Managing Made Simple

What a fractional COO does (and the cost of not having one)

A fractional COO helps business owners get out of the day-to-day by building the system that's missing between them and their team, and then making sure the team follows

First time manager? What to say in your first team meeting

As a first time manager, it's tempting to open with "I'm just here to help" or "I'll learn more from you than you'll learn from me." It comes from a good place, and it co

How to hold your team accountable: drop these two words.

Learning how to hold your team accountable can start with something as small as two words: "I need." When you make an ask about what you need, your team member's job turn

Second in command not stepping up? Wrong fit or wrong expectations

When your second in command isn't stepping up, it's tempting to decide you hired the wrong person. But most new number twos think the job is to do everything themselves,

3 things great leaders do, no matter the team size or industry

Being a leader people want to work for looks the same on every team, even when the challenge on yours feels like nobody else has ever dealt with it. A team at an insuranc

How to give a performance review your team won't dread

How to run performance reviews your team doesn't dread: a simple performance review conversation, a one-page self-assessment, and feedback with zero surprises. Performanc

How to create a sense of urgency without micromanaging

Creating a sense of urgency on your team starts with the ask. When employees don’t follow through, the handoff was usually missing something. You ask for the client email

The tool that pours rocket fuel on employee motivation

What to say instead of good job: "great work" and "nice job" are comments anybody could get, and specific employee recognition is a completely different tool. This episod

The 3-step conversation that retains your best employees

How to keep employees from quitting rarely comes down to money. Gallup found 42% of voluntary employee turnover is preventable, and most of it traces back to one conversa

The Sit-Down: the conversation that makes feedback and recognition easier

The hard conversation with an employee you keep putting off has a structure. Giving feedback to an employee does not have to become a whole thing. In this episode, Lia br

How to make 1:1s the most impactful meetings of your week

One on one meetings are the first thing leaders cancel and the one that costs the most. The fix isn't discipline, it's your one on one meeting agenda. In research run acr

How to be a great Player-Coach manager

Player coach management breaks down the same way every time: the player work wins and the coaching slides. If you lead a team and carry your own deliverables, you already

Revenue goals don’t motivate your employees. Here’s what does.

Revenue goals don’t motivate employees. The fix is one metric per role that each person can control, a number their own daily work moves. In this episode, Lia Garvin expl

The reason your team didn’t follow your plan - and what to do

You gave your team the full picture: the research, the roadmap, the direction. They said they were on board. Then nothing moved. In this episode, Lia Garvin breaks down t

The person you just hired didn’t bring the ROI? Here’s what to do.

You took a real risk and made that hire. 90 days later, you're wondering if it was the wrong call. Before you assume it's the wrong person: nine times out of ten, it isn'

Why your team can’t be your friends (and where the line actually is)

You thought she was a friend. Then the reorg came out and she found out with everyone else. What felt like a betrayal was a clarity problem. In this episode, Lia Garvin b

Where AI fits on your team today

The headlines said AI would be cheaper than your team. The receipts say otherwise. If you jumped in fast and are feeling the cost, or you've been holding back wondering i

How to make managing former peers easier (The Sit-Down in action)

You got promoted. Your closest work friend is now your direct report. And what felt like it would be easy is now the most uncomfortable relationship in your professional

How to fix it when delegating fails - 5 min feedback script

Host Lia Garvin breaks down exactly what to do in the first five minutes after delegated work comes back wrong. Learn why taking work back stalls team growth, a practical

3 Non-negotiables to hand-off work without lowering your standards

Part 2 of a 3-part delegation series. You handed something off, it came back wrong, and you took it back — the problem wasn’t your team. Lia breaks down the three non‑neg