Barrett Brooks

Writer and coach for mission-driven creators and startup founders

2024 | Week 12

Podcast trailer! Making business personal. A poem. And a tribute to a late friend.

Hey Reader!

It’s official, I have a launch date for the podcast I’m confident in because everything required to launch is complete. You’re the first to know that you can now watch or listen to the trailer + subscribe to the podcast on YouTube or in your favorite podcast app.

Good Work Podcast with Barrett Brooks

Watch or listen to the trailer and subscribe on your favorite platform below:

The trailer isn’t groundbreaking, but it will give you a good sense of what the show is about and why I made it. The first three episodes will all drop on April 9th and then I’ll publish new episodes weekly. At launch you’ll hear:

  1. ​James Clear, author of Atomic Habits (20M copies sold), talk about his standard of excellence, how he tries to pass on principles for living a good life to his children, what’s worth sacrificing to attain success, and so much more
  2. ​Hannah Ritchie, deputy editor of Our World in Data and author of Not the End of the World, talk about how to help people change their minds based on facts, why we should preserve the beauty nature as a reflection of our higher level of consciousness, and communicating complex information about the most important problems in the world.
  3. ​Jerry Colonna, founder of Reboot and multi-time author of powerful books on leadership, on the true job of a CEO, what it means to create cultures of belonging, and allowing room for the grief that life will inevitably send our way.

If you enjoy this newsletter, you will love this podcast. I made it for you. It’s made up of deep, thoughtful conversations on making impact at scale, leading with purpose, and living a heart-centered life full of meaningful experiences and relationships.
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​This week I also have for you the first full-length essay I’ve written in some time. Rather than try to cram it into this email with everything else, I’ll send a separate dedicated email with the essay this coming Tuesday, April 2.

It’s the first in a series of essays about what I learned as COO of ConvertKit as we grew from $3M to $30M in annual revenue. You can expect 8-10 essays about lessons learned in my role as COO. I’ll combine them into one overview and linked table of contents when the series is complete.

Let’s get to it.

A quote to make you think from a book worth reading

“The act of leading and the art of growing up depend on each of us, finally, eventually, repeatedly sorting the unsorted baggage we’ve been traveling with since childhood.”

-Jerry Colonna, Reboot​

Jerry is one of the first guests on the podcast and he is the founder of the coaching firm that 1) supported each executive at ConvertKit during my time there and 2) served as a role model for my own coaching work.

His first book, Reboot, is about the process of stepping into our full identity as a human and a leader. It’s about acknowledging and integrating the burdens of the past so that we can move forward more whole.

It’s about becoming the leaders we’re meant to be. I love it.

​Since I’ll be sending a separate essay on Tuesday, I thought I’d share five great reads this week instead of three. If you only read one, read the last one. Enjoy!

1 Scott Dinsmore: A Tribute by James Clear | Read time: 8min

“We tell people to follow their dreams. We claim that you should be the change that you wish to see in the world. We encourage people to bring others together and to create projects and businesses that impact those around them. Start a business. Travel the world. Live life to the fullest. Scott actually did those things.”
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Scott was a mentor and friend who died far too young in 2015 at the age of 33 due to unexpected rockfall while climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro. He was on a year-long around the world trip with his beloved wife, Chelsea.

While uploading the podcast trailer to YouTube, I found a trove of previous video uploads that had long since been marked private. One of them was an interview of Scott for my first podcast 12 years ago. It made me want to celebrate Scott and make sure people continue to know about the impact he made while he was with us.

Our mutual friend James wrote this beautiful tribute to him after he passed.

Question to consider as you read: What do you hope people will say about you when you’re gone? How can you live and lead in more alignment with those hopes starting today?

2 How to Be Great? Just Be Good, Repeatably by Steph Smith | Read time: 16min

“This led me to think further about what greatness truly means. I’ve come to learn that it’s not about overnight successes or flashes of excellence, but periods of repeatable habits.”
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On the surface, this essay seems obvious for someone who is a founder running an existing business. You’re not new to the game… is there really something here to be learned?
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I find that I often need reminders of the fundamentals. Because even (especially?) the most experienced people I know often forget the fundamentals.

Question to consider as you read: What do you need to be doing consistently now in order to eventually be the GOAT in your own way?

3 For One Who is Exhausted by John O’Donohue | Read time: 5min

“You have been forced to enter empty time.
The desire that drove you has relinquished.
There is nothing else to do now but rest
And patiently learn to receive the self
You have forsaken in the race of days.”
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John O’Donohue’s To Bless the Space Between Us is one of the most wonderful gifts I have ever received (thank you, Andy). I read a blessing from the book on most mornings and sit in contemplation for a few moments afterward.
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This blessing in particular strikes at the heart of something nearly every leader I know has encountered: that period when you have nothing left to give. If you find yourself exhausted, I hope this blessing provides a moment of reflection and hope.

Question to consider as you read: What small miracles have you rushed past? What series of events and commitments has led to your exhaustion? What patterns are no longer serving you that you could shed to live and lead more sustainably?

4 Most People Won’t by Bryce Roberts | Read time: 5min

“I was in a ball gown, I saw the CEO of Uber, Travis Kalanick, sitting at the bar. I was three whiskeys deep at this point and I walked up to him and said, “I use Uber all the time and I absolutely hate the app. I think you should bring me in to fix it. (Elle Luna)”

​The opening story to this quick read is a banger. That quote alone should make you want to read it.
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And the punch line, of course, is in the title.

Question to consider as you read: What’s the thing you know would move your business forward, but you’ve been shying away from? What’s the thing most people won’t do that you will now that you’ve read this?

5 Making Business Personal by Robert Kegan, Lisa Lahey et al | Read time: 24min

“These companies operate on the foundational assumptions that adults can grow; that not only is attention to the bottom line and the personal growth of all employees desirable, but the two are interdependent; that both profitability and individual development rely on structures that are built into every aspect of how the company operates; and that people grow through the proper combination of challenge and support, which includes recognizing and transcending their blind spots, limitations, and internal resistance to change.”

This is the closest thing I’ve seen to an organizing thesis on how I believe a great organization should be run from a people and culture perspective.
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Business is personal. Human beings with behavioral patterns rooted in experiences from long ago show up to work everyday. You can try to ignore it or you can acknowledge it and use it to fuel even higher levels of performance.

This essay is about embracing the personal. I found it exceptional and will use it to refine my approach from ConvertKit the next time I build a company bigger than me.

Question to consider as you read: What practices and ideas from the essay could you test in your organization? What ideas from the essay did you find yourself resisting or rejecting outright? What does that tell you about your own beliefs and patterns?

Much love and respect,

If you enjoyed this newsletter, forward it to a founder friend. You can also recommend me to a founder or creator as a coach.