Welcome back to Little Leadership Lessons, my newsletter highlighting short but powerful insights to help you lead with confidence and create lasting results. These lessons come directly from my research, interviews, and coaching work with six- and seven-figure creator-founders.
I’m finally slowing down a little.
It’s the first summer where my kids are old enough that the season feels truly different. Longer days, less childcare availability, more energy from the kids, and… being way too busy at work to cater to their schedules.
July has been full. Between work travel, family travel, and coaching (did you know I work 1:1 with seven-figure creators and founders?), it’s been nonstop.
To be honest, it’s felt that way all year.
And that’s often the first sign of burnout: when everything seems to be going well, but your internal system is blinking yellow.
I’ve learned to catch those early signals before they become something harder to unwind. So this week, I’m taking time to reset: long walks, books for pleasure, time with my family, and no to-do list.
Let this be your reminder: check in with your own warning signs. Don’t wait until your body forces you to.
Let’s get to it!
A Beautiful Photo to Quiet Your Body and Mind
As a reminder, each edition of this newsletter is the direct learning from a $1,500 coaching session translated to you and your business in 10 minutes or less. Here’s this week’s…
The Situation
Business partnerships are some of the most powerful relationships in entrepreneurship—and also some of the most emotionally complex.
In a recent coaching session with two business partners, we worked through a revealing exercise that surfaced a hidden source of tension.
Here’s the journaling prompt they worked through:
- How are you feeling about your relationship to the partnership right now? (Red / Yellow / Green)
- What do you want or need from the partnership that you haven’t named out loud? What have you named that’s still unresolved?
- Where are you experiencing frustration, friction, or irritation right now?
- What are you not saying that needs to be said? What are you saying that’s not being heard? What are you hearing that’s not being said?
(The last question set comes from Jerry Colonna—we talked about them on the podcast here. These questions are valuable for any close relationship in your life.)
Here’s what surfaced:
- One partner was seen by the team as the one who “wants to grow as fast as possible.”
- The other was seen as “scared of speed” and wanting to “move slowly and with intention.”
- This created constant tension anytime the team discussed growth plans.
Then came the offhand comment that cracked the case open:
“I don’t even know what we’re optimizing for right now.”
That became the entry point to the real issue.In a recent group coaching session, one client—a creator in the food and lifestyle space—shared something that hit a nerve.
The Emotional Blocker
“Can you tell me more about that?” I asked.
He answered right away:
“I don’t know what we’re trying to grow. Revenue? Profit? Cash? Team? How can we be aligned if we’re not even clear on what we want to grow?”
That question revealed what had been missing all along: they had never explicitly defined growth—not the metric, not the pace, and definitely not the why behind it.
And underneath that ambiguity? Two very different emotional drivers.
The “fast growth” partner had big goals around financial freedom. She wanted to increase her income, build generational wealth, and create a pool of capital to invest in new ventures. She was optimizing for as many “shots on goal” as possible. Her mindset: don’t let cash sit idle—put it to work.
Her fear? That moving too slowly meant she’d miss the window to achieve the freedom and impact she envisioned.
But the other partner, the one seen as risk-averse, felt deeply misunderstood. He has invested much of his net worth into the company, works hard every week, and has just as much at stake.
He wants the company to grow too. But he wants to grow in a way that feels sustainable and responsible.
They were afraid to name the conflict directly because… What if they want different things?
Would they have the skills to navigate it?
Would it mean the partnership had to end?
Would the company survive?
These are scary questions. But avoiding them doesn’t make them go away.
The Breakthrough
Instead of voicing their needs, they were acting them out.
The “fast growth” partner was signaling her values through her decisions—taking risks, reinvesting cash, betting on upside.
The “slow and steady” partner was signaling his values, too—protecting capital, preserving team health, avoiding catastrophic downside.
Neither one is wrong. They’re just misaligned.
But because they hadn’t explicitly surfaced their motivations, the tension became a “thing” inside the business. A silent drag on trust and decision-making.
Here’s what they’re now doing to shift the dynamic.
In future partnership conversations, they committed to asking:
- What exactly are we optimizing for right now?
- How will we measure progress?
- What risks are we willing—and not willing—to take?
- And most importantly: What shared principles will guide our decisions when we disagree?
Naming those things aloud removes the fog of implicit actions and instead makes their priorities explicit.
Now, instead of fearing misalignment, they’re designing for alignment. And I’m excited to see what comes of the new approach.
Coaching Questions to Apply This to Your Business
- In what ways are you implicitly acting out what you want in your business without saying it directly to the people it impacts?
- If you could put words to that desire, what would you say you really want?
- What feels risky about stating it clearly?
- How might naming it accelerate your progress—or strengthen your relationships?
Conflict itself isn’t a problem. But avoiding the conversation often is.
Tension is a signpost. It points to unspoken trade-offs or unresolved needs.
Try naming what you really want this week in your business, in a partnership, or in your personal life. See what shifts.
Much love and respect,
