Read Time: 4 minutes. |
| | | | Our Last Cohort of 2025 is 50% Full | MGMT Accelerator - Eight 90-minute sessions over four weeks plus 3 group coaching sessions starting October 7 at 11:00 AM ET. | Perfect for experienced leaders with 3-10 years of experience who want to refine their systems to deliver more impact and level up as a leader. | Don't wait! We cap this program at 50 leaders to ensure an intimate learning experience. | |
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The Uphill Battle Every Leader Faces |
You know your area could drive massive value for the organization. |
You have the data, the vision, and the plan. |
But you're stuck in endless meetings, explaining the same concepts to different people, watching competitors move faster while you're still building internal consensus. |
The challenge: How do you get organizational support for something that isn't the organization's primary focus? |
The answer isn't shouting louder or going rogue. |
The answer: Strategic connection. |
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The Funnel Framework |
Every organization is a funnel. It all flows in support of the mission. |
Your job is to connect your success to their success. |
Example: Basketball at a highly-academic institution isn't the mission. It's a top-of-funnel lever that drives awareness, which drives up applications, which drives up selectivity, which drives up rankings. |
It's a key step in a a virtuous cycle that supports the mission. Success on the court can elevate the classroom. |
Your Question: How does your area's success directly contribute to the organization's primary objectives? |
Your Positioning: "We're not asking you to choose between [primary focus] and [your area]. We're showing you how [your area] accelerates [primary focus] goals." |
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Embrace The Algorithm |
Stop thinking about your area as separate from organizational success. Start thinking about it as a high-leverage component in the organization's algorithm. |
The Framework: |
Identify the primary metric the organization cares about most Map your contribution to that metric Quantify the leverage your area provides Position yourself as essential to the algorithm
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Example: "This isn't separate from our core mission. Here's how we act as a multiplier that makes everything else more effective." |
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Education vs. Convincing |
Most internal advocates try to convince people their area is important instead of educating them on how it works. |
Education builds understanding. Convincing creates resistance. |
Education Approach: |
"Here's how our industry works..." "Here's what our competitors are doing..." "Here's how this connects to your priorities..."
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Convincing Approach (Avoid): |
"You should care about this because..." "This is really important..." "We need more support..."
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If you lay our the dots thoughtfully, they'll connect them. |
Now it's their story, not yours. |
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Leverage One-to-Many Moments |
Stop having the same conversation repeatedly with different people. |
The Solution: Host one comprehensive education session. |
Format: |
20 minutes: How your area works, industry context, competitive landscape 10 minutes: Q&A Record everything Send recording to future questioners
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Follow-up: "Were you at the session? If not, here's the recording. Let's connect once you've had a chance to watch it." |
Bonus: Record everything. Calls become scripts. Meeting become small clips. Everyone with a business objective is a media company. |
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The Opportunity Frame |
When requesting resources, choose your positioning carefully: |
Bottleneck Frame: "We can't succeed without this"
Opportunity Frame: "This unlocks disproportionate value" |
The opportunity frame connects to growth rather issuing an all-or-nothing ultimatum. |
Instead of: "We need more budget to avoid falling behind"
Try: "This investment puts us ahead of 80% of competitors and creates sustainable advantage" |
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The Borrowed People Strategy |
You don't always need more full-time resources. Sometimes you need access to the right expertise at the right time. |
The Approach: |
Identify needed expertise (marketing, analytics, operations) Find people in other departments with that expertise and occasional capacity Offer value in return (cross-functional experience, skill development) Make it easy for their manager (clear scope, limited time, mutual benefit)
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Just One Step |
Pick one key stakeholder who doesn't understand your area's value. |
Instead of trying to convince them it's important, educate them on how it works and connects to their priorities. Record it. |
Because internal influence isn't about being the loudest voice in the room. |
It's about connect what you care about to what they care about. |
Do that, and they'll do the selling for you. |
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What You Missed This Week |
Our Sunday AM posts: |
📌 11 Small Acts to Build the Life We Deserve (Dave on LI)
📌 Why Leaders Shouldn't Be Afraid to Trust, But Verify (Mar on LI)
📌 How to Avoid the More People Paradox (Dave on X) |
And here are our most popular posts last week:
🔥 Questions to Lead 7 Hard Leadership Conversations (Dave on LI)
🔥 How to Build the Quiet Engine of Compounding (Dave on X)
🔥 How Leaders Remain Calm in the Chaos (Mar on LI) |
Our goal is to build a community of 1 million thoughtful, curious leaders. |
You can help us by reposting anything that resonates with you. |
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Thank you for reading. Appreciate you! |
Dave |
| | | | Ways To Work With Us | MGMT Accelerator - Eight 90-minute sessions over four weeks plus 3 group coaching session starting October at 7 11:00 AM ET. Perfect for experienced leaders with 3-10 years of experience who want to refine their systems to deliver more impact and level up as a leader. | MGMT Fundamentals - Eight one hour sessions over two weeks. Perfect for managers with 0-3 years of experience who want to quickly build the skills and systems to lead their team effectively from Day 1. | Customized Leadership Programs - Bring our MGMT Accelerator or MGMT Fundamentals in-house for a tailored, intensive workshop. Ideal for 15+ leaders. | 1:1 Executive Coaching - My sweet spot is solving real problems to help leaders scale with a common sense Management OS. Growing companies with 50-250 employees. | Speaking - We're now booking keynotes for Fall of 2025. Hit reply on this note, and we can set up a time to discuss topics and pricing. | MGMT Playbook - If you're here because someone forwarded this email, please subscribe before you leave. | |
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