Jacob and Casey discuss crafting an ideal week—-a proactive approach to planning time for what matters most, protecting margin, and sustaining energy both at work and home.
They share how regularly reviewing and updating an ideal week template helps leaders hedge against chaos and interruptions, while staying focused on key priorities. Their discussion covers essential steps such as starting with a blank calendar, blocking out recurring meetings and personal routines, auditing current time use, and ensuring built-in flexibility and white space.
Casey and Jacob stress the importance of critical reflection: questioning the necessity of each meeting, reserving "deep work" periods, and blocking time for daily startup and shutdown routines. Other practical advice includes color-coding calendars, sharing ideal week philosophies with teams for alignment, and tracking "hit rates" against the plan to drive accountability and continuous improvement.
Key Points Discussed:
Actionable Takeaways:
Take charge of your time by designing your ideal week now and commit to revisiting it routinely, empowering yourself and your team to focus on what matters most.
Listen as Casey and Jacob explore why consistent one-on-ones are the highest-leverage activity for leaders, addressing the common dread around them and sharing strategies to transform them into relationship-building and coaching sessions.
Key Points Discussed:
Actionable Takeaways:
Ready to elevate your leadership? Commit to consistent, purposeful one-on-ones and start building stronger, more engaged teams.
Jacob and Casey discuss how the isolation inherent in leadership roles can affect decision-making and performance, drawing on research that highlights the prevalence of loneliness among senior leaders. They explore the challenges of maintaining a confident persona while shouldering heavy responsibilities and the importance of having a trusted inner circle to share concerns and gain objective feedback.
Key Points Discussed:
Actionable Takeaways:
Take control of your leadership journey by implementing these strategies to reduce isolation and enhance your effectiveness.
In this episode, Casey & Jacob share personal stories and professional experiences from 2024, shedding light on what it takes to lead effectively. They discuss their key accomplishments and the challenges they faced. They also outline their aspirations for the future, Casey and Jacob provide a thoughtful and engaging analysis of their leadership journey.
Beyond recounting their own experiences, they offer practical advice for listeners on how to plan for personal and professional growth. With a focus on setting realistic goals, learning from setbacks, and staying adaptable, this episode is packed with valuable takeaways for anyone looking to enhance their leadership skills. Whether you’re a seasoned leader or just starting out, you’ll find inspiration and actionable tips to help you navigate the year ahead with confidence.
In this episode of Leader Fables, Jacob & Casey discuss the art of team development. While lots of conversations regarding leadership often focuses on individual growth through 1:1s, this conversation explores ways leaders can nurture team cohesion and collaboration.
Jacob & Casey share practical, actionable tips, including how to:
Honorable mentions in this episode include:
With relatable examples and their signature humor, Jacob & Casey make the case for why investing in team development isn’t just worth it—it’s essential. Listen in for strategies that are easy to implement and guaranteed to make your team stronger.
In this episode of Leader Fables, hosts Casey and Jacob discuss the challenges and benefits of delegating work as leaders. Through personal anecdotes of triumphs and failures, they explore why delegation can be so difficult and why it’s essential for effective leadership.
Key Discussion Points:
Why Leaders Struggle to Delegate
Many leaders hesitate to delegate due to perfectionism, control tendencies, fear of failure, or insecurity. High-visibility tasks often amplify these concerns, making delegation even more daunting.
The Case for Delegation
Delegating is crucial for scaling leadership, empowering teams, and fostering growth. It provides opportunities for team members to develop their skills and for leaders to focus on higher-level responsibilities, advancing careers on both sides.
How to Delegate Successfully
Honorable mentions from this episode include:
In this episode, Jacob and Casey dive deep into the topic of goals, exploring the common perceptions and challenges leaders face when setting and achieving them. They discuss goals in a leadership context, and highlight the often negative connotations associated with goals, such as doom, gloom, and the pressurethat comes from high expectations.
The episode is divided into two main sections: what to do when you realize you might miss a goal and what to do after you have officially missed it. They stress the importance of acknowledging potential issues early and communicating transparently with stakeholders.
Whether you're a seasoned leader or just starting out, Jacob and Casey's discussion provides a thoughtful and encouraging perspective on the journey towards achieving your goals.
In this episode, Casey and Jacob discuss their favorite productivity apps and tools. They also share their experiences with analog tools like the Full Focus Planner and their preferred pens. They emphasize the importance of having a consistent strategy for organizing notes and emails, and discuss the benefits of having a good work bag. They caution against constantly switching between new apps.
Mentioned in this episode:
In this episode, Jacob and Casey discuss the importance of hobbies in preventing burnout, maintaining motivation, and promoting a healthy work-life balance. They share their personal hobbies, ranging from stargazing and 3D printing to traveling and building Lego sets. They also discuss the therapeutic benefits of hobbies, such as relaxation, stress relief, and intellectual stimulation. Finally, they highlight the importance of hobbies being enjoyable, non-monetized, and not tied to a set timeline.
Casey and Jacob encourage leaders to avoid hobbies that involve screens, especially for those who spend significant time working on computers. They are also encourage folks to be comfortable with changing hobbies if they no longer bring enjoyment, and to start small when picking a new hobby.
Mentioned in this episode:
In this second part of a two part topic on making ideas happen, Casey and Jacob discuss the art of project execution. But before they do they briefly recap the importance of capitalizing on inspiration and strategies for effective persuasion. They then share many tips for effective project execution, including what to do when it all goes to hell.
Mentions in this episode:
In this next installment of Leader Fables, Jacob & Casey share their process for making ideas happen. They discuss the importance of capitalizing on fleeting inspiration, explore the art of persuasion, highlighting the use of leading questions and inclusive brainstorming to gain support for ideas. They conclude by sharing some tips for effective project execution strategies.
Mentions in this episode:
In this episode, Casey & Jacob explore helping your family love your job. They discuss the challenges leaders face in achieving work-life harmony and debunk the idea of work-life balance. They emphasize how your family's perception of your work impacts your success and well-being. They also share personal stories and provide practical strategies, such as loving your own work, setting boundaries, involving your family in your work life, and refraining from complaining.
Ultimately, they stress the significance of cultivating a positive relationship between your family and your job for mutual support and fulfillment.
Travel, especially nowadays, is hectic. Join Jacob & Casey as they share their tried and true travel tips and tricks. They also discuss ways to stay focused, present, and maintain their routines while away from the comforts of home and office.
Mentions in this episode include:
Balancing finding inspiration and developing additional hard skills is essential for effective leadership. Join Casey & Jacob as they discuss the whys, whats, and hows of professional development, and ways to get the most of the many resources available to leaders.
Mentions in this episode:
Coping with and preventing burnout is an invaluable skill for team leaders. Join Jacob & Casey as they discuss identifying burnout, preventing it, and eliminating it when it rears its ugly head.
Mentions in this Episode:
As a follow-up to their last episode on meetings, listen to Casey and Jacob share their thoughts on what makes for a good presentation. They discuss how to make presentations powerful by building impactful content, inviting audience interaction, and delivering a memorable intros and outros. They also share how to incorporate these elements into in-person and virtual presentations.
This episode is for you if you're looking for tips on ensuring your next presentation inspires your audience.
Listen to Jacob & Casey discuss the four elements of an extraordinary meeting: energizing, inviting, informative and celebratory. They deliver tips for making every meeting memorable, impactful, and fun. They also share how to incorporate these elements into in-person, virtual, and hybrid meetings.
If you're struggling to make your meetings effective or if you could use some advice to spice up an impending meeting, this episode is for you.
Mentions in this episode:
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Join Casey and Jacob for a special bonus episode of Leader Fables, discussing the manifold benefits of creating margin in our lives and work. They talk about strategies to own your calendar, live on the edge of financial well-being, and mind commitments.
If you have little margin or lots, there's a tip in this episode that will help you maintain and create a lasting margin.
Mentions in this episode:
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Jacob & Casey finish talking about the Five Altitudes of Planning by taking two of their own life goals through each altitude. Along the way, they deliver lots of tips on developing a life plan, completing annual planning, ratifying quarterly goals, making weeks work, and doing daily planning.
Also, signup for the show's newsletter to receive exclusive content, and enter to win a free copy of Free to Focus and Deep Work.
Join Jacob & Casey as they deliver the final installment of the Five Altitudes of Planning: life planning. Learn how to envision your best future self, consider key relationships, identify life accounts, and assess your ideal and current state. Hear tips on how to use your life plan to inform your days, weeks, quarters, and years.
Also, signup for the show's newsletter to receive exclusive content, and enter to win a free copy of Free to Focus and Deep Work.
Resources Mentioned in this Episode
