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Welcome back to House of Leadership. We explore what it really takes to grow and lead successfully in a fast-paced, high-performance environment.
We publish every Thursday and Sunday.
Thursdays are deep and tactical, practical frameworks, real examples, and leadership tools you can use immediately. Sundays are calm and reflective, with one book, one visual, and one question to sharpen how you think. Thursday builds your capability; Sunday builds your perspective.
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What did we learn this week?
Why does every QBR sound like it took an hour to prep?
The strategic-account QBR has a different feeling. The CSM walks in knowing the buying committee, usage trends, support history, news on the company. They've blocked an hour to prep. The customer feels seen.
The other 190 QBRs don't get that hour. The CSM scans the dashboard five minutes before the call. They wing it. The customer answers the same baseline questions for the third time this year.
What if every QBR was a strategic-account QBR? Two minutes before the call, your CSM has the full brief in Slack: usage trends, support history, NPS, news on the company, what their champion just posted on LinkedIn.
Every customer feels like your top customer. Even when there are 200 of them.
3,000+ tools connected. SOC 2 certified. Your data never trains models.
"It was almost instantly adopted by the bulk of my team." Boris Wexler, CEO, Space Dinosaurs
📘 Peaks and Valleys — Spencer Johnson
🚀 The Big Idea: Your Valleys Often Create Your Future Peaks
Most people love the peaks.
Recognition.
Momentum.
Confidence.
Energy.
But Peaks and Valleys argues something uncomfortable:
The valleys are where growth actually happens.
Difficult seasons force reflection.
Pressure exposes habits.
Setbacks reveal character.
The leaders who grow long-term are not the ones who avoid valleys.
They’re the ones who learn how to move through them well.
🔑 Key Takeaways
Peaks Can Make You Complacent
When things are going well, it’s easy to stop improving.
You stop questioning.
You stop sharpening.
You assume today’s success guarantees tomorrow’s relevance.
Strong leaders stay humble during peaks.
Because success has a way of hiding problems until momentum disappears.
Valleys Are Temporary — If You Respond Correctly
A bad quarter.
A difficult manager.
A failed project.
Low energy.
Feeling stuck.
Most people panic in valleys and make emotional decisions.
But valleys often contain the signal you need most.
Sometimes the valley is showing you:
what needs to change
what you’ve ignored
where you’ve outgrown your environment
what habits are hurting you
The key is not avoiding discomfort.
It’s learning from it before the next peak arrives.
Your Thinking Shapes the Landscape
Two people can experience the same setback.
One sees proof they’re failing.
The other sees feedback.
One gets bitter.
The other gets better.
Leadership maturity is understanding that perspective shapes recovery.
💡 Why It Matters
Leadership careers are never linear.
There will be seasons where you feel unstoppable.
There will be seasons where everything feels heavy.
Neither season defines you permanently.
The goal isn’t staying on the peak forever.
The goal is learning how to navigate both without losing perspective.
Because resilient leaders don’t just perform well when conditions are good.
They remain steady when conditions change.
🗞️ Things worth checking out
Real-World Ads, Simple to Run
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🧠 One visual to sit with
❓ One Question
What if the season you’re trying to escape is actually the season preparing you for your next level?