Flying from ATL (near record cold) to LAX (near-record high) tomorrow and packing for this trip is very confusing

Anyway, I have unfortunately found another thing to monetize

Just wrapped up my final cohort of Engineering Leadership in the AI Era yesterday. Grateful to have taught this course 10 times (7 times through Maven). But I have new course ideas that demand my attention now! You can still take the self-paced course here: course.modernleader.is/courses/mana...

(spends hours working on a blog post and shares on linkedin) linkedin: you get 912 views. don't ask for more.

3 weeks post-op tomorrow 4 weeks until the next surgery 10 weeks until I can stop washing my compression leggings every single day

We’re still figuring out how to incorporate AI into our day-to-day. The risk with “AI-ifying everything” is that we strip away the parts of work people actually enjoy. The good news: this is solvable. Here’s my take on where we are in the AI adoption journey: www.modernleader.is/p/what-happe...

Tomorrow's newsletter is a good one 👀 Sign up to receive it tomorrow morning: modernleader.is

Today: mourn yet another preventable execution Tomorrow: increase shareholder value

New on After Burnout: The mental math of taking time off afterburnout.co/p/medical-le...

I think I’ll be a mummy for Halloween this year. By the time I’m done with all 3 surgeries, I’ll certainly have enough ACE wraps to cover my whole body

Well that was a heartbreaking end

If you’re wondering what I’ve been doing while on medical leave…

I’ve talked a bit about having lipedema on here (a connective tissue disorder that causes a buildup of fat that can’t be burned by diet and exercise and has to be surgically removed). I’m 7 days post-op #1 of 3 surgeries - nearly 5L removed. I’m still very swollen but I have actual calf definition!

Post op day 7 Good news: I can now walk up stairs Bad news: I cannot walk down stairs

Post op day 3: swollen legs make for a great table

72 hours post-op and I’m trying really hard to not be productive. I’ve read 2 books, watched all of Heated Rivalry, and I’m almost caught up on The Traitors. I still have 10 more days of intentional do-nothingness. Who knew recovering from surgery would be a mental game too?

48 hours post op. Swelling is really starting to kick in and it doesn’t feel super great but I knew it was coming. Still walking around every 2-3 hours and drinking a ton of water.

New on The Modern Leader this week: While “good communication” is an important skill, it should be treated as table stakes and not the one to highlight. I cover three others that are worthy of your attention. www.modernleader.is/p/the-skills...

The 2026 Reset Challenge officially kicks off tomorrow! If you’re signed up, Day 1’s email will be in your inbox at 6am ET. If you’re not signed up, you still have time! 👉 modernleader.is/reset

First and final race before surgery next week!

Happy Mayor Mamdani day to those who celebrate

Officially 7 days until surgery! 1 week! Time has flown by

It may technically be a holiday tomorrow, but Modern Leader All Access members will still get their January leadership playbook! Get yours (and past playbooks) by signing up for All Access: modernleader.is/upgrade

Seeing folks interact with and share my content makes me so incredibly happy 🥹

There is a 100% chance someone thinks I’m an asshole for not accepting their LinkedIn invitation. I’m honestly just too tired to go through them. This is why I end up bulk accepting and then feeling a different kind of regret.

My free 2026 Reset Challenge kicks off in just 1 week! You'll get a short prompt each day for 3 weeks, helping you to identify a pattern to change and create a plan. Hundreds of ICs and EMs have already signed up. I can't wait to go through this challenge together. Join: www.modernleader.is/reset

Can't wait to talk to my therapist about this tomorrow

Well it only took a few years, but I finally got around to migrating my domains off Squarespace after the Google Domains acquisition

Every 6 months I build a new event registration page for a nonprofit. Every 6 months I forget all the steps I need to take. Last year I refactored everything (with the help of AI) and wrote a readme + scripts to automate as much as possible. What took me 3+ hours before is now a 15-minute task 🥹

"Planning becomes a stand-in for motion, even though it doesn’t actually relieve anything. It just keeps the mind occupied enough to avoid sitting with the unease underneath." New on After Burnout: The week where time stops making sense afterburnout.co/p/the-week-w...

❓I’m thinking about adding a new section to my newsletter for The Modern Leader showcasing some Engineering Manager roles I come across. Useful or noisy?

(Checking my notifications this morning) Dad: Merry Xmas Text group: Merry Christmas love you all! Chase: Your statement is available

2 weeks until surgery ❤️ Made the payment in full yesterday so I’m locked in. Now to buy all of the necessities for home.

Officially off work for the next 5 days. How many new side projects should I start? 3? 6? 2 new domains?

10 performance reviews down, 5 to go! I suppose I should take a coffee break ☕

Thank you for supporting me on another great year of writing The Modern Leader 💌 Today's newsletter is the last for the year. See you on Jan 1 for the All Access members download, Jan 5 for the start of the Reset Challenge, and Jan 6 for regular programming! www.modernleader.is/p/2025-wrap-up

I feel like I need to make a donation to an environmental impact fund 😬

this is my 2026 vision board

ICYMI: New post for After Burnout on how I'm approaching goal setting differently in 2026

signing on to work today when most people took the full 2 weeks off

Breaking: Web scraper with more money mad at web scraper with less money blog.google/technology/s...

Where did “no fluff” even come from? Like why is AI so insistent on writing it?

My favorite part of the end of the year is realizing that nothing I thought I would care about going into 2025 actually made my top list of things I ended up caring about. It doesn’t matter what goals I set for 2026. The year will have me on its own timeline.

Starting my new career as a photographer. Thank you for your support

My ED dietitian has SO much patience with me while we continue to rewire my brain when it comes to food. The holidays are always a hard time for me for many reasons (food, family, lipedema diagnosis) but my dietitian is magic when it comes to patiently calling me on my shit when I start spiraling.

✨ Enshittification ✨

It's amazing how many things I suddenly need to do before I can start writing (14) performance reviews. I'm magically so busy!

Exciting news: I’m running a free 15-day Manager Reset Challenge for senior ICs + managers starting Jan 5! 🎉 One short prompt each weekday to reset how you communicate, delegate, prioritize, and lead in 2026. Join here 👉 modernleader.is/reset

3 weeks until surgery #1 of 3! 🎉

One day I'm going to write another book, but I feel like there are already so many leadership books