You Don’t Have a Time Problem. You Have an Energy Problem. 

You Don’t Have a Time Problem. You Have an Energy Problem. May 23, 2026 I used to think I was bad at time management.  I had the calendar. I had the systems. I had the assistant who guarded my schedule like a hawk. And still, I would end most weeks feeling like I had run a marathon in flip-flops. Exhausted, […]

Manage Your Energy Not Your Time: The Deep Dive

Manage Your Energy Not Your Time May 23, 2026 This week, Alex and Emily are discussing one of the most underrated blind spots in executive burnout prevention: the difference between managing time and managing energy. They dig into why the typical productivity playbook fails senior leaders, and what a simple weekly practice called the energy audit can […]

The Dangerous Cost of Saying Fine: The Deep Dive

The Dangerous Cost of Saying Fine May 23, 2026 This week Alex and Emily are discussing one of the most normalized and least examined habits in executive culture: the reflexive use of “fine” as a substitute for honest emotional awareness. They explore how emotional suppression develops as a survival mechanism in high-stakes leadership environments, why […]

The Cost of Being “Fine”: How Leaders Suppress Emotions (and Why It Backfires) 

The Cost of Being “Fine”: How Leaders Suppress Emotions (and Why It Backfires) May 23, 2026 There was a period in my CEO life when someone would ask how I was doing and I had one answer.  “Fine.”  Didn’t matter what was actually happening. Missed a major acquisition target. Fine. Board meeting went sideways. Fine. Woke up at 3 a.m. for the fourth night […]

The Scar You Keep Promoting

The Scar You Keep Promoting May 15, 2026 I want to tell you something I wish someone had told me when I first got the CEO title. All those things you’ve been carrying, the promotions that didn’t happen, the projects that blew up, the moments you froze in a meeting and never forgave yourself for, […]

The C-Suite Won’t Erase Your Stress: The Deep Dive

The C-Suite Won’t Erase Your Stress May 15, 2026 This week Alex and Emily are discussing one of the most persistent and damaging beliefs in executive culture: the idea that reaching the C-Suite will finally erase the past failures, unresolved stress, and old wounds that high performers have been carrying for years. They explore why […]

The Invisible Asset Your Spreadsheet Misses: The Deep Dive

The Invisible Asset Your Spreadsheet Misses May 6, 2026 This week, Alex and Emily are discussing a concept that most executives never hear about until it’s too late, process knowledge. Drawing on Dan Wang’s book Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future and a key scene from Julien’s book Crash and [Burn] LEARN, they explore […]

The Knowledge Nobody Wrote Down

The Knowledge Nobody Wrote Down May 13, 2026 I still remember the plant tour.  We were walking the floor at “Atlas Manufacturing” in Tennessee — me, Don, Chester — doing what acquirers do. Noting the equipment. Clocking the layout. Mentally flagging the inefficiencies. Richard, the founder, was walking us through every station with the quiet pride of a man who had built something […]

Haven’t read Crash and [Burn] LEARN yet?  Try Chapter 1, on me!

Haven’t read Crash and [Burn] LEARN yet? Try Chapter 1, on me! May 6, 2026 An excerpt from Crash and [Burn] LEARN – where the story of executive burnout begins. I want to introduce you to Jason Marchand. Jason is the fictional CEO at the center of my book, Crash and [Burn] LEARN. I say […]

Why Knowing Everything Changes Nothing: The Deep Dive

Why Knowing Everything Changes Nothing: The Deep Dive April 29, 2026 This week Alex and Emily are discussing Blind Spot #10 from Julien’s framework: The Competence Illusion. It’s the dangerous belief that understanding a concept is the same as embodying it, that knowing is the same as doing. They dig into the neuroscience behind why […]