Find the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/18.

Holly is a force to be reckoned with. As the EVP of Finance Operations, she has an encyclopedic knowledge of the company. She’s the go-to person for solving problems. She revolutionized processes in recent years, increasing efficiency in some areas by as much as 22%.

But she often sees the CEO's eyes glaze over when she’s talking. She told me:

“It’s so frustrating. We bust our butts here keeping everything going no matter what. But his attention is always elsewhere. I’ve been told I give too much detail and I don’t stand out enough.”

Sound familiar?

When it seems like they are more interested in the sizzle than the steak, a tendency to over-share detail gets in your way.

In this episode, I’ll give you tips on how to up your game, so Operations can get the attention it deserves.

Find the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/17.

Trust is like air. Once it’s left the room, it’s all anyone can think about.

A break in trust in a team diminishes morale and can cause decreased productivity and increased turnover.

An executive shared a story with me about a direct report who was reluctant to give feedback to a peer. They worried they’d be called negative and critical, so they kept silent even though their feedback was valid. She said:

“It’s on me to create cohesion, to keep things running smoothly. I feel like I’m failing them, and it bugs me. But I don’t know what to say. And I just don’t have time for this.”

Can you relate?

You’re not alone. Wherever people come together, there’s friction. How you approach that friction can make or break your success.

In this episode, I’ll provide practical ways to cultivate trust within your operations team to create a safe and collaborative environment.

Find the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/16.

Do you remember when you first landed your role running operations? You probably thought:

"Yes! My hard work paid off. This is what I was meant to do!”

I bet you had high hopes and felt unstoppable as you stepped up to that next level.

But then something changed. You got pulled in lots of directions you didn’t expect. You started to get a little less organized. And your calendar got jam-packed with things you can’t say “no” to.

Unable to get to big priorities, you set your sights lower on little fixes, like “I’ll just work on getting through my inbox.”

Sound familiar?

Imagine feeling like a boss again like you did on Day One, only wiser.

Listen in to this episode and break the curse of people pleasing so you can reclaim control of your time. 

Find the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/15.

When you’re running your organization’s Operations, there’s always work to do. It is hard to stay on top of everything without getting bogged down just stomping out fires every day.

I often think of a story about a cook in a busy restaurant who was frustrated by the constant mess in the kitchen. He complained to a Zen master: “The kitchen is filthy! They never clean up.”

The Zen master told him: “If you want a calm kitchen, calm your mind.”

Your environment can reflect your inner state. If you want a more harmonious experience, you need to flip the script and begin by creating peace within your mind.

In this episode, I’ll share tips on how to calm your mind so you can focus and boost your operational agility.

Find the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/14.

I spoke with a bunch of operations executives not long ago and got a good taste of their impressive work ethic. I have one myself.

Accomplishing big things for a mission is commendable. But doing it single-handedly is neither sufficient nor sustainable.

Many of the operations execs wished for a future where they would spend less time in the day-to-day weeds and more time on strategy and focus so they could orchestrate greater results. Ring any bells?

Many high achievers get caught up in being too hands-on. However, by being self-aware and asking a few simple questions, you can alleviate that feeling of being stuck.

In this episode, I’ll get real about what keeps ops heroes down in the day-to-day weeds. And I’ll share an exercise you can use to jumpstart out of them.

Find the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/13.

This episode is for operations leaders who struggle with accountability. It’s hard to hold people accountable when you rely on them. This is true for all leaders. Someone told me this recently:

“I can have the tough conversations. But I have trouble going back and enforcing it. I don’t want to be ‘the bad guy’. I really want him on my team, and I’m worried he'll leave. So, I keep putting it off.”

If this strikes a chord, keep listening.

If you’re avoiding an accountability conversation, my guess is that you’re picking up too much of the slack yourself. And you’re not doing anyone any favors.  Even if it feels like you’re sliding by in the short term, it hurts you in the long run.

In today’s brief episode, I’ll explain the harsh truth about accountability. And I’ll give a few examples of phrases that get that conversation you need to have rolling.

Find the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/12.

Warning: This episode may challenge your beliefs about productivity.

Recently, a client was searching for time on her calendar. She’s in New York, but the company HQ is in France, and she has teammates in California.

So, she takes meetings anytime between 4:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. I asked when she slept. She laughed and said:

“Oh yeah. I’ll sleep when I’m dead.”

She got quiet and continued:

“I don’t have the luxury of work-life balance. Somehow, I never have time for the gym, but I always have time for another meeting.”

I wonder how familiar that sounds. It’s time to turn that one on its head.

If you feel like you don't have time for fitness, then it's likely that you need it the most.

This episode is about making fitness a priority. Listen in for the benefit of your career, your team, and your quality of life.

Find the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/11.

Everyone doubts themselves from time to time. But for some, it takes the form of a constant uphill battle.

When you lead cross-functional operations, your attention is always pulled in different directions. It’s easy to get over-stimulated and take the stress out on yourself.

A Director of People Operations recently said to me,

“I internalize a lot of what goes wrong. I tend to think that when things are going wrong it’s because there’s something wrong with me.”

Does that hit close to home?

It’s common for leaders to struggle with this, especially in high-pressure roles like that of an operations executive. You bear a lot of the weight of responsibility for the success of the org and the people in it. 

So, in this episode, I’ll talk about what the big deal is about self-trust. And I’ll share a practice you can use to trust yourself more.

Find the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/10.

Nothing stretches us as leaders like someone shining a spotlight on our blind spots.

And as an operations executive, you are no stranger to the feedback process. You probably get it regularly through review cycles and 360s.

A client recently said to me:

“I don’t mind feedback, I’ve learned how to deal with it. But it’s so hard to get clear feedback that I can do something about.”

Can you relate?

The fact is that some people are just less likely to give clear, direct feedback. This is particularly true when there are power dynamics at play. When worries about job stability are there, truth-telling is harder to come by.

That means you could be missing out on vital intel. But you can get an edge here.

In this episode, I’ll share six common places to get jammed up around feedback. I'll also share how to un-jam the environment, so it feels safe for others to give you powerful feedback.

Find the full transcript at yourfuturerealized.com/9.

Have you been overcompensating for your operations team’s weaknesses? Then listen up.

When you live and eat operations, you know how things work and the best, most efficient ways to do them.

And your team is busy. You’ve likely built guard rails for them to minimize burnout because you take good care of your team.

So, when a crisis hits, if you sense your team lacks the time, resources or urgency to get it done right, you might have trouble keeping your hands off the wheel. Sometimes it's easier to handle problems yourself instead of guiding someone else to do it.

How close to home does this hit?

In this episode, I’ll talk about breaking that habit so you can slow down to speed up. And I’ll give you eight steps to boost your team’s capacity to navigate crises themselves.