FocusOS

Strategy | GTM | Authority Design | AI Risk

Built the Authority Architecture™ system to help leaders package career equity into premium, buyable offers

Coached 100+ women through authority collapse post-org-chart to premium positioning with clean pricing, qualified leads, and strategic delivery

Led the advisory design of “Unstoppable Advantage,” now a best-selling strategic AI playbook

Exposed >$20M in missed leverage, packaging, or decision velocity loss across tech firms’ AI strategies

Wrote 7 books in 6 months (5 became bestsellers) on AI, resilience, and authority-building

Partner, Chief Judgment Officer

Empress Editions

AI Strategy | Authority Design | Product Positioning

Trusted advisor to one of the most distinctive AI-powered publishing platforms on the market.

Shape go-to-market strategy and product roadmap through a positioning lens grounded in audience behavior and executive authority

Advise on author packaging and AI integration to ensure books generate not just reach—but revenue and relationship capital

Support editorial leadership in identifying high-leverage decisions across content, business model, and platform partnerships.

Advisory Board Member

Intel Corporation

Business Model Innovation | Enterprise GTM | Market Repositioning

Charged with reimagining a stale datacenter business from the inside out. Did it in 18 months.

Built a $100M solutions business inside a tech-ingredients division by changing how the market saw the offer

Invented a hybrid financing model that unlocked new buying behavior

Launched an internal campaign to get more women into technical leadership roles — and made it stick

Drove internal and external repositioning by rewriting the customer story — focused on urgency, not features

General Manager, Solutions

Symantec

Ops Architecture | Global Scale | GTM Alignment

Built Symantec’s hardware supply chain from scratch, driving $500M in new revenue.

Created the infrastructure, talent, and ops design to launch and scale a hardware business inside a software giant

Led 1,500+ people across 4 continents, including factories, logistics, and customer reliability

Negotiated $100M+ in global partnerships with NetApp, NCR and others

Architected a trust-based ops model — built around responsiveness, not just units moved

VP, Manufacturing and Supply Chain

Lenovo

Turnaround | Strategic Pricing | Sales Architecture

Ran a $120M P&L across 70 countries. Fixed stagnation. Drove 40% of company profit on 5% of revenue.

Rewrote the services GTM playbook: pricing, attach rate targets, incentive alignment

Delivered 5x attach rate lift (1:100 → 1:20)

Structured overlay sales to increase focus + deal velocity

GM, Sales and Warranty Service Business EMEA

Category Creation | Thought Leadership | Business Model Design

Designed the playbook for on-demand services before IaaS was a buzzword.

Defined the GTM and delivery architecture for usage-based infrastructure

Led Electronics Division through category repositioning and variable-use revenue modeling

Published award-winning white papers and earned industry recognition for early cloud modeling

Global Lead for On Demand

Ex-VP at Symantec, Lenovo, Intel, IBM | Through my flagship program, I help women turn their expertise into a compelling offer, visible authority, and repeatable revenue—without spinning their wheels

You didn’t leave your track record. You left your title.
The first 1–2 clients said yes. Then the calendar went quiet. And silence kills prestige.

I’ve lived the identity gap—then I helped 40 execs cross it without looking like they’re starting over. I built 0→$100M lines at Intel/Lenovo/Symantec and scaled a D2C from zero to $12M in year one. I don’t do “finding yourself.” I make your authority buyable.

What I do (Authority Architect™)

Positioning in 7 seconds: what you’re the only choice for
One premium offer: clear scope, price, and eligibility (no coffee-chat consulting)
Proof stack: like-you wins, numbers, and prestige assets that close
Private client engine: discreet outreach, weekly rhythm, compounding pipeline
Close cleanly: crisp terms, no “think about it” maybes

Who this is for

Sr Director+ / VP / GM already selling 1–2 clients or $25k+ collected
Wants a repeatable engine without public pitching or “starting over” optics
Values discretion, speed, and executive-grade decisions

Proof

40 clients
Built 0→$100M inside Big Tech
D2C: $12M in Year 1
Client wins: 
- $100k in 100 days 
- $90k in 90 days 
- $15M pipeline 
- 1‑day close

How we start

Private Authority Diagnostic (30 minutes). 

You leave with an executive 1‑pager: 
+Offer, Narrative, 
+ Top‑10 target list 
+ first-message script.

If we’re a fit, we install your engine in 8 weeks.

You’re not starting over. You’re starting ahead—if the market can buy what you already proved.

Apply (confidential, 5 slots/month): https://calendly.com/betsyqtong/30min

Big news!
Scientists have uncovered the reason women’s bathroom lines are longer.

It isn't because we go in pairs.
It is because we get the same square footage as men.

Stalls take up more space than urinals.
Therefore, men can pee at greater volume.
20-30% more if you are counting.

Those tracking metrics show them as equal, so say it must be ok.
Besides, layouts were always done this way.

Equal square footage doesn’t mean equal outcomes.

We take 2 to 3 times longer due to biology, 
clothing design and caregiving responsibilities.

Where men take 3 minutes. We need 6 typically.

Unequal access → wasted time, discomfort, and stress.

Every time an office is planned, this same issue is repeated.

Once something gets labeled as “equal,” no one checks whether it actually is.

When something is a default your whole life, you become blind to it.

When you look to data to be equal, check the outcomes too.

Betsy Tong

I help solo consultants at 5-6 figures add a 0 | Built businesses from 0 to $500M. Ex-F500 GM (Intel, Lenovo, Symantec)

What if your 10K moment doesn’t come for 22 years?

That’s how long it took me to reach 10K followers. 
I was invisible, and never questioned it.

LinkedIn loves a good “overnight success” post.
“3 month hockey stick. 100K followers.”
Good for them.

But for the rest of us mortals? 

That’s not how this goes.

I joined in 2003.
Spent 22 years under 5K. No viral moments. Just work.

If you’re not posting, you’re invisible,
even if you’ve been loyal and paid fees for decades.

Then my friend Katheline hit 20K.
She threw a party. Dragged me (the introvert) to it. 

Then said:

“You did it too. You have to celebrate it.”

I brushed it off. But it stuck.

Maybe I did care.
It’s okay to admit that.

Katheline talks about 10X growth.
For me, 10X meant permission.

To be proud. To be visible. 
To stop pretending I hadn’t done something real.

I built a business to have great people to talk to.
I can own it.

In the last 6 months:
 
✅ Thousands of new friends
✅ 5,745 profile views/month
✅ Opportunities I would've missed hidden in the background

So here’s to the builders who’ve been here all along.

Still waiting on your 10K moment?
Good. That means you're building something good.

Don’t rush. Don’t shrink.
Just don’t disappear.

💬 Who’s the friend that saw your growth before you did?
 Tag them. They deserve the credit.

♻️ Share this with someone who's been quietly building.
 Their work deserves to be seen too.

➕ Follow Betsy Tong if you're building something hard,
even if you're not loud about it (yet).

I help former execs turned solo consultants with 1–2+ clients install a private client engine in 90 days — I stay on until it works | Ex-F500 GM (Intel, Lenovo, Symantec)

Was sent this video by a friend.
Thought I didn’t have time to watch, but glad I did.

Reese is sharp. She’s hilarious.
In the first minute she has you laughing.
By minute five you are rethinking what is possible.

This is the story of how she got irritated by one line in a script…
and ended up rewriting an industry.

She starts by dragging the most recycled line in Hollywood:
“What do we do now?”

Screenwriters have fed that line to women for 100 years.
But in real life? No woman ever is this uncertain.

That’s a question Reese couldn’t ignore.
So she put her own money on the line to fix it.

→ Built Hello Sunshine when Hollywood claimed women weren’t “a market.”
→ Backed stories by women about complex women that became global hits.
→ Her risk turned into a $900M exit in 2021

She makes empowerment sound simple
by showing how it started with books

Then she ends with a question to make us all pause:

"What would happen if we were all brave enough to believe in our own abilities?"

A question wide open with possibilities.

Reese stopped asking for a seat, she started building the table.
She turned one line into a movement.

That’s not just a quote.
It’s an opening for us.

☕️ So take 5 minutes.

Play it while you drink your latte. It’s not a task.
It’s a pause worth taking.

I didn’t expect the last 60 seconds would hit me. It did

Because belief isn’t just a feeling.
It’s the moment ideas become real

Imagine what could be.

You think you have hit a ceiling?
You’re just looking at a new floor.

Five minutes today. 
Momentum that compounds tomorrow.

🔔 Follow Betsy Tong for how to make sparks into momentum.

Real bottom-line killers?
Toxic managers.

They cost companies $6.48M a year in turnover + lost productivity.

And the cost isn’t just on the balance sheet.

—>It’s burnout spreading through your best teams.
—>It’s your top performers quietly polishing their résumés.
—>It’s competitors welcoming the people you wouldn’t protect.

Because here’s what I know from leading 1,000+ global teams:
👉 People don’t quit companies. They quit bad leaders.

And the balance sheet impact makes it worse:

→ 15% of managers fail in their first 18 months (Gallup)
→ 143 managers fail (out of 1,000)
→ Each drives 1.5–2 people out
→ That is ~36 gone.

At $120K average salary 
→ Replacement = $180K each 
→ That is $6.48M you pay.

And that’s before the hidden costs: 
→ 15% productivity drop while seats stay empty 
→ Errors spike, clients leave, revenue leaks.

So the question isn’t why good people leave…
It’s why bad managers survive.

As a Fortune 100 executive, this is what I did:

1️⃣ Select differently

→ Don’t promote your best individual contributors. 
→ Promote those who already coach others.

2️⃣ Train intentionally

→ Leadership is a skill, not an instinct. 
→ Give applied training in influence, crucial conversations, effective 1-1s, etc.

3️⃣ Measure what matters

→ Don’t just track revenue or deadlines. 
→ Measure managers by:
     ✅ Top performer count growth and retention
     ✅ Team engagement scores
     ✅ Internal promotion rate

4️⃣ Act fast

→ Don’t protect managers who burn out teams.
→ Coach on a rapid timeline, then replace.

Every day you let a toxic manager slide:
You are paying them to destroy your best people and your bottom line.

👇 Ever seen top talent quit because of a bad manager?

♻️Repost this so another leader doesn’t ignore this $6M problem
🔔Follow Betsy Tong for unspoken truths on toxic leaders and retention.

My friend got laid off April 5.
She’s still using her VP title on LinkedIn.

Her badge stopped working 6 months ago.
Her calendar stopped sending alerts to her.
Her Slack channel went silent.

But the title? She can’t put it down.
And I don’t blame her.

We are conditioned to believe work is identity.
That a title is who you are.

Here’s the truth:

The company decided 9 months ago they didn't need you.
They just told you late.

The title you worked years to earn?
Taken back in a 5 minute call.

But you were meant for more.
Your identity is bigger than what fit on a business card.

The title is gone. 
Your story is not done. 
Now write the next one with your name on the cover. 

Build something you own.

💬 When did you realize your identity was bigger than a job title?
♻️ Share if you know someone whose title vanished but their value didn’t.
🔔 Follow Betsy Tong for tips on reinvention in middle age.

That "urgent" 2AM email you just sent?
It just demoted you.

Your leader doesn’t see dedication.
They read someone scrambling.

"They don't manage their time well. Can they lead?"

The more you try to prove your worth by being always on, 
the more you accidentally signal weakness.

I analyzed 1000+ emails and Slacks from Fortune 500 leaders.
These are the hidden power signals of messages:

The Desperate Hours (2AM–4AM)

92% from anxious middle managers.
Almost always trying to prove worth.

Zero from actual power players.

That 2AM email doesn’t show hustle. It shows overwhelm.
It told everyone your work owns you, not the other way around.

The Territory Markers (5AM–7AM)

Directors fighting for first light.
“Notice my dedication” energy.

You think it signals discipline.

But your boss reads it as begging.
And begging never looks like leading.

The True Power Block (10AM–4PM)

Executives only.
Ruthlessly normal hours.

They own their time (and yours).
This is what actual authority looks like:

Nothing to prove.

Your sent folder isn’t proof of hustle.
It’s your power confession.

⚡ Quick test: Do your timestamps say control… or desperation?

♻️ Repost if your power doesn’t need proving.
👣 Follow Betsy Tong for more insights on quiet power.

I help executives protect their prestige and build 6 figure consulting businesses | Ex-F500 GM (Intel, Lenovo, Symantec)

Are you already tired of the Swift–Kelce engagement?
Most will dismiss it as more useless gossip.
And miss 2025's biggest lesson in staged signals.

Savvy operators should obsess over their launch strategy.

In case you were trapped under a rock… 
Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce announced their engagement Aug 26.

Here is the playbook you are ignoring.

One joint announcement.

→Instagram: 14M+ likes <60 mins.
→10+ news outlets picked up the story in minutes.
→100Ms+ impressions within hours.

Their romantic moment wasn't just a "fun" share.

No surprise, it was engineered.

Two brands. Two audiences. One system.
Completely engineered.

Most of us won't have their fairy tale.
But here are lessons I will apply for my clients:

1️⃣ Brand Synergy
Swift + Kelce = two distinct fan bases.
Together, reach multiplies.

👉 Massive increased leverage in two new audiences.

2️⃣ Narrative Sequencing
They didn’t announce cold.

They layered hints 
→ podcast drop → album tie-in → engagement.

👉 Anticipation constructed. Maybe $1.5M in PR.

3️⃣ Platform Precision
100Ms+ impressions in hours isn’t luck.
It’s selected: The right channels for the moment.

👉 Distribution is a system, not a side-note.

4️⃣ Psychographic Targeting
Taylor could have worn ostrich feathers.
She is a billionaire pop star.

She wore a $319.99 (current sale price) sundress. 
Their pics are in a Missouri gazebo.

This signals her accessibility.

👉 She sold us a sense of belonging.

5️⃣ Tie to Culture
Estimated $200–$500M in immediate brand impact.
A broader $1.1–$1.5B impact for the NFL, Chiefs, and brand partners.

👉 Relevance compounding.

Swift and Kelce didn’t just trend.
They showed what authority looks like when it’s engineered.

💬What’s your takeaway from their engagement announcement?

♻️ Repost if you’re cheering their moment, and what you learned from it.
👤 Follow Betsy Tong for more on how authority is built, not borrowed.

22 interviews to land the job. 
One badge swipe to regret it.

The grey shag carpet walls.
People hiding in fake wood stalls.

The 3-foot-dead money tree in my office,
no one bothered to drag out.

Then came the work:
Cold calls. Scripts.

People I just met betting on me to fail.

I stayed too long. 
Started doubting who I was.

Blamed myself.
Not the CEO who bait-and-switched me.

Burnout doesn’t always look like collapse.
Sometimes it’s just a slow leak of your identity.

Here’s what I wish I’d realized sooner:

👉 If the job changes, you rewrite the ending.
👉 Bravery is leaving before you lose yourself.
👉 You owe loyalty to your future, not their false promises.

You’re not trapped. 
You get to choose you.

Better to walk into a new room with your identity intact
than stay in the wrong one until it’s gone.

👇 Have you ever ignored a red flag?
👣 Follow Betsy Tong for insights on reinvention.
🔁 Repost to help someone you known in the wrong role.

Most bosses smile in public.
The dangerous ones erase your name in private.

Here’s how to recognize a silent saboteur 👇

1. False Ally – Praises you in public, deletes you in private

→ Claps in the meeting, then “forgets” you ever said it
→ Sends the update without your name
→ Presents your slides as their ideas

2. Performer – Invites you in, then humiliates you for show

→ Hands you the mic, then cuts you off
→ Brings you into the room, then ignores you
→ Shoves you forward for the rough questions

3. Scapegoater – Hands your name over first when blame is flying

→ Uses ‘we’ for failures, ‘I’ for wins
→ Offers your name first when execs want a target
→ Makes a bullseye with your name to catch all arrows

4. Idea Thief – Buries your draft, then sells it as their genius

→ Shrugs “not ready” on your ideas 
→ Changes two fonts and a background
→ Pitches your idea word-for-word a quarter later, calls it “their” version

5. Abandoner – Lets you sink, calls it “resilience”

→ Dumps grunt work like you are Cinderella
→ Tells you to “learn prioritization” instead of helping
→ Tells you “this builds character” and watches you drown

6. The Blindsider - Keeps you in the dark, then blames you

→ Drops the deadline the night before, then blames you for scrambling
→ Lets you find out about reorgs from hallway whispers, so you stay helpless
→ Shrugs and says “above your pay grade” after the damage is already done

7. Silent Betrayer – Swears loyalty in private, vanishes when it counts

→ Swears “I’ve got you” in private, then shrugs in public
→ “Accidentally” leaves you off the invite, every time
→ Scrolls their phone when your name is skipped

Leaders like this thrive because betrayal is cheap.

Courage? Absent.
Capital? Spent on themselves.
The cost? Your name.

Weak leaders erase your name. 
Strong ones fight to carve it in stone.

👀 What’s a ‘silent sabotage’ you’ve seen, and how did you counter it?

♻️ Repost to help someone spot this before it costs them.
🔔 Follow Betsy Tong for truths on leaders who erase, and who protects.

I built a $500M business.
They owned the profit.

You can be the workhorse who delivers.
And end up with nothing but cut outs in a scrapbook.

I built a global manufacturing operation.
Launched enterprise class support.
All in under a year.

They gave me thank-you emails nobody saved.

I collapsed in the economy bathroom on an 11-hour flight.
Missed weekends, lost sanity because they told me they needed me.

In the end, they owned the whole engine. I was just the driver

That’s corporate life:

You build their empire.
They cash in.

But the decades of experience were the foundation for what came next.

Every presentation, every meeting, every deal?
Preparation for the business of me.

It is on track to pay me 1.7X more than my old job.

More than the money?
The keys and control are mine.

You already know how to build profit.
The only question is, do you want them to keep it?

💬 Which matters more, owning the profit or getting praise?
♻️ Share to someone losing years to someone else's dreams.
🔔 Follow Betsy Tong if you’re ready to build something you own.

10 job interviews isn’t rigor.
It’s abuse, testing how much you’re willing to take.
And every candidate is thrown into the Hiring Hunger Games…

It’s worse than just annoying, it can break you.

The hiring system today is:

❌brutal 
❌endless, and 
❌designed to break you.

The process doesn’t prove skill.
It proves chaos, ego, and waste.

4.25% unemployment means nothing when candidates feel powerless.

Here is what I’ve heard from 53 job seekers this past month.

They are all battling 7 villain gatekeepers:

1/ Free Labor
Weapon: 48-hour unpaid tasks
Impact: Exploits your effort. Steals value.

2/ Ghost Job
Weapon: Roles don’t exist
Impact: Drains hope. Undermines trust.

3/ Endless Rounds
Weapon: 10+ interviews
Impact: Bleeds time. Exposes dysfunction.

4/ Hiring Limbo
Weapon: Endless “under review”
Impact: Strands candidates. Erodes confidence.

5/ Culture Gaslight
Weapon: Arbitrary vibe checks
Impact: Masks bias. Rejects talent unfairly.

6/ Obstacle Course
Weapon: Psych tests, trick Qs
Impact: Exhausts candidates. Rewards conformity.

7/ Ghost Offer
Weapon: Promises vanish
Impact: Betrays trust. Shatters momentum.

If you’ve faced any of these, it’s not you, it’s the system.

👉 Which villain have you battled out there the most?
♻️ Repost if you believe hiring should respect job seekers’ time.
👣 Follow Betsy Tong for more broken systems and building better.

17 minutes.
That’s all she got from me each week.
I thought it was enough…

We all do it.

Push a reply to tomorrow.
Promise ourselves, “I’ll check in soon.”
Let a funny memory float by without acting on it.

But the moment passes.
We wait too long. Or forget it.

I thought 17 minutes was enough —
until the day there was no more time.

My mom died of cancer 5 years ago.

For years, I did my weekly 17-minute catch-up call to her and Dad.

I didn’t understand the math then.
Those minutes weren’t enough for what she meant to me.

So send the joke.
Text the memory.
Share the photo.

Don’t let “we should catch up” die on your list of never-dos.

↳3 seconds to write a text.
↳8 minutes to listen to a friend.
↳½ hour to chat with someone new.

Relationships aren’t built in big moments.

They’re built in the micro-actions sparked by a fleeting thought.
Just do it.

Not because you need something.

But because you mean it.
That’s the only networking I do now.

And it works.

Who just popped into your head reading this?
Send them a quick message right now.
 
Pop their first name or initials in comments!

(If you like content like this, follow Betsy Tong for more on building connection into your authority.)

For Senior Operators Going Solo | Join the Authority Architecture: 8 weeks to build a business | Ex IBM, Lenovo, Intel and Symantec

They say ‘you’re family’... but fire you over Zoom.
You are not overthinking. They’re gaslighting you.

These phrases sound innocent, but they’re designed to wear you down.

Their words make you 

↳question your instincts, 
↳normalize firefighting, and 
↳blame yourself for systemic chaos.

I spent 25 years inside big companies.
Here is how to understand what the jargon REALLY means.

The Gaslighting Decoder:

↳ "This is a high-visibility project" = Mistakes will be punished

↳ "Let’s take it offline" = We’ll never speak of this again

↳ "This is a passion project" = No budget, no support

↳ "This is a dynamic role" = You’ll manage mayhem

↳ "Let’s touch base" = Another pointless meeting

↳ "We'll circle back" = Your ideas go in the bin

↳ "Fast-paced environment" = Firefighting

↳ "Do you have a minute?" = You’re about to be fired

You’re not crazy. They just said it in corporate.

The moment you name the game, you’re no longer trapped in it.

What have I missed?

🔁 Repost to help someone spot the signs
🔔 Follow Betsy Tong if the jargon’s starting to feel personal

13 Image Corporate Gaslighting Decoder

The wisest person in the room, and you walked right past them.
Being rude just lost your opportunity.

Most judge based on position.
But the most successful people are kind to everyone.

We’ve all been the ignored one.

→ Asked to move from the table to the back row.
→ Handed the clicker instead of the mic.

The cost isn’t just to your ego anymore.
It’s the door that stays shut to you now.

The analyst the CEO trusts, dismissed.
The nod you needed, gone.

After decades as an executive
I discovered titles are red herrings.

1/ The real power players hide in plain sight

The org chart maps titles, not influence.

→ The exec assistant who knows where bodies are buried
→ The analyst who saves deals by spotting the risk
→ The director who makes everything easy

2/ The smartest leaders find who really runs things

Respect the wrong person, nothing moves.
With the right one, you go faster.

→ The project lead who makes impossible deadlines happen
→ The business analyst who hears every conversation
→ The receptionist who guards boundaries

3/ Innovation ignores hierarchy

Breakthroughs don’t care about a title.

→ Market-changing insight? The quiet dev in the corner
→ My best product idea? Came from customer support
→ Biggest cost saving? A new hire’s fresh eyes

4/ Your next big break won’t check your title first

Opportunity doesn’t ask what’s on your business card.

→ My mentor started IBM with a screwdriver, rose to CEO
→ Game-changing partnership? A “coffee chat”
→ Biggest sales lead? From a neighbor

5/ The corner office knows last

By the time it reaches the exec floor, it’s already too late.

→ Bad news stops at middle management
→ Real insights live in the trenches
→ Good ideas die on PowerPoint

At Lenovo, a $2M deal was saved by a junior analyst.
The only one who noticed an org chart change.

While execs pitched the "decision maker."
She sat with the new influencer.

The junior closed while leaders watched.

Position ≠ Wisdom.
Miss that truth, and the doors you need most will stay locked.

Learn to see past titles.
That’s where access and real breaks come from.

Treat everyone like the CEO.
You never know.

👉 How do you figure out the real power players?
🔔 Follow Betsy Tong for lessons on authority no ego.
♻️ Repost if you believe wisdom isn’t defined by a title.

The “AI Job Apocalypse” makes great headlines.
That fear we’ve been sold? Fake news.

We see the news of big CEOs bragging about job cuts.
Our manager asks us to fill in a form documenting our job.
These stories are terrifying.

What makes it worse is AI seems like a black box.

What’s actually happening is way more interesting.

Fear: “Robots are taking all the jobs.”
Fact: The World Economic Forum says we gain 78M+ by 2030.

That doesn’t make you safe automatically. 
Work is changing shape.

Almost half of current tech roles are a blend: 
Tech plus judgment calls, cultural sense, and people skills.

These are traits machines still stumble over.

Fear: “The economy will collapse.”
Fact: PwC says AI could add $15.7T to global GDP by 2030.

That’s like growing the US economy by half.

The boost won’t spread to everyone. 
The big jumps go to the those adapting fastest.

Fear: “Automation is moving fast, I can’t keep up.”
Fact: In 2023, only 34% of tasks were handled by machines.

Up just one point over three years. 

That’s not a tidal wave. It’s a dripping faucet.
So if you build new skills today, you’re still early.

Fear: “I can’t afford to learn new skills.”
Fact: Half the internet is teaching AI skills for free.

Most people never try because it feels overwhelming.

Raise your hand if you've ever:

↳Asked a question,
↳Given direct feedback, or
↳Explained something to a teen.

If yes, you have the capability to excel at AI.

Here’s the serious risk:

You get comfortable.
Your role stays the same.
Your paycheck might even stay the same.

But your sense of “I’m good at this”?
That chips away with FOMO.

Others using AI are cranking out triple the quality.
They are winning bigger roles, getting paid more.

McKinsey predicts EQ-heavy roles will pay a 26% premium.

The pie isn’t shrinking.
It’s being sliced differently.

Early adopters will walk away with bigger slices.

In my first 6 months I used AI to create, design, and publish 7 books.
They now run as lead engines.

That didn’t kill my creativity.
It multiplied my writing, the part I actually like.

So no, it’s not about jobs dying.
It’s about your work being reimagined in real time.

Either you shape that future version… 
or you wake up working in someone else’s.

♻️ Repost if you’re done with fear headlines.
💬 Comment with your take of the AI-pocolypse.
👋 Follow Betsy Tong for more no-BS AI for humans.

Ex-F500 GM (Intel, Lenovo, Symantec) | I help executives protect their prestige and build 6 figure consulting businesses

My client: Visibility = Power
Me: Wrong! Selective invisibility is the flex.

Here’s the lesson you’ll never read on LinkedIn.
Visibility is only power if others feel it without you announcing it.

Selective invisibility creates tension:

 → Where is she?
 → Why isn’t she here?
 → What does she know that I don’t?

That gap makes others do the work of attributing power to you.

They’ll never share these 7 rules, but here's how real authority is built:

1️⃣  Build your shadow network
→ They think the deal is in the room
→ The real move is made offstage

2️⃣ Silence is your whip
→ They fill the air
→ Your emotional quiet carries

3️⃣ Claim your space
→ They expect you to shrink
→ You hold steady

4️⃣ Choose your battles
→ Not every fight deserves you
→ Integrity is where you spend energy

5️⃣ Keep secrets
→ They reveal too much
→ Trust in you compounds

6️⃣ Weaponize honesty
→ They hide behind excuses
→ Your truth lands

7️⃣ Stay slightly mysterious
→ You don’t show every card
→ Stay deliberate. Your words weigh more

Now you know the soft power game.
Which rule will you use first?

↓ Drop your number in the comments
♻️ Share this rulebook to arm an underdog
🔔 Follow Betsy Tong for how authority is built

7 Rules of Power They Don't Want You to Read

Always first to speak?
Or always the one people actually listen to?

The thing is, when you jump in first,
❌ you don’t sound decisive, you train people to stop thinking.

And when you talk just to sound like the leader,
❌ you don’t sound powerful, you teach them to stop listening.

The best leader I knew spoke the least.
When she did, decisions followed.

She taught me, presence isn’t about hogging the mic.

She showed waiting isn’t silence. 
It’s how you grow influence.

If you’re tired of megaphone leaders, this is good news.

Next time you’re running the agenda, try this:

1️⃣ Kick it off with curiosity

Instead of jumping in with your view, ask:

💬 How does this look to you?

Shows you’re open, not just fishing for agreement.

2️⃣ Pull in the quiet ones

Those who rarely jump in often have the sharpest angles. Say:

💬 Quiet thinkers spot the sharpest stuff—what are you seeing?

Gives them a righteous on-ramp.

3️⃣ Leave the door open

Don’t wrap the room too fast. Question:

💬 What’s the thought stuck in your head? Say it so you can sleep tonight.

 Keeps the space safe for last-minute insights.

When people act on your lead,
you’re no longer forcing compliance.

You’ve earned influence.

When I was a VP, I stopped a tense review to ask my analyst in.

She did the work. She spotted the risk.
She earned the moment to lead.

Her insight shifted the room in minutes.  

The respect earned lasts far longer than any speech.  

👇 1, 2, or 3 — what’s your go-to?

♻Know a quiet leader who deserves every mic? Tag them.

👣Follow Betsy Tong for quiet power > megaphone leadership.

India’s biggest employers are cutting 500,000 jobs.
If the back office isn’t safe, your office is next.

What’s collapsing in Bangalore today, collapses in Boston tomorrow.

Tata Consulting announced 12,000 layoffs immediately.
488,000 more in this sector gone in the next 24 months.

Tata called it a ‘skills mismatch.’
That’s code for: this is your fault for not keeping up.

The real story? 

AI is executing the cheap-code market.

When cheap-code dies, here is what it drags with it:

 ❌ Whole teams cut because AI makes knowledge work redundant.
 ❌ Prices slashed 30–50% as buyers demand AI-level efficiency.
 ❌ Contracts flip, no more paying for hours, only outcomes.
 ❌ Budgets shift from keeping the lights on to AI-first.

What survives this reset?

 ✅ Selling “picks and shovels.” The AI platforms everyone uses.
 ✅ Solving technical debt with AI faster than incumbents.
 ✅ Trading headcount for high-judgment architects.

Outcomes=AI impacts to business strategy.

You don’t sell hours anymore.
You can only sell judgment.

💬 What’s missing from the “survivors” list? Curious what you’d add.

🔁 If someone you know still thinks their job is “safe,” share this with them.
🔔Follow betsy tong for more no-fluff takes on where tech work is really going.

Most people chase a bigger paycheck.
Winners pay for depth and skill.

Here’s what the G.O.A.T. Tom Brady did —
and the long-game mindset we all can copy.

He could’ve made $60-100M more.
He didn’t.

In 2013, when other QBs made $20M,
He signed for $9M.

He gave up nearly half his salary. Why? 
So the Patriots could stack offensive linemen.

He figured out depth in the trenches wins Super Bowls.

Good linemen gave him one more second.
One second became six rings.
A dynasty.

You may not be signing NFL contracts.
But you face the same choices.

Most people flex their pay stub.
The winners stack depth until it compounds.

Betting on yourself isn’t a cost.
It’s how legacy is built.

💬 Ever trade your paycheck for a bigger win? Share your story. 
♻️ Share this to inspire others chasing the long game.
🔔 Follow Betsy Tong for how to play for legacy.

Your leadership was built on making the “right” call.
Now you are stuck in indecision.

I talk to mid-career leaders daily who want to transition. 
They crave purpose and impact.

But they fear grabbing at something uncertain.

"How do I know I'm making the right decision?"
"What if I fail?"

I spent 23 years trusting reviews, and
mapping promotions, comforted by reliable paychecks.

I demanded that same certainty at every new step.

That mindset cost me six months and $37K of stalled momentum
when I built my own business.

Then I learned: 

Doing something new is the first decision 
where being “right” is wrong.

No three-year plan, or slide deck solves for it.

Just a simple reframing.

Swipe for the 3 basic shifts, and 
8 pivots that turned my mojo on.

Mindset shifts first:

↳Experiment and measure
↳Find people who accelerate you
↳Get on base first, stop swinging for home runs

Eight pivots:

1/ Forget the 3-Year Plan. Build like a scientist.
↳Treat every experience as data.
↳Your strengths = your next test

2/ Be Patient Now, Impatient Later
↳Stack habits like bricks.
↳Momentum builds from consistency, not luck.

3/ Expect Ups and Downs
↳Resilience isn’t a mindset, it’s your fallback.
↳Anticipate what breaks.
↳Text the person who reminds you: “You’ve got this.”

4/ Mistakes are gold.
↳But learning is the real prize.
↳Learn from people who’ve made the mistakes.
↳Skip the tuition fee from theory.

5/ Success hides behind anxiety
↳That feeling in your gut? It’s not failure.
↳It’s a signal you’re learning something new.
↳Don’t numb it. Use it.

6/ Plans Will Change
↳Your best ideas may be waiting.
↳A pivot is not failure. It’s forward.

7/ Always Be a Beginner
↳Toddlers fall. They also eventually run.
↳Progress looks clumsy at first.
↳Just keep stepping forward.

8/ Start Anyways
↳No perfect time.
↳Only now.
↳Don't let regret be the thing that compounds.

Your success won’t come from certainty.

It will come from starting without it.

Treat it like an experiment.
Measure. Adjust. Repeat.

You got this.

👇 P.S. Which of these lessons hit hardest?

Follow Betsy Tong for insights on how to Architect Authority no matter where you are going.

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