November 2026

The first order of business is to stop the bleeding, but you won’t know where the open wound is without practicing immersive listening. Average leaders join a new company and immediately rush into headcount trimming or drastic restructuring. The great leaders do nothing for the first 6 months. They are humble enough to accept that they do not know anything about the organization they are joining. They may be familiar with the product, software, or service, but they don’t know the people. Failing to acknowledge 30 years of history and context is dangerous, & counterproductive to trust building. When an organization is changing because of poor leadership, falling revenue, fierce competition, or as part of succession planning, the first step to stopping the bleeding is asking the right questions, followed by real listening: We’ve been trained to apply pressure to an open wound. As a leader in business, it’s the opposite. Step back. Take the pressure off. Listen.