Progress is easier to see when we stop long enough to notice it. By late October, it's easy to start looking ahead. Year-end targets. Budgets. Planning. Projects that still need to be finished. Goals for next year. The list of what's left can quickly overshadow everything that's already been accomplished. So before the year-end sprint really begins, I think there's value in asking your team one question: What are we doing better today than we were in January? Maybe communicat

Your value as a leader isn’t measured by how much you know. Many of the technical leaders I work with built their careers by becoming very good at what they do. They know the equipment. The process. The numbers. The operation. When something goes wrong, people come to them because they have the answer. Then they become leaders. And suddenly, the habit that helped them succeed can start getting in their way. Leadership requires a different kind of expertise. You don’t have to

Before you fix the team, watch the team. September has a particular rhythm. The kids are back at school. Teams are back from summer vacations. Projects that slowed down in July and August start moving again. And in those first few weeks, you can learn a lot — if you pay attention. As a parent, I notice it with my daughters. You can tell pretty quickly whether a new routine is working. Who is tired. Who is overwhelmed. What is going smoothly. What needs adjusting. Teams are