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INSIGHTS FOR GROWTH
Thoughts on leadership, career transitions, team dynamics, and personal growth.


Compensation Strategy
Most people leave tens of thousands of dollars on the table — not because they ask for too little, but because they get the timing wrong. This week’s Right Move mini covers when to redirect, when to be direct, and how to frame the whole package. Find the full video here: More at doneash.com.


The Walk-Away Number
Your ask sits at or above market. Your floor tells you when to stand up. Why the most important number in any negotiation is the one you never say out loud.


Composure Under Pressure — Trait 12 of 50
The room reads your nervous system before it hears your words. Trait 12 of 50, Dimension 1 of 7 — Self-Management.


The Calendar Audit
Most leaders spend 40–60% of their time below their altitude — not because they can’t delegate, but because the work below feels productive. One question sorts the calendar: does this require me?


When Everything Costs Something
Decision fatigue is one of the most misdiagnosed patterns in high performers — and it runs faster when fewer of your decisions are automated.


The Energy Audit
Tired comes from volume. Drained comes from the kind of work. The Energy Audit maps which is which — one week, one plus or minus at a time.


Defining Your Own Good Enough
Every other chapter is about performing better at your altitude. The last one asks whether it’s the right altitude at all.


The Friday Update
Your boss isn’t withholding recognition. Most of the time, they just don’t see the work. The Friday Update is three lines a week that close the visibility gap — without a single brag.


How Often Do You Think About Your Dentist?
How often do you think about your dentist? Only when you need them. There is a leader in every organization who is someone else’s dentist. Brilliant at one thing. Invisible at everything else. Not excluded — just not thought of.


The Monster Audit — Kill One This Week
Every leader builds monsters. Not on purpose. One good decision at a time until the thing you built is consuming you. Four patterns. Name the ones in your calendar right now. Pick one. Kill it this week. That’s one of 48 tools in the book.


“Gently and Persistently” — What One Client Said About The Right Altitude
One of the people who read The Right Altitude early is Blessing Nnachi — a consulting delivery leader at Google Cloud. I coached her for eight months during a pivotal transition. She wrote something about the book that I keep coming back to: “Don has the ability to gently and persistently dismantle the mindsets that limit our potential.” Gently and persistently. That’s the whole job. Not fixing people. Not telling them what to do. Helping them see what they can’t see on their


The Right Altitude Is Live
Every leader hits the same wall. The moment when the thing that got them promoted stops working. Twelve chapters. Forty-eight tools. Built from 6,000+ hours of coaching. The book is live today.


Page One — The Right Altitude
“The skills that got you here are not the skills that will keep you here.” That’s page one. Twelve chapters. Forty-eight tools. Built from 6,000+ hours of coaching conversations with more than 1,000 leaders.


The Ghost — She Did the Best Work in the Building. Nobody Knew.
She did the best work in the building. Nobody knew. Renata delivered every quarter, solved the problems no one else could, and never once raised her hand. She was invisible — and she chose to be.


The 48-Hour Rule
When something needs to be addressed, you have 48 hours to have the conversation. After that, the details fade, the narrative hardens, and you start building a case instead of having a conversation.


The Conversation You’re Afraid Will Break It
The conversation you're afraid will break the relationship is usually the one that saves it. The tension is already there. The other person already feels it. Having the conversation doesn't create the problem — the problem already exists.
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