The best of what I've read this week, about operations, training and education, communication, and more
Oct 27, 2025
Hello!
You are receiving this email a little early this week, after the AWS issues caused some Substack scheduling problems last Monday with the timing of my LinkedIn post scheduling…and since I’m at the MOps-Apalooza conference tomorrow, I want to make sure everything is working tonight. :)
Onto the curated resources!
Thanks to this month’s sponsors:
The unofficial (but emotionally endorsed) podcast from the founders of EMMIE Collective, Lauren and Sydney. It's your bi-weekly dose of half-baked ideas, business talk that's mostly correct, and a healthy dose of girl dinner energy. Go for the marketing talk, stay for the nonsense.
Arriel Balogun writes about RevOps career growth: it’s not just about what you do, it’s about the story you tell about yourself.
What I've been reading, watching, and listening to:
LinkedIn
Kacie Jenkins writes about the biggest predictor of CMO success = the leadership team you join. What defines a good fit?
Molly Graham writes about how when you start a new role, there’s this fleeting window when you can ask every “stupid” question, see clearly what’s weird or broken, and build relationships without baggage 🚢
Jeff Ignacio writes about what can anchor your 2026 demand generation plan
Cristal Westwood writes about how to talk about being a generalist without sounding unfocused, unqualified, or like you can’t commit
Erika Oliver shares takeaways from Guild’s Opportunity Summit about building resilient workforces in an era of constant change
Christie DeCarolis writes about the under-discussed soft skills instructional designers need to be successful
Charlie Saunders writes about one of the most underappreciated things in Ops: Succession planning 📝
Mark Kilens writes about how every company should be doing quarterly business reviews (QBRs)
Beth Yehaskel writes about how one of the most powerful tools you have as a leader is the ability to pause, step back, and consider your next action or decision from different angles
Lisa González writes that most leaders think documenting a process is the finish line. It’s not. It’s just the starting line. 📝
Jonathan Fianu writes about Premise. Promise. Proof. This simple framework - the 3 P’s - has become a go-to litmus test when evaluating anything new: a tool, an initiative, a process change.
Kathryn Castle writes about choosing between a strategy or a technical profile for your first RevOps hire
Liz Brumels shares takeaways from Day 2 at ATD OrgDev 2025: Connect, Empower, Transform conference
Dragana Knezevic writes about how “Move fast” is one of those startup phrases everyone loves to repeat — until it quietly breaks everything 📝
Lela Scott writes about how the longer someone works in instructional design, the more they realize, it’s not just about design thinking. It’s about emotional thinking, too
Josh McClanahan writes how too many RevOps teams are getting absolutely crushed with non-meaningful requests because there isn’t anyone else in the org raising their hands to do it instead.
Ali Spinelli writes about how people often ask how to start a career in RevOps. The answer is usually: don’t unless you’re ready for the gray areas.
Chris Willis writes how the Marketing Ops Director role is one of the hardest transitions for a marketing operations professional.
Dr. Christie Vanorsdale writes about 4 specific ways that you can start thinking and speaking differently to be more strategic
Bethany Ayers writes about how we think we know what our colleagues need. We don’t. Result? Information overload, crucial details buried, and the stuff that actually matters gets lost in the noise.
Ashley Faus writes that for presentations, it’s not about the number of slides, it’s about the overall pace and cadence of the talk.
Marija Skobe-Pilley writes how the best customer success leaders separate strategy ownership from strategy execution.
Articles, Reports, Guides, Newsletters
Alyssa Hewitt writes about The Wall of Competence: Why Smart People Miss Obvious Things (and What Great Leaders Do About It)
Mike Taylor writes about: Stop Overloading Your Learners’ Brains: A Practical Guide to Minimizing Extraneous Cognitive Load
Mike Rizzo writes about The Art of Strategic Planning for Marketing Ops Professionals
Erica Beyea writes about how a knowledge base style guide could be your team’s superpower 📝
Virginia Minni writes about New Research on How the Best Managers Shape Employees’ Careers in Harvard Business Review (3 free articles a month)
Jill Felska shares The Modern Manager’s Guide to Hosting an EOY Team Retro Session
Crissy Saunders writes about tips for effectively managing your tech stack. Plus common pitfalls to avoid 📝
Kelly Diels writes about What Audre Lorde Knew About Self-Promotion That Most Culture Makers Don’t – Why waiting for recognition is a luxury you can’t afford—and what to do instead
Lisa González writes about The Paradox of Process: How Structure Creates Freedom 📝
Aušrinė Keršanskaitė and Harv Nagra discuss Becoming Better Ops Leaders: Lessons from Operations Nation on The Handbook: The Operations Podcast – 30 minutes
Dora Nagy and Scott Amenta discuss the real operating system behind scaling leaders and organizations on the Chief of Staff podcast – 49 minutes
Calvin Wilder and Mike Rizzo discuss how to Take Control of Your Finances: Using Financial Performance Metrics and Scorecards to Manage Your Business in a MarketingOps community webinar (members only) – 55 minutes
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