The Manager’s Compass
Welcome to the practice of Leadership Cartography™. Each post maps the terrain of modern leadership. Helping you navigate challenges, build confidence, and lead with steadiness.
In an AI world, judgment is your edge. Cartography builds it.
New here? Take the Explorer and discover which terrain you navigate best.
How to Develop Employees Who Actually Grow: 5 Principles Rooted in Clarity, Care, and Reality
You hired someone brilliant. Six months later, they're struggling, and you can't figure out what went wrong. The problem isn't always their potential—sometimes it's that we're developing the wrong skills, ignoring crucial signals, or mistaking good intentions for actual readiness. Here's your framework for developing employees with clarity, care, and a clear-eyed view of reality.
The Performance Review Playbook: How to Build Trust and Drive Growth in 60 Minutes
The calendar reminder appears: "Performance review with Sarah - Thursday, 3pm." Your stomach tightens—not because Sarah isn't performing well, but because you know how these conversations usually go. Stilted, formal, both of you counting minutes until it's over. But performance reviews can be different. They can become conversations your team actually looks forward to—moments that build trust instead of anxiety, clarity instead of confusion. The difference lies not in what you discuss, but in how you structure the conversation itself.
