I’m planning our next Leaders in Progress workshop for November, and I’d love your input before locking it in. I’m considering two directions: Both are timely… but I’d rather pick what matters most to you right now.

It’s an unpopular but cliché truth: to lead others, you need to know yourself first. This month, I faced a very deep blind spot — my own self-sabotage. Most people sabotage themselves because of fear — fear of success, fear of failure, or simply fear of stepping into the unknown. For me, the roots were very different. I realized I had invented this mechanism around the age of six as a kind of safety valve — a way to release excess energy when I couldn’t act. At the time, it was helpful: without it, that energy would have burned me from the inside. When I was a child, I carried an energy so strong it could have consumed me. A constant desire to move, change, break through walls — but there was no stage for it. When I couldn’t act, my system released the pressure through guilt, analysis-paralysis, chewing endlessly on failed conversations, and procrastination. That became my fuse. 🔥 When a stage for action exists — I become decisive, bold, charismatic. 🌊 When there is no stage — the old pattern switches on: analysis paralysis, distractions, illusions, netflix. And here’s the paradox: my biggest enemy is not when I face challenges that demand force, speed, or even disruption. I can handle those. My true enemy is stillness. People say “time defeats all enemies.” In my case, time defeats me first. Not because I lack strength or ideas, but because waiting — the inability or uncertainty of how to act — is the hardest state for me to endure. When there is no clear next step, no defined move, I don’t rest. I unravel. The pause itself becomes destructive: instead of holding ground, I start turning my energy against myself. Sometimes it looks like attachments that aren’t really mine — invented obligations, misplaced loyalty, keeping bonds that should have been cut long ago. Other times it looks like mental fog — replaying the same conversations, doubting past choices, or chasing illusions just to fill the silence. That’s how I sabotage myself: not through lack of strength, but through turning my strength inward until it consumes me.

Hi everyone, A lot of you may remember my first post earlier in May this year. After many applications, lots of screening protocols, and a handful of interviews, I was finally offered a project coordinator role at an amazing company! And I'm wanting to share my experiences with everyone here. LESSON 1: Spamming applications versus tailoring applications. Coming from a mentality in early summer to get my name out to as many companies possible, this worked for the first few weeks. I was receiving responses back from companies ranging from engineering to healthcare and were interested in my diverse professional background. Once June/July hit, the resume views tanked and I wasn't getting anywhere. After tailoring my resume from a general PM perspective to one that is specific to each and every job, the responses increased again. Although I'm sure many of you know this lesson already, this was something I've now understood. LESSON 2: Internal referrals are truly the only way to pass the first screening. As someone who networks with absolutely anyone and everyone in my companies (including the individuals you think you would never need to contact), a co-op student who had interned at my current company was now working at my next employer. We had connected early on in my current job as we started during the same time. He was extremely willing to put my name forward as a great candidate for three jobs, and luckily the third one was a hit. LESSON 3: Don't hide your unique personality during your interviews. 1 phone call with HR, 2 panel interviews in person, and 1 video chat with the director later, I heard amazing feedback from the recruiter. She mentioned that everyone thought I was "the one" after our conversations. What did I do? I was my absolute self. Before this interview I ensured that I would remain my upmost professional self to "sell" the vision of a young, driven corporate cog. I decided to give it a shot and introduce a bit more of myself - why I live the way I do, my personality, and my hobbies. During my chat with the director, I found that we shared a mutual interest in cars and motorcycles! The recruiter contacted me back the next day and mentioned that he's very excited to see my car and learn a bit more about my volunteer work with the local raceway.

Please help me schedule the "Day/Week of a PM" workshop/discussion. Please choose an option or propose a date. Please note next week weekends I am not avaialable.

We did two workshops on AI thus far and they were nice way to get together and learn something new, but I want to expolore other topic too. I would like to ask you for some suggestions. Tell me about your recent struggle and I will see if I can add value by creating some sort of workshop around it.