Most founders built their business from nothing. They were the product, the salesperson, the decision-maker, the culture. The company exists because they willed it into being. Somewhere along the way, being needed became part of who they are. That's not ego in the pejorative sense. It's human. We find meaning in being useful, in being the person others turn to.
Read MoreEntrepreneurs who build traction almost always skew urgent. That urgency is often what gets the company off the ground in the first place. At scale, that same instinct becomes disruptive. People struggle to understand priorities. Context switches constantly. Everything sounds like a crisis. Leaders start mistaking urgency for accountability and patience for disengagement. So founders hire someone to "balance" them. Often a COO, Chief of Staff, or operations leader who skews more patient. In theory, it's a purposeful pairing. In practice, it creates conflict.
Read MoreStrong cultures don't eliminate toxicity entirely. They detect it early and contain it fast. They have antibodies: clear values, frequent feedback, leaders who stay engaged even under pressure. The goal isn't perfection. It's resilience. Whether a single bad apple spoils the barrel is one of the clearest indicators of leadership quality
Read MoreEvery high-performing team needs strengths from both sides of the spectrum. Long-term thinkers and short-term executors. Planners and improvisers. Structure followers and rule breakers. Without both, the team is weaker. Nowhere is that tension clearer than between team players and competitive players.
Read MoreWhen uncertainty hits, employees want answers. If they don’t get them, they’ll make up their own. Usually jumping to the worst-case scenario in the process. That speculation erodes trust and compounds anxiety.
Read MoreOne-on-ones aren't optional. They're not nice-to-haves. They're the most important meetings on your calendar. The leaders who master one-on-ones don’t just have happier teams. They have better results.
Read MoreMost leaders hate meetings because they still think their real work is somewhere else. It’s not. The meeting is the work. It’s where coaching happens. Where friction gets surfaced and conflicts resolved. Where your values show up. If you’re phoning it in or constantly rescheduling, that’s the signal you’re sending to everyone else. You don’t have to love meetings. But you do have to learn how to lead inside them
Read MoreYou can’t fire Cal. He’s indispensable.” That’s what the Board told me on my first day as CEO. Cal was their lead engineer. He had decades of experience, deep technical knowledge, and a reputation for terrorizing anyone who dared disagree with him.
Read MoreMuch of the tech talk recently is about AI, specifically ChatGPT (generating text) and Lensa AI (generating images). So, I gave ChatGPT a request to write an article on how a CEO's ethics impacts the culture of the organization. While it lacks my charm and occasional snark, nor does it include the storytelling I often do, can you tell that it was machine-generated?
Read MoreHow many times have you been in an interview process when someone asks the question: “Will they fit in here?” Is there an objective way to answer that? The question of fit is based on careful business choices. It’s based on emotion, and we all know hiring isn’t a decision we should make emotionally. And yet…so many business leaders do.
Read More94% of senior executives think it’s important to focus on the growth and development of their HR executives so they’re ready to face the future. Of course, if you don’t have an HR executive on your team, you can’t focus on developing them. That’s the time to begin thinking about hiring a Chief People Officer.
Read MoreAn interim executive temporarily takes a management position in an organization to help the existing leadership solve problems and set the future, permanent leader up for success. Knowing whether an interim executive is right for your organization depends on your current needs and your assumptions about the future.
Read MoreIt’s time to stop the generation war and recognize that we’re all looking for the same thing and that our workplaces are better when they include the perspectives of all the generations. During the pandemic, people started to look at their lives differently, at their jobs differently. Employers looked at their organizations differently. And many of us have come out of the pandemic in the same, new place.
Read MoreThey do the performance development, and nothing changes. Why? Because a change in behavior requires practice, reinforcement, repetition. If leaders want to see real change when they implement performance development initiatives, they need to follow the three Cs of good management: Clarity, Communication, and Consistency.
Read MoreResearch shows plenty of upsides to diverse workplaces — more innovation, more successful decision making, better ability to connect with a wider variety of stakeholders. In 2021, after four years as a board member of the Philadelphia-Israel Chamber of Commerce (PICC), I was asked to serve as its president. Coming into the role, I knew we needed to make some changes.
Read MoreYou might think that since companies spend upwards of $2 trillion every year on acquisitions, they’re a sure thing. The truth is, mergers and acquisitions fail at a rate of 70-90%. The biggest hurdle companies face after a merger or acquisition is the integration of teams. Few take the time and give the focus needed to build cohesive teams.
Read MoreWhat do you do when you need to make an organizational change or let an employee down and you want to maintain a successful employer-employee relationship? For each situation, the first step is being willing to have difficult conversations with your employees.
Read MoreHow do you develop a system for compensation that gets you the talent you need, is relatively easy to administer, and is equitable across your organization? If I could impart two pieces of wisdom to every company with employees, they would be these: document every promise or concession you make; and assume compensation transparency.
Read MoreGiven the bonds that can develop in the trenches of an early startup or young business, it’s not uncommon for business relationships to veer into friendship. What happens when a company grows beyond a person that helped start it? And what do you do when you’re the one faced with that dilemma — do you choose the business or your friend? Or is there some way to choose both?
Read MoreIf you’ve turned your nose up at the concept of psychological safety because, frankly, you’re getting tired of trying to figure out every new buzzword, I’m encouraging you to rethink. Creating a workplace culture where people feel safe to be themselves and feel respected for their contributions is critical. You’ll lose talent if you don’t.
Read MoreStartups and Small Businesses sometimes find themselves at the edge of a chasm. With success in developing and growing their business, a stage is reached where they find that the "next step" is a big one! Trajectify partners with the entrepreneur to build momentum and trajectory to be able to cross the chasm.
We offer private and group (Mastermind) coaching and hold frequent events and seminars.
Trajectify is founded my Mike Krupit, veteran of eight startups. Mike has helped dozens of companies grow and mentored and advised hundreds more.
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