6 learning tracks. Weekly templates. No more random reading.
Pick the one thing that's actually holding you back. Then build it.
Here’s what I keep hearing from readers ↴
“I’ve read most of your issues. I’ve learned a lot. But I still freeze when my VP asks me to ‘bottom-line it.’”
“I know I should pre-wire decisions. I just... don’t.”
“I get the theory. I just don’t have the muscle.”
Yes, you understand org influence intellectually.
You just haven’t practiced it enough for it to show up under pressure.
Reading about pushback doesn’t make you someone who pushes back.
Reading about executive framing doesn’t make you someone who frames like an executive.
You need reps.
So here’s what’s changing.
Saturday teaches it. Midweek you practice it.
Starting this coming Saturday, every Saturday issue will now map to one of 6 capability tracks → the specific muscles I’ve seen separate people who get heard/promoted from people who get ignored.
With every midweek issue (usually on Wednesdays), paid subscribers get a dedicated Notion template tied to that same capability, a tool you use inside your actual work that week.
A tool to ACT with!
These are the same tools I use in my day-to-day work and with my coaching clients.
The copy gives you the thinking.
The template gives you the reps.
Do the ”influence” work every week, and your influence will compound in an organized and “testable” way. Do the work consistently for 3-6 months and you won't recognize the way you are perceived by others (and by yourself!)
That’s how you stop knowing about influence and start having it.
🎓 The 6 Influence Learning Tracks
Each one targets a different reason you’re stuck. Find yours.
♟️ Political Intelligence → Track 1
👉 You need this if your recommendations keep getting killed by people who talked to the right person before the meeting started (and you didn’t.)
This track teaches you how decisions actually get made when the org chart is lying, who can kill your idea with one sentence, and how to pre-wire the room before you walk into it.
What you’ll practice ↴
Mapping real decision-makers.
Timing your influence to hit before the decision is already made.
Sending the 2 messages that change the outcome of every meeting.
You already know ↴
🧠 Strategic Judgment → Track 2
👉 You need this if your “data-driven” argument keeps losing to your PM’s gut feeling — and you can’t figure out why.
It’s not because data doesn’t matter. It’s because they’re exercising judgment and you’re presenting evidence. This track builds the pattern recognition that lets you think in systems, spot what happens two moves ahead, and contribute to strategy before anyone gives you a strategy title.
What you’ll practice ↴
Mapping second-order effects of every design decision.
Framing options the way leadership actually evaluates them.
Presenting judgment instead of just “findings”.
You already know ↴
🎤 Executive Communication → Track 3
You need this if you have the best insight in the room and still lose the room, because you sound like a designer talking to designers.
This track rewires how you communicate so leadership hears strategy, not craft. You’ll stop presenting what you did and start presenting what changed — in the language each stakeholder actually responds to.
What you’ll practice ↴
Translating UX recommendations into business impact for different audiences.
Structuring every presentation around decisions, not process.
Building the executive presence that makes people stop checking their phones when you talk.
You already know ↴
🎖️ Building Authority → Track 4
You need this if you keep hearing “great work” but never hear “we need you in this conversation before we decide.”
The biggest track- 12 parts - because this is where the uncomfortable truth lives: being great at your job and being seen as a leader are completely different skills. This track builds the second one. From “helpful” to “essential” to “the name they say first.”
What you’ll practice ↴
Identifying where you sit on the helpful → essential spectrum.
Shifting from “demonstrating expertise” to “exercising judgment.”
Tracking the weekly micro-moves that compound into the kind of authority where people defer to you.
You already know ↴
👁️ Strategic Visibility → Track 5
You need this if you do the strategic thinking but someone else gets credit for it, because your contributions are invisible by the time decisions get summarized.
NOT self-promotion. A system for making your thinking visible as you work so your impact is legible in real-time, not scrambled together at review time.
What you’ll practice ↴
A weekly visibility rhythm — what to make visible, to whom, through what channel.
Capturing the moments your thinking shaped a decision, prevented a mistake, or redirected a team.
Building an ongoing career narrative that makes the next role feel inevitable.
You already know ↴
🤝 Influence Networks → Track 6
You need this if people like working with you but nobody’s advocating for you when you’re not in the room.
You probably have plenty of professional relationships. But you probably have zero sponsors. This track builds the network that actually moves careers (not LinkedIn connections), but the people who pull you into rooms, put your name forward for opportunities, and defend your work when it’s being evaluated without you there.
What you’ll practice ↴
Mapping your actual influence network (not your org chart).
Identifying the sponsor gap.
Having the conversations that turn a skeptic into an advocate.
You already know ↴
Pick One. Start This Week.
🚨 Don’t try to build six capabilities at once.
Pick the one that matches the frustration you feel most often↴
“I keep getting overruled.” → ♟️ Political Intelligence or 🎖️ Building Authority
“I’m in the room but nobody listens.” → 🎤 Executive Communication or 🧠 Strategic Judgment
“I’m not getting invited to the right conversations.” → 🤝 Influence Networks or 👁️ Strategic Visibility
Read the track. When the templates drop, use them. One capability, practiced weekly, compounding over months.
All Templates Are FREE for Paid Subscribers
If you’ve been reading for a while and wondering why things aren’t shifting yet: this is probably why. You have the knowledge. You don’t have the reps.
The templates fix that.
Already a paid subscriber? You’ll start seeing templates tagged by track starting next week. They’ll live inside each track page so you can always find them.
Want the full guided experience?
I offer you 2 roadmaps. They sequence everything by level if you want a structured path.
🚀 Becoming a Leader → a bridge for Sr/Lead ICs to Director/VP roles. Transitioning from “doing” to “leading” is notoriously tricky. This is your roadmap to stop fumbling the transition and start building the strategic influence required for the next level. For real.
📈 Growing as a Leader → you’ve got the title, now you need the authority. What you don’t have is time. This roadmap is specifically curated for leaders under time pressure who need to scale their impact, manage high-stakes tension, and stop being pulled back into the weeds of IC work.
Talk soon,
📌 Stay Sharp Between Issues
→ LinkedIn — tactical influence plays, posted almost daily at ~8:00 AM EST.
→ My book — practical mentorship frameworks for senior UXers.