Weekly newsletter #181
The best of what I've read this week, about operations, training and education, communication, and more
Hello!
I don’t have any personal updates to share, so let’s move on to the curated resources!
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Last week’s most popular link:
Rosalyn Santa Elena writes about creating process before choosing systems or tools
What I've been reading, watching, and listening to:
LinkedIn
Kelly Sumner writes that we’ve reached a point where we need to distinguish between being a marketing leader and being the hands-on expert in every discipline
Molina Rana writes that the best marketer ever hired failed the interview. The one who aced it was let go in four months.
Kat Breeggemann writes about when a department tries something new – a live event, a different onboarding, a new agent — and not enough people engage the first time or in the first two months, and so they inevitably turn it off.
Kyle Lacy writes that companies that figure out how to pay and promote that person without shoving them into a title they never really wanted will win.
Cathy Flynn writes that one of the most challenging parts of being a COO isn’t building systems, managing people, or improving operations. It is learning how to navigate the relationship with the CEO.
Rachel Provan writes that you didn’t fail. They wanted the result without changing anything to get it. And that’s not how it works.
Melanie Jones writes that we’re all familiar with the “career ladder,” but I recently heard the concept “career garden” and can’t stop thinking about it, especially when it comes to Chiefs of Staff.
Kim Minnick writes about the High Performer’s Paradox, the system that rewards the behavior is the same one that eventually breaks the person 📝
Rosalyn Santa Elena writes about why you should not waste time waiting to be recognized
Jacqueline LeFevre shares an eLearning Quality Checklist 📝
Melissa Theiss writes about the pesky “Head of” title in startups. What does it actually mean? When should you use it? When should you eliminate it?
Christine Whitehead writes that the first 30 days of any engagement are not about fixing anything. They are about understanding everything. 🚢
Tali Chen writes about what actually makes someone exceptional in marketing operations
John Marinaro writes that Sales Enablement Is Actually Change Management, and Most Companies Miss It
Courtney Sembler writes why learning-related roles should stop fighting for words and start owning outcomes and solving the problems...together
Lisa Gonzalez writes about 4 classic warning signs that your leadership team is stuck in the weeds and the exact operational switch required to fix it
David Quartemont writes that quick fixes may change your numbers for a quarter. Underlying health changes your trajectory.
Amy McClain writes that the highest-impact enablement teams don’t become more valuable simply by processing requests faster. They become more valuable because they’re trusted to help decide which work matters most.
Mike Simmons asks: Does your sales process look good on paper, but not get followed in practice?
Latasia Cox writes about the problem when companies hire brilliant people to do the work they’re exceptional at...then turn around and ask that same hire to design the infrastructure they were brought on to use
Ophely Nhem writes that the best support hire almost didn’t make it past the first screen
Alisa Cohn writes that most leadership teams think their meeting problem is that they make decisions too slowly. Nope. The problem is they’re making decisions in the wrong place.
Articles, Reports, Guides, Newsletters
Darrell Alfonso writes about Where Leads Go to Die: Mapping the Gaps in Your Hand-off Process 📝
Hebba Youssef writes a Guide to Onboarding 🚢
Colette Molteni and Taylor Desseyn write about the human layer of a technical interview: what to say when you freeze, get interrupted, or get challenged
Andrea Bumstead writes about How to Stop Admin Work From Making Your Churn Problem Worse
Andrea Chiarelli and Jason L Zimmerman write about The Certainty Trap: Why organizations stop learning precisely when they need it most
Leslie Zaikis and Kaylin Aarts write about Why You Should Start a “Kudos Folder” to boost your confidence, sharpen your positioning, and remind you why your work matters. 📝
Strategy Shots writes about owning your failures
Matt Goode writes that You’re Not Delegating. You’re Teaching Them to Drive.
Workplaceless writes about how to Document One Recurring Process Today 📝
Bin Zhao, Fernando Olivera, and Amy C. Edmondson write that Great Leaders Know Which Emotions Their Feedback Will Trigger (Harvard Business Review - 3 free articles a month)
Al Dea writes that Influence Is Not About You: The case for treating influence as a system, not a performance
Matt McDonagh writes about how to map the people, processes, and platforms behind growth, find the real constraint, and turn the audit into a better operating system. 📝
Haroon Pervez writes a practical guide to talking about industrial-organizational psychology in real conversations, with real people, without sounding like a brochure.
Nicola Knobel writes about The Neuroinclusion Blind Spot
Sharon O’Kelly writes about proximity without authority: a reflection for chiefs of staff
Odd Morten Sørensen writes that fixing the human layer is not the soft part of marketing operations. It’s the part that decides whether everything else gets fixed at all.
Lee Densmer writes about the simplest content strategy for small marketing teams
Podcasts, Webinars, Videos
Adam Grant and Gloria Mark discuss how to rebuild your attention span
Lata Hamilton and Anamaria Dorgo discuss Mapping Ties - How to build Change Champion Networks that have an impact
Leslie Greenwood and Leanne Dow-Weimer discuss The Secret Behind Brand Evangelists & Community
Rebecca Callahan, Danielle Balestra, and Carey Picklesimer discuss How do you level up to grow your career?
Nancy Duarte plots Simon Sinek’s entire TED talk onto the Duarte Sparkline and shows you how to use that same pattern in your own presentations.
Heather Burright discusses Designing Training for Behavior Change? Include the Why
Featured Events or Classes:
July 22: What Marketing Ops skills actually move the needle for 2026, and what’s just hype?
July 22: 5 mid-year checks every revenue leader should run on their comp plan
July 28: How to Win C-Suite Friends and Influence Behavior Change
July 30: Influence Without Authority
Featured Book:
Strategic Marketing Skills: How to Build Technology-Driven Expertise That Delivers Business Value by Ana Mourão (affiliate link to bookshop.org)
Featured Remote Jobs:
A Few Ways I Can Help You
On-demand courses:
Live courses:
The next free RevOps BootCamp session starts in the fall
Participate in the research for the next live course about employee onboarding
Emoji Key:
📝 Documentation | 🚢 Employee onboarding | $ Paid course/event/resource