It’s “year-end metrics season,” when people post their roundups of work achievements and career milestones. I know it can be annoying, especially if you didn’t have a great year. But I think there’s a positive side to actively tracking your progress, because I’ve noticed that my clients who do it feel much more in control of their career overall. Metrics, when done correctly, provide valuable insights that you can leverage to take big leaps forward.
Clients share their wins and losses with me during their weekly coaching sessions, and that’s how I’ve gained my own valuable insights from them. I use these insights to serve them better, and to help them achieve their highest levels of excellence.
Recently I had an insight of my own that I’m sharing with you today. It’s about an issue that cuts across multiple sectors and industries, and is a serious problem for almost every single client I’ve ever had. For female leaders it appears literally everywhere, in their daily workplace tasks and team management, and in their high-stakes meetings, presentations and pitches.
It is the issue of reducing friction, the type of friction that prevents you from achieving maximum agency in your career.
You probably already know what it feels like to deal with intense friction: your ideas don’t get heard, your projects don’t get enough resources, your team doesn’t execute at the rate that they should. Nothing ever feels like it’s flowing and growing. It’s more like you have to fight for every single step forward. Maybe you’re having ongoing friction with peers, who see you as direct competition and won’t support any of your work. Or maybe it’s with your boss, who throws big obstacles in your path every time you try to make progress.
This type of ongoing, intense friction can be exhausting, demoralizing and, if left unchecked, can lead to severe burnout. But let’s pause for a moment to acknowledge something obvious: some degree of friction is actually good for you! It can help you find new resources within yourself by forcing you to think differently and create innovative new strategies for problem solving. I’ve always liked the expression, “Pressure makes diamonds.” But if the pressure is too intense, it will crush that sparkling gem before it ever has a chance to form. The key is to set a healthy level of friction that enables you to perform at your highest level of excellence, and get the results you want in every part of your career.
So by reducing friction to a healthy level, you’ll have much more opportunity for growth and impact. That’s why I’m devoting all of 2026 to help you reduce friction in your career. Here’s a preview of topics I’ll be covering in the next 6 months. Each one will contain strategies that you can use to reduce friction in your career:
January: Setting Power Boundaries Around Your Time and Energy
February: Embracing Conflict As A Learning Tool
March: Building Coalition, Not Consensus
April: Managing Down
May: Managing Up
June: Becoming High-Agentic In Your Role
I’m excited to expand on these topics for you, and give you concrete strategies for reducing friction in each area. Got other topics you’d like me to cover? DM me directly.