Celebrating 90 days of The Pivotal Leader
To celebrate this milestone, we're resurfacing two popular posts
Today I’m celebrating 90 days of The Pivotal Leader. I have a 90-day rule for any new initiative that I intend to turn into a business standard. This means I aim to be consistent in executing against the initiative for 90 days to gather learnings, and to turn the early consistency into a habit.
To my surprise, not only have my weekly posts been consistent in timing, my email open rates have stayed high (between 52% and 66%). The Pivotal Leader also now has more than 200 subscribers, many of them joining the community one-by-one. I plan to stay the course.
But first, to celebrate the milestone, I’m resurfacing two specific posts that have helped many of you: my first video podcast episode, which features a first-time tech founder who led her company through a product pivot; and my second newsletter issue, which offers a framework for assessing whether it’s time to pivot - and how to make the change. The first represents bringing voices beyond my own into the conversation, and the second prioritizes giving you a tool to bring the concept of truth-seeking into action.
[Podcast] How a tech founder followed truth to pivot her business
Quratul-Ann (“Q”) Malik, founder and CEO of Oscar AI, was my first guest on a new mini podcast series designed to normalize and humanize pivots. Listen to our full conversation to learn how:
Q uses truth-seeking as a framework to find focus as a founder and CEO
Sometimes a pull from the market may be your path to growth, rather than a push
External forces can allow your ideas to flourish in ways you hadn't predicted
Here’s a teaser:
[Framework] Is it time to pivot?
Back in early April, my second Substack post was about seeking the truth to help you decide whether to make a change or stay the course.
If you’re experiencing resistance rather than momentum in your business, leadership, or personal growth:
Investigate the resistance. Get curious about the signs of resistance. Name them. Jot down when, where, and how they appear. What are those signs trying to tell you, in context?
Build your hypothesis. Chart possible paths forward from where you stand today. Which paths have legs? What makes you say that? Pick 1 or 2, and fill in these blanks for each one:
“I believe that __X__.”
“X is an intelligent hypothesis because __Y__.”
“X will be worth investing in if the test meets__Z__metric.”
Test the hypothesis. Structure your test to gather only as much insight as you need to prove or disprove your hypothesis. Fill in these blanks, then execute:
“I’m going to test __X__ by taking __A__ action over __B__ timeframe.
“My parameters will include __C__.
The mindset I will bring to this test is __D__.
Acknowledge unknowns. You don’t know how people will respond to changes in you as you expand your perspective, or how the world will change around you. Consider risks, but be careful not to paralyze yourself into inaction.
Choose a direction. With your new unbiased insights, make a decision. What truth did you uncover? Did you prove your hypothesis? Are your insights directing you to stay the original course, or test a new hypothesis?
A testing mindset and approach will help you to stay close to the truth as you build and grow your business and your leadership.
Coming soon
I continue to work with founders and their teams to help them get hyper clear on strategy and execution, overcome overthinking, and step into their authenticity and authority as executives. In Q3, I plan to test into a new offering for first-time executives reporting into founders. Rather than a pivot, this will be an expansion of my coaching offerings. More to come soon.
Thank you
Thanks for supporting ‘The Pivotal Leader’ through its first 90 days. Please share this publication, and my coaching services, with others who can benefit!
Congrats on this milestone and kudos to you for your consistency and growth you've experienced here! 👏🏻