Open for Business!
Post-Slate, I'm Ready to Engage
Hi there Timeless Leaders,
On Tuesday I promised I had a big announcement, and here it is: Last week I wrapped up a six-month stint as Head of Growth at Slate. This means I’m personally open for business again!
Re-cap on My Role at Slate
Since late January, I’ve had the privilege of helping Team Slate work through critical challenges to long-term, sustainable growth. I led initiatives to change systems and partners, update our brand and messaging, and launch targeted campaigns to a focused list of companies. I represented the company publicly, on stage at big events, with partners, vendors, and customers, and across digital communications.
I also partnered closely with the CEO on mapping out a long-term growth plan. What we learned after six months working together was that the needs and vision for Slate were diverging from what I could or wanted to offer in the Head of Growth role.
This meant that the best decision for me and for the business was that we go our separate ways.
I’m proud of my accomplishments and extremely grateful for all the learning and new connections I’ve made so far in 2024.
I’m also extremely excited about next phase of my work, deepening my own Timeless Leadership practice, and expanding on the work we’re doing together here.
That’s why it’s my pleasure to share the following three updates and invitations to collaborate.
1. Building out Timeless Leader Content
I’ve got renewed energy - and time - to invest in building out the Timeless Leadership model, platform, resources, and community. I remain committed to posting bi-weekly until September when I’ll launch Season 2 of the newsletter. I’m confident that these (free!) updates will only get more value-packed and engaging as time goes on!
In addition to these plans, over the next 1-2 months I plan to pilot:
A proto-cast format to posts, featuring interviews with many of you! (proto-cast = prototype + podcast. I’m not ready to fully commit to managing a podcast and this feels like daunting)
A live monthly “meet-up” (virtual call / Zoom) with Timeless Leader prompts and a chance for network and case studies
Subscription preferences / segmentation - a way to help you get the updates and communication you’re most interested in (e.g. life, business, politics, etc)
All of this I will keep as free. In August I’ll also begin piloting some new paid services that I think will really serve some unmet needs for busy leaders.
I can’t say more about that yet, but when I am ready, you’ll be among the first to know.
2. Lead Transformation Roles (interim / fractional)
This is all great. But how will I pay the bills? That’s where I’m opening up my calendar to 1-2 strategic clients at a time for a more hands-on consulting engagement.
Here’s the deal:
The pattern that continuously emerges for me in my work is that I dive right in to the mess of tough problems. I love sorting ambiguity, connecting the dots, and spurring action. I’m skilled at setting and activating strategy and guiding difficult cultural shifts. In all my work:
I always assume an ownership mentality when it comes to problem-solving.
I never assume ownership rights over a role or position.
Over the years I’ve started nearly a dozen teams or ventures, and I’ve found that I’m most impactful when I apply this entrepreneurial energy to sparking change and transformation for existing organizations.
Then, as soon as things start to stabilize, I’m motivated to hand over the reigns and take on the next big challenge.
Is your business currently stuck in place or in low gear? Do you need to super-charge a critical change effort? Do you need to set the stage for a new era of growth and impact?
Do you need someone whose sole focus is to propel critical change that keeps you competitive, innovative, and dynamic? Maybe you are thinking a Chief of Staff or Head of Growth/Strategy/Operations would be great, but you’re not sure if that’s the right long-term commitment? Or you have someone eager to drive a big change, but they really need help with all the tricky dynamics?
If so, maybe you need someone in a fractional or interim transformation role. I would love to explore filling this role for you. An engagement might last anywhere from 3-6 months, and we can shape it in a few different ways.
If you’d like to discuss this service, grab some time with me here and let’s chat.
Feel free to also share this post with anyone else who might want to connect.
3. Practicing Timeless Leadership
A final note for today.
Nothing challenges me more as a leader (human) than juggling my professional commitments and aspirations with my responsibilities and passions as a father, husband, friend, and citizen. As I wrote about in February, trying to be an “ideal” leader is usually not practical. Instead, we have to find a harmonious balance between different facets of life and leadership over time. We must humble ourselves that we can’t save the world alone, while never giving up on big transformational ambitions.
As I strive forward with my work here and with many of you, over the next several months I’m also going to bring a great deal of intention to how I allocate my time, attention, and energy to different areas.
My health, family, and community all matter.
Engagement in this pivotal moment in our country’s history matters.
It may look or feel somewhat like a circus act, but I’ll be juggling every day. Some of the balls (axes? torches?) that I’m juggling I may drop… perhaps accidentally, but sometime that might also be on purpose.
In it all, I will strive to draw insights and lessons and share those here.
I hope you’ll also share yours.
Sincerely,
Joe
PS. Ok that was a long note. What are those actions you could take again? Here’s the summary:
Stay engaged here - lots of enhancements and new experiences on the way!
Reach out and/or send a referral if there’s a Fractional “Head of Transformation” type role needed that you know about (to be clear, it’s not about the title, it’s about the problems that need solving). (Calendly)
Share your stories of being a Timeless Leader - aka an over-committed human trying to juggle all the things. This is what our movement is ultimately all about!
Sening my best in this new phase of the journey!