaning what you say.

The best teams I've built were never led by the loudest voice in the room.
They were led by the one people knew they could count on

So if you've spent years wondering why you don't fit the mold of a "typical leader"...
Maybe the mold was never made for you.

Stop fixing what was never broken.
Start building with the strengths already in you.

💾 Save it if you're done trying to lead like someone else.
🔁 Repost if you're quiet is your power.

📬 Want some of my go-to introvert tips I swear by:
→ https://lnkd.in/eSdKpkMs

Your workplace was not designed for you.

Not if you're an introvert.
And no one wants to talk about it.

You have no idea what storms people are walking through. But for introverts, the workplace often adds to the storm instead of offering shelter.

Every day you're fighting a quiet battle.
Meetings that drain you.
Open plans that scatter your focus.
The constant pressure to "be more visible."

You just want to do good work without exhausting yourself.

The truth is most introverts are walking through storms alone. And no one sees it.
➟ They deliver excellent work, then watch someone louder get the credit
➟ Back-to-back meetings leave zero time to recover
➟ They hear "speak up more" when their strength is thoughtful contribution

Ping pong tables and pizza Fridays?
Nice. But they do not fix what's actually draining you.

"Be more visible" and "network more"?
That advice ignores how introverts actually build influence.

What introverts need to do their best work:
✅ Leaders who value depth over volume
✅ Recognition for written work, not just who speaks loudest in meetings
✅ Meeting-free blocks for actual focus time
✅ Permission to recharge without feeling guilty about it
✅ Career paths that do not require constant performance
✅ Time for thoughtful processing before decisions
✅ Cultures where reflection counts as much as quick reaction

This is what makes introverts want to stay.
A workplace that honours different strengths.
That recognises quiet confidence.
Where people succeed without burning out by Tuesday.

What is ONE thing your workplace does (or does not do) that makes the biggest difference for you?

🔁 Repost this if you want to support introverts in your network.
📩 My weekly A+Introvert Newsletter → see profile 👆 or featured section

Matthew Smith

"Don't fall in love with success. Fall in love with the habits that bring success."

That would've saved me years.

Twenty years ago, I was the ambitious introvert.
Crushing tasks. Exceeding targets. Getting nowhere.

Then my mentor pulled me aside.
"You're winning battles. But you're losing the war."

I was working harder than anyone else in the room.
But I was still invisible.

Success is borrowed. Habits are owned.

The project you deliver? That's success.
The deep work that made it brilliant? That's a habit.

The recognition you earn? Success.
The daily rituals that keep you going? Habit.

Chase success without habits, and you're building a career on sand.
Build the right habits, and success has no choice but to follow.

Quiet leaders who last do not fall in love with the spotlight.
They fall in love with:

⏰ Morning routines that protect their energy
🚫 Calendar blocks that make space for focused work
🤔 Time for reflection that sharpens judgment
📚 Reading habits that widen perspective
🛡️Boundaries that preserve their sanity

Promotions can be delayed.
Bonuses can be cut.
Recognition can be missed.

But habits?
They compound.
They decide who you become.

The introvert's edge isn't volume.
It's systems that keep working when the noise fades.
__________
Repost if you're done proving yourself and ready to build yourself

I built some tools for Introverts around exactly this. https://lnkd.in/eSdKpkMs

Ngan Pham

Networking like an extrovert nearly cost me everything.

More events.
More coffee chats.
More small talk with people I'd never see again.

I thought more connections meant more opportunities.

I was wrong.

What I actually built was exhaustion.
And a contact list full of people I barely remembered.

When I finally dropped that belief, everything changed.

I stopped chasing quantity.
Started protecting my energy.
Invested in fewer people, went way deeper with each one.

The networking events I skipped?
Cost me nothing.

The shallow connections I let go?
Made room for the ones I actually need.

After 20 years as a CHRO, I've watched too many introverts burn out trying to play the extrovert game.

The ones who thrive?

They stop forcing what drains them.
They build their network around how they actually work best.

This weekend, try this:

→ Text one person who genuinely energises you. No agenda. Just checking in.
→ Say no to one thing you were going to push yourself through.
→ Spend 10 minutes in stillness. Introverts don't recharge in crowds. They recharge in quiet.

Letting go of the wrong approach is not giving up.
It's making space for the right one.

What's one thing you're letting go of this weekend?

💚 Happy Friday, friends.

♻️ Repost if you believe success should never require self-erasure.

💌 I write the A+ Introvert Newsletter. Weekly insights for introverts who lead quietly and build deeply. No fluff, ever.→https://lnkd.in/e2Yn259g

A cat that dreams of becoming a lion must first lose its appetite for rats.

This African proverb stopped me cold.

Because for years, I was that cat.

Chasing the safe wins. The invisible contributions. Work that kept me comfortable but never actually challenged me.

Rats felt manageable. Low risk. Low visibility. Low reward.

And for introverts? Rats feel even safer.

We tell ourselves that staying small is strategic. That avoiding the spotlight is wisdom. That if we just keep delivering quietly, someone will eventually notice.

But here's what two decades as a CHRO taught me:

The rats never run out.

There's always another inbox to clear. Another meeting where you stayed on mute even though you had the answer. Another task that feels productive but changes absolutely nothing.

Meanwhile, the lion work sits there waiting.

→ The difficult conversation you've been rehearsing in your head for months.
→ The one where you finally tell your manager what you actually want.
→ The role you're qualified for but haven't applied to because it feels too visible.
→ The idea you keep refining privately because sharing it would mean being seen.

The shift doesn't start with action.
It starts with appetite.

You have to:
→ Stop craving the comfort of smallness.
→ Stop finding safety in being overlooked.
→ Stop confusing busyness with progress.

I spent years perfecting rat-catching. Efficient, reliable, forgettable.

Until I realized something painfully obvious: nobody promotes the best rat-catcher.

They promote the person who stopped chasing rats long enough to hunt something that actually mattered.

The shift from cat to lion isn't about becoming louder.

It's about becoming hungrier. For work that moves you forward, not just work that keeps you busy.

So here's my question:

What's one "rat" you've been chasing that you know won't get you where you want to go?

Because I'm willing to bet you already know the answer.

♻️ Share if you're done playing small
📬 Want to build your lion appetite? These tools helped me:
→ https://lnkd.in/eSdKpkMs

"You're too quiet for executive leadership."

My boss said that to me at 32.
I replayed it for years.

Every meeting I stayed silent.
Every presentation I let others take over.
Every networking event I left early.

I believed him.

The lateral moves? I blamed myself for not being louder.
The passed-over promotions? Thought I didn't sell myself enough.
The struggling projects? Maybe I was too introverted to lead.

I carried those stories like stones in my pocket.
Getting heavier with each new challenge.

Then something shifted.

The promotions I didn't get kept me learning.
Now I lead with knowledge, not just ambition.

The struggling projects taught me to listen for what wasn't being said.
That skill transformed every team I touched.

What I've learned about how introverts process setbacks:

→ We don't bounce back. We build back.
→ We don't forget feedback. We mine it for truth.
→ We don't perform resilience. We develop it in silence.

What others saw as weaknesses were actually strengths forming:

Avoided office politics → Built trust through work instead
Skipped self-promotion → Let results speak louder
Stayed in roles too long → Mastered depth others rushed past
Took time to process → Made better decisions than those who reacted fast

Today I'm CHRO.
Still quiet.
Those "setbacks" were my education.

Every introvert I've hired has a similar story.
Told they were too quiet. Too thoughtful. Too slow.

Now they're running divisions.
Transforming cultures.
Leading without performing.

Your setbacks aren't failures.
They're data points.

Your quiet processing isn't weakness.
It's how you turn feedback into fuel.

That boss who said I was too quiet?
He was half right.
I was quiet.
But I was building.

♻️ Repost if you've ever been underestimated for being quiet

📩 Looking for some daily success techniques as introvert:
https://lnkd.in/eSdKpkMs

Introverts don't need fixing.
Your workplace culture does.

For 20 years, I watched companies try to "improve" their introverted employees.

They sent them to presentation skills workshops.
They placed them in open office layouts.
They nudged them toward noisy networking events.

But they missed what really needed changing.

Meeting norms that reward the loudest voice.
Brainstorms that drown out deep thinkers.
"Collaboration" that looks more like constant interruption.

When I was 32, a VP pulled me aside.
"You're too quiet. That'll hurt your career."

So I tried to become louder.
More visible.
More like everyone else.

Eventually I realized something important.

I wasn't the problem.
The environment was.

Today I'm a CHRO.
Still quiet.
Still thriving.

Not because I changed who I am,
but because I focused on changing the system.

If you're doing this:
❌ Telling introverts to speak up more
❌ Requiring constant collaboration
❌ Assuming quiet means disengaged
❌ Defining culture through happy hours
❌ Rewarding visibility over value

Try this instead:
✅ Send agendas in advance so they can prepare
✅ Start meetings with quiet time for written input
✅ Offer multiple ways to contribute, not just talking
✅ Create quiet zones for focused work
✅ Recognize the impact, not just who talks the most

The most innovative companies don't try to fix introverts.
They build environments where introverts can shine.

Quiet-friendly cultures boost productivity.
Written brainstorming surfaces better ideas.
And your next big idea might be sitting silently in the corner.

The companies losing top talent right now?
They're still trying to make introverts louder.

The ones winning?
They're creating spaces where every style can thrive.

If someone seems too quiet,
maybe the system is too noisy.

Stop trying to change them.
Start changing what's actually not working.

Because a culture that works for introverts
works better for everyone.

💬 What's one small change that could make your workplace more inclusive for quieter thinkers?

♻️ Share if you believe quiet leadership deserves more respect

📩 Join 100K+ ambitious introverts who get free weekly career tips: https://lnkd.in/e7xQPNtn

Burnout isn't about working too hard.
It's about pretending too much.

For introverts, the real crisis is not the workload.
It's performing extroversion 40 hours a week.

7 signs you're burning out from the performance:

1️⃣ Hiding in your car between meetings. 
→ This is not odd. It's survival mode.

2️⃣ "I'm fine!" when you're clearly not. 
→ The mask stays on. Always.

3️⃣ Your best work happens after everyone leaves. 
→ Because finally, you can stop performing.

4️⃣ Sunday night dread about people, not tasks. 
→ Your nervous system already knows what Monday brings.

5️⃣ Social battery dies by Tuesday. 
→ You're not weak. You're drained from acting all day.

6️⃣ Calls drain you more than the actual work. 
→ It's not the content. It's the constant "on" that kills you.

7️⃣ Recovery takes the whole weekend. 
→ Two days to recover from five is not a sustainable equation.

After 20 years in HR, I've watched this pattern destroy talented people.
Not because they weren't strong.
Because they were never given permission to stop pretending.

What helps (for you):
→ Block 10 minutes between meetings. Non-negotiable.
→ Replace one call with async. Protect your voice.
→ Batch high-contact tasks on specific days. Guard one deep-work block.
→ Stop apologizing for needing quiet to think.

What workplaces need to change:
→ Create meeting-free blocks for real work.
→ Default one weekly update to async instead of live.
→ Train managers to lead introverts: advance agendas, written input options.
→ Design offices with actual quiet spaces, not just open-plan buzz.

Your energy is real.
Your limits are legitimate.
Your need for space is not weakness.
It's wiring.

Which sign hit closest to home?

♻️ Repost to help introverts burning out in silence.

💌 Want to thrive without burning out: https://lnkd.in/eSdKpkMs

A shark in a fish tank stays small.
In the ocean, it grows to its full size.

The science may be shaky, but the principle holds:
Environment dictates growth.

Introverts work the same way.

But here's what nobody talks about: we don't just need bigger environments.

We need environments with depth.

For years, I tried to grow in loud rooms.

Networking events.
Open offices.
Brainstorm sessions where speed won over substance.

I wasn't shrinking because I lacked ambition.
I was shrinking because I was in the wrong water.

Kurt Lewin, one of the founders of social psychology, proposed that behaviour is a function of both the person and their environment.

You cannot outwork a bad fit.

The typical growth questions fall short for introverts

❓ Am I growing here?
❓ Am I being challenged?

Here's what we need to ask instead

❓ Does this environment reward reflection or just reaction?
❓ Can I contribute in writing, not just in real-time?
❓ Do the people here value depth, or only volume?
❓ Is there space for quiet processing, or just constant noise?
❓ Am I becoming more myself here, or less?

If the answers point to "less" and you can change your environment, change it.

But sometimes you cannot leave yet.

So you build your ocean where you are:

→ Curate inputs that expand your thinking.
Books, podcasts, communities that go in depth, not wide.

→ Find one or two people who match your wavelength.
Mentors or peers who value substance over small talk.

→ Create pockets for depth.
Block time for focused work, even if the culture does not protect it for you.

→ Set quiet challenges for yourself.
Write the memo that showcases your thinking. Lead the project that needs patience over speed.

Your environment shapes your growth.
Your choices shape your environment.

Introverts don't grow by swimming faster.
We grow when we find depth.

Stop trying to grow in a fish tank.
Find your ocean. Or start building one.

💾 Save this and ♻️ repost if you believe introverts deserve environments built for depth

📩 Want to build your ocean? These are the techniques I swear by:
https://lnkd.in/eSdKpkMs

Being "always available" destroyed my best work.

My sharpest thinking happened at 6am before anyone could reach me.
My worst decisions came from back-to-back calls with no space to process.

For years I wore it like a badge of honor.
Responding within minutes.
Never missing a meeting.
Always on.

As a CHRO, I thought that's what leadership looked like.

I was wrong.

7 truths about introvert productivity:

🔋 90 uninterrupted minutes beat all-day availability
Research shows it takes 23 minutes to regain focus after an interruption.
This is where real work happens.
Not in constant collaboration.

🔋 Transition time is not optional
15 minutes between meetings to reset is not luxury.
It's how your brain works.

🔋 Alone time is strategic
Your brain recharges in quiet, not chaos.
Biology, not antisocial behavior.

🔋 Saying no is a productivity strategy
Three meetings with real substance beat twelve status updates.

🔋 Email beats video calls for most things
Async communication protects time for work that actually matters.

🔋 Morning energy is sacred
Give your peak hours to hard thinking.
Not admin.

🔋 Your calendar should reflect your nervous system
Not everyone else's expectations.

Productivity is not about doing more.
It's about protecting your energy for what actually matters.

♻️ Repost for the introvert doing real work after everyone leaves
📩 Weekly introvert career insights → https://lnkd.in/e2Yn259g

You're still replaying it. The moment you said the wrong thing in the meeting.

The decision that caused extra work.
The email you hit send on too fast.

At 2am, you zoom in on every face.
Every silence.
The question underneath: do they still trust me?

What I've learned after 20 years in HR:
People care less about the mistake itself.
They care about what you do next.

✔️ Take responsibility
✔️ Communicate clearly
✔️ Follow through consistently

That advice works. But for introverts, there's a step before the step.

Our nervous system treats mistakes like threats.
So we go quiet. And quiet gets misread as indifference.
We withdraw. We overcompensate.
We rehearse conversations that already happened.

The problem?
Silence rarely repairs trust.

My Quiet Repair Plan:

1️⃣ Name the mistake in one sentence
"I missed a dependency. That created extra work."
No over-explaining. No spiraling. One clear sentence.

2️⃣ Own it 1:1, not on stage
Three sentences in private work better than a public performance:
"I've been thinking about what happened."
"Here's what I see now."
"Here's what I'll do differently."

3️⃣ Make the fix visible
Pick one new behaviour.
Use it consistently.
Let actions speak louder than apologies.

4️⃣ Ask for micro-feedback
Not: "Do you trust me again?"
But: "Was that clearer than last time?"

Small questions feel safer. For both sides.

A visible mistake, handled well, can build your credibility faster than playing it safe ever will.

That's what quiet confidence looks like.
Not perfection. Recovery.

♻️ Repost for the introvert still stuck in the replay loop at 2am.
📩 Weekly tools for quieter leaders → https://lnkd.in/e2Yn259g

The lighthouse doesn't chase ships.
It stands still. And they find their way.

I spent 10 years being the ship.

From 30 to 40, I was drowning in the chase.
Speaking louder in meetings where I had nothing to add.
Networking harder at events that drained my energy.
Projecting confidence I didn't feel in rooms that didn't need me.

Doing everything leaders were "supposed" to do.

Exhausting myself trying to be seen.

Then I watched the quietest engineer become CTO.

While I was running around like a ship without a compass, she stood still.
Like a lighthouse.
She never chased the promotion.
She attracted it.

While others networked, she built systems that worked.
While others pitched ideas, she solved real problems.
While others performed leadership, she delivered results.

The promotion found her.
Three companies tried to poach her within months.
She never applied for any of it.

That moment changed everything for me as an introvert CHRO:

Chasing drains you.
Attracting energizes you.

While others chase the spotlight, we become the steady light others steer toward.

Stop chasing what drains you.
Start building what attracts success:
→ Deep expertise over shallow networking
→ Quality relationships over quantity connections
→ Consistent delivery over constant visibility
→ Thoughtful strategy over reactive hustle

The lighthouse does not announce itself.
It stands steady.
Its light cuts through.
And every ship finds its way.

♻️ Repost if you believe quiet leadership deserves more visibility

📩 Want to be the lighthouse? These are some techniques I swear by: 
https://lnkd.in/eSdKpkMs

Stop forcing yourself to be "on" all day.

Your boss sees quiet.
Your close team sees hilarious.

Your network sees reserved.
Your best friend? Sees you acting like an extrovert.

And here's the thing.
Everyone holds a different version of you.
That is not broken. That is strategic.

➡️ When you are around people who give you energy, you show up fully. 
➡️ When you are around strangers or high-stakes rooms, your battery drains faster than you'd like.

This is not two people.
This is one person with limited energy making intentional choices about where to spend it.

Most introverts sabotage themselves trying to be the same everywhere.

So they either:
➡️ Exhaust themselves performing for everyone
➡️ Hide completely and wonder why nobody knows what they can do

Here is the breakthrough:

➡️ Stop trying to be consistent.
➡️ Start being intentional.

You are not broken because you go quiet at a conference.
➠ You are smart because you know the return on your energy investment.

You are not unfriendly because you skip happy hour.
➠ You are protecting your ability to show up fully in the meetings that actually matter.

You do not need to be the same version in every room.
You need to decide which rooms deserve your full energy.

What is one event or meeting you are going to skip this week, guilt-free?

♻️ Repost this for the introvert who needs permission to stop performing

We promote the loudest voice.
Then wonder why teams burn out.

I've spent 20 years in leadership.
And I've watched brilliant introverts get overlooked again and again.

They didn't fall short.
They quietly pulled ahead.

Harvard and Wharton research tells us something most companies ignore. Introverted leaders drive:
➜ 28% higher productivity
➜ 84% more engagement
➜ 50% lower turnover

So why do we still mistake quiet for weak?

Because we've built systems that reward volume over value.
Visibility over results.
Performance over substance.

This carousel breaks down:
➜ What the data really says
➜ Why introverts make elite leaders
➜ How to lead with quiet confidence

The quiet ones in your meeting today?

They're not disengaged.
They're processing at a level most leaders never reach.

💾 Save this for your next leadership conversation.
♻️ Share if your culture still mistakes noise for leadership.

Your Team Thinks Quiet Means Weak (The Data Disagrees)

I ignored the warning signs for 3 years.
Then my body made the decision for me.

Most leaders still think burnout is a discipline problem.
Better time management. More willpower. Stronger boundaries.

Yet the introverts I work with burn out even with perfect calendars.
Color‑coded.
Blocked.
Optimised.

Still exhausted.

The real issue? Their energy design has holes.

As a CHRO working with introverted leaders, I see the same pattern on repeat:

→ Saying yes to a "quick call" that hijacks your only thinking block
→ Attending the meeting you weren't needed in, just to be seen
→ Skipping the 10-minute buffer because "it's just one more"

One VP was ready to quit.
Exhausted by Tuesday.
Every. Single. Week.

We implemented the 3B Framework:

→ Boundaries: Clear office hours for interruptions
→ Buffers: 15-minute blocks between meetings
→ Being Selective: 3 strategic meetings, not everything

Result: 40% fewer burnout symptoms.
Same influence. Better decisions.

Your exhaustion is not a discipline problem.
It is a design problem.

Swipe through for the full 3B Framework.

💡 Save this before your next burnout warning sign.

👉 If your energy at work or in rooms full of people feels unfixable, this will change how you see it and how you show up:
https://lnkd.in/eEk9FQBx

You're Not Tired. You're Overspent. (And Now what?)

I stayed quiet in meetings for years.

Then one CEO told me:
"When you speak, I know it matters."

I'd spent years thinking my silence was a liability.
Turns out it was my edge.

Most communication advice for introverts?
"Just speak up more."

But more communication does not equal better communication.

⬇️ Swipe to learn how introverts turn quiet into influence.

💾 Save & repost this before your next meeting.
📩 Get my newsletter The A+ Introvert → link in carousel last page

Stop Apologizing For Not Speaking Up Immediately (Really)

Stop trying to be a louder leader.

In 20 years as CHRO, I've watched brilliant introverts burn out.
They tried being more visible.
More charismatic.
More loud.

When teams take initiative, introverted leaders drive 28% higher productivity.

Not despite being quiet.
Because of it.

Your quiet leadership is not the problem.
The cult of charisma is.

⬇️ Swipe through to see how quiet leaders actually lead.

💾 Save this before your next leadership moment.
📩 Join ambitious introverts in The A+ Introvert Newsletter → link in carousel or my profile

Stop Trying To Be A Louder Leader (Do This Instead)

I spent 10 years faking extroversion.
Turns out, my introversion made me CHRO.

3 quiet wins that outperformed loud:

→ 47 minutes of silence in a tense board meeting.
One sentence that shifted the entire conversation.

→ 24 hours to think instead of reacting fast.
Saved €2.3M.

→ 8 private conversations instead of one big pitch.
Unanimous approval. Zero politics.

⬇️ Swipe to see how each moment played out.

Ambitious introverts: stop performing. Start leading.

💾 Save this before your next leadership moment.
♻️ Repost to empower the quiet leaders in your network.

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