Lesson 1- Leadership Matters (10-29-25)

I listened to a podcast once and the interviewer asked, “What lessons does life keep putting in front of you?” This series is inspired by the lessons that continued to show up in front of me this year. This week is an analogy about baking and how leadership matters.

I have many skills, but baking is not one of them. If you give me eggs, salt, butter, flour, milk, a pan, and an oven I will give you a disaster. If you give those exact same things to my wife, she will make you an amazing dessert. It’s the same challenge. It’s the same ingredients. However, it is totally different outcomes, based on the knowledge and skills of the people involved.

What does this have to do with leadership? In the above example, it’s not about the ingredients, it’s about the baker and their knowledge and skills that lead to different outcomes. In a similar way, it’s not the ingredients, it’s the leader. Think about when times have been tough and you’ve had a good leader vs a not so good leader. Under good leadership my vibe is, “Bring the challenges. I’ll just run through those walls or jump over them.” My vibe under not so great leaders is, “Dude, why am I always running uphill with hundreds of pounds on my back while people throw rocks at me?” Any of those vibes feel familiar to you?

Right now, the world is giving us a lot of ingredients, and they aren’t all easy ones to deal with. There is chaos, burnout, turmoil, stress, competitive pressure, AI (totally a fad by the way, just like the internet 😉), shifting priorities, lack of stability, and more. This is why leadership matters now more than ever. While people are handed the same ingredients, there are VERY DIFFERENT outcomes. Good leaders are finding ways to take these ingredients and turn them into opportunities and paths forward. Other leaders are overwhelmed by these ingredients, creating lost teams filled with doubt, uncertainty, and low engagement.

The challenge: How can you continue to grow as a leader to be ready to bake with any ingredients sent your way?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Blog #650- Central Air, Systems, and Being a Leader/Technician (8-6-25)

This is going to be the final entry in the series about replacing my air conditioning. Last week we explored how leaders can create a cooler and more comfortable environment. This week I want to dive deeper into this idea by exploring central air conditioning as an integrated system and being a leader/technician.

When my air conditioning was broken, my thermostat still worked. We could set it to the desired temperature. However, some parts of the integrated system didn’t work. It was pushing air around, but unable to cool the air. As a result, even if we had the temperature set where we wanted it to be, the system was unable to deliver those results. The technician knew the thermostat was fine, and also knew the only way to achieve the desired result would be to upgrade the parts and system.

What does this have to do with work? A thermostat is a lot like a vision. The thermostat/vision can be set clearly and correctly. However, the vision doesn’t matter if we haven’t set up the pieces and processes in a way that enables us to achieve that vision. Have you ever encountered a situation where a vision couldn’t be achieved in the current system? Maybe, you were asked to move faster, but our internal processes were not set up to enable speed and there were not the right tools to be more efficient. Maybe you were asked to be bold and take on more risks, but the processes and governance around you didn’t empower you to make decisions. The system must be designed to support the vision.

With this in mind, great leaders aren’t just people who set the thermostat. Great leaders aren’t just people who create successful environments with words. Great leaders are the technicians who ensure the other pieces and processes will lead to achieving the vision. Great leaders are the ones who say, “We want to move faster, well X is getting in the way. X either needs to be removed or replaced by something that gives us speed. Let’s take Y process and totally reimagine it to fit our needs vs the way we’ve always done things.”

The challenge: Will you be a leader who just sets the thermostat (vision) or will you be the leader/technician who builds a system that leads to success?

Bonus: This is blog #650. Thanks so much for reading and encouraging me throughout the years to keep writing. I appreciate you all being part of this journey! If you have any favorite blogs or topics, I’d love to hear about them.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Leadership and Outside vs Inside Temperature (7-29-25)

Last week was about patching holes vs installing a new HVAC system. This week is about leadership and the temperature outside vs creating the temperature inside.

The first day that our air conditioning stopped working, the temperature only went up a couple of degrees. It wasn’t too bad. Then, as the temperature shot up outside, the temperature inside kept getting hotter and hotter. Throughout this, we tried to do the same things around the house we would normally do like clean, cook, etc. However, we struggled as the environment around us became hotter and we became more tired and irritable. Once the new AC unit was installed it took time, but eventually the inside of the house became cooler even though the outside was hot as ever. Once things were cooler, it was just a bit easier to do all our normal things around the house.

You might be wondering where this is going. Air conditioning does not stop heat. Instead, it creates a space where it’s just a little bit cooler. That cooler space is more manageable, a little more comfortable. It makes it a little bit easier to do the things you need to do. Similarly, good leaders don’t stop the heat. Good leaders don’t have the ability to wave a magical wand and remove all environmental obstacles, internal hurdles, etc. Good leaders do create a space that is a little more comfortable. It’s a space that makes it a little bit easier to do the things you need to do. Maybe they do this by bringing clarity to the situation. Maybe they do this by bringing in compassion. Maybe they do this by making clear trade-offs. If you’re lucky your leader does all these and more. The bottom line is that the best leaders create the spaces where it’s a bit easier to have success.

The challenge: As a leader, how are you creating a “cool” space for people to flourish?

Bonus observation: I see a fair amount of people getting burnt out from always being in the heat. It’s easy to say it’s their fault, because they didn’t prioritize their work, they didn’t make trade-off decisions, they didn’t handle the stress well, etc. I understand there is some accountability on the individual. I would also argue that this is actually more reflective of a leadership failure within the organization/system. If the leader is clear on the vision and makes clear trade-offs concerning what will and won’t be worked on by their team, then this creates a “cooler” environment where it is easier for employees to stay focused on the right things. It’s easier for employees to focus on the value add work and not burn out. If the leader doesn’t make these calls, then they are letting all the heat in from outside, which contributes a lot to stress, burnout, and more.

Positive real world example. I went to my boss a couple of weeks ago and talked about how I was drowning in work, and how I wanted to make sure he and I were aligned on what matters most. His response was, “What are the 3 most important things you need to execute to provide value to the organization?” I told him, and we aligned on those 3 things. Most importantly, he acknowledged the trade-offs. I’d go all in on those 3 things and we’d be okay if everything else was either slow and/or did not get done. Included in the “don’t worry about it pile” were the emails and asks he had sent me about things not related to those 3 key focus areas. When he aligned on the trade-offs, he stuck by that even when some of his requests were now going to be ignored 😉 That’s what prioritization and making trade-offs looks like. That 5 minute conversation and alignment quickly made the temperature cooler. It made it easier for me to focus and do the things I needed to do.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

World-Building and Culture (4-22-25)

Last week we kicked off a series focused on different storytelling tricks and mechanics, and we analyzed unreliable narrators. This week we are going to dive into world-building and culture.

World-building is the creation of a fictional world that is believable and consistent within the context of the story (WORLDBUILDING Definition & Meaning – Merriam-Webster). It is comprised of all of the details that describe the world, how it works, and how the characters operate in that world. Some fictional worlds are grounded in realism, while some are grounded in fantasy.

Pretend for a minute that you’re reading a story that takes place in England. There are dragons in the story. Does it make sense to have dragons in the story? It depends. If the book is Pride and Prejudice, and the world is built more on realism then the dragons don’t fit. If the book is Harry Potter, and the world is built on magic and mythical creature than a dragon fits right in.

You’re probably wondering how this connects to work. Pretend for a minute that someone challenges the leader in a meeting. Is this okay? It depends. If the culture is one that is built on hierarchy and fear, then this is not acceptable behavior. If this is a psychologically safe culture where people are encouraged to challenge ideas, then not only is challenging the leader acceptable, but it is also expected. I’ve been on teams in both situations, have you? How did you feel about living in each of those cultures?

With all this in mind, what if building culture is the same thing as world-building? Building culture is comprised of all of the details that describe the group’s mission, how the team works, and how the characters operate within that culture. We can influence all of those things. We can set the mission. We can set the tone for what mindsets and behaviors are acceptable and rewarded. We all have the power to influence and build the culture we want to be in.

The challenge- What kind of world, what kind of culture will you build?

Bonus deep reflection- What kind of culture/world do you think your actions create around you? How do your behaviors create that culture/world?

I’d hope that people say, “Andrew creates a culture of care, creativity, and nerdtastic fun and authenticity.” These are the things I’m intentionally trying to build. I try to invest time in understanding people and showing them I appreciate them. I build a culture of creativity by embracing messy problems, making connections, and being willing to try new things. I’m nerdtastic fun from my socks to my Team’s background, which sends a message that I’m comfortable with who I am and I want you to be who you are too. I may not always succeed at building this world, but that’s what I constantly try to do.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Electric Currents, Parenting, Leadership, and Burn Out (1-10-24)

As we start off the year and begin to dive back into the craziness, I think we can all agree that we want to make sure that throughout the year we are taking care of each other in order to avoid exhaustion and burn out. With this in mind, I want us to reflect on electrical current, parenting, leadership, and burn out. If you’re in an official leadership position, I hope you read this and seriously consider the themes and implications. Side note, I’m in an official leadership position, and I’m writing this as a reminder to myself more than anything.

Let’s pretend for a minute that I took a lot of heavy power using appliances and plugged all of them into the same surge protector. It might look something like this picture. I’d assume that you’re thinking, “Why would you do that? That is not smart at all. Even though it’s a surge protector, it is not designed to handle that amount of electrical current. You’re going to burn something down.”

Now let’s think of parenting. Imagine that I have an overwhelming list of demands for my kids, and I expect everything on my to-do list to be done perfectly, and this occurs over months. My kids struggle with this workload. When I notice them struggling, I tell them, “You just need to practice some self-care. Take a rest.” However, the workload and expectations stay the same. At this point, I’d assume/hope you’re thinking something like, “You’re being a bad dad. You’re giving them an impossible task that is beating them down, and instead of doing something that could help them you are telling them to fix it themselves. They don’t have the power to fix it themselves, because they don’t control the expectations you are putting on them. You need to do something.”

What does this have to do with anything? The overloaded surge protector that would start a fire was MY responsibility because I chose to route too much power through it. When my kids were struggling and couldn’t fix it by practicing self-care, it was MY responsibility, because I controlled the list of demands and expectations. Why don’t we more consistently apply this same thinking when we think about employee burn out? Most things I read and hear about burn out put the responsibility on the individual employee. We tell them to practice self-care, go for a walk, and get plenty of rest. Why don’t we more consistently look at the leader and hold them responsible for creating an environment that is a huge contributing factor to burnout? The fact is, even if the individual practices the best self-care ever, it doesn’t matter if their work environment is always crushing them into the ground. The individual can have some responsibility, but not all. Leaders have a large portion of responsibility with regards to burn out, because their actions or inactions are the ones that create environments where burn out has a higher or lower chance of being a negative force for employees.

Think about it for a minute. If a leader doesn’t have a clear vision, then all the additional energy trying to navigate the swirl is extra burden on the team. If the leader doesn’t have clear priorities about what work needs to be done, the quality it needs to be delivered in, and the effort it should require, then all of the extra work done on things that isn’t needed puts extra burden on the team. If the leader is not actively driving a culture where people feel heard and valued, then all the extra energy people put in to survive that culture is extra burden on the team. Have you ever been on the receiving ends of any of those situations? I have. I’ve found that once you add up all that extra burden ON TOP of already largely out of reach goals and expectations, you have the perfect recipe for burnout. Have you ever been the leader who hasn’t done those things well? I have. What did you notice? I notice when I don’t do those things well, it puts a tremendous burden on folks that shouldn’t be there, and it sucks their souls.

The challenge: As a leader, what are you doing to create an environment that minimizes the potential of burnout? Asked another way, as a leader are your actions increasing or decreasing the chances of people experiencing burn out?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Omelets, Being New, and Adding Flavor to Culture (10-4-23)

This will be the last in the series of lessons I’ve learned from being new to a role. This week we will reflect on omelets, being new, and adding your flavor to the culture.

I eat an omelet for breakfast almost every morning. It always starts with 2 large brown eggs, and then from there I’ll mix and match different ingredients. Each ingredient I add brings a new element to the omelet, changing its flavor profile. Sometimes, I’ll want something with a bit of a kick, so I’ll use ghost pepper cheese and restaurant style salsa. Sometimes, I’ll want a big hearty omelet with American cheese and sausage mixed inside. Sometimes, I’ll want something smooth like white cheddar and turkey with a little dash of something extra in the form of sweet onion salsa.

What does this have to do with being new? In the analogy above, I talk about how the omelet always starts with two large brown eggs. I don’t keep adding eggs to the omelet, because if I did all I would have is more eggs. Instead, I want a unique flavor, so I bring in different ingredients with each of them making their own special addition to the omelet. It’s the combination of the ingredients that transforms the eggs into the omelet. In a way, the eggs represent the base culture of a team that you’re joining. That would make us the ingredients that can bring unique flavors. Even if you feel you can’t start delivering “traditional value” right when you are first starting out, you can bring energy to your team. Some people bring a jolting boost of fun, adding laughs to the team. Some people bring a crisp focus, enabling the team to prioritize what matters. Some people bring grit, helping the team fight through tough times. We all have something that is uniquely us. If you’re new to a team (or even if you’ve been there awhile) you always have the ability to share that with the team. You always have the opportunity to bring a little bit of your own flavor to enhance the culture around you.

The challenge: What flavor will you ADD to your team?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Super Mario 3D World and Working Together (4-6-23)

Last week was about video games and diagnosing the situation before offering any advice. This week is about Super Mario 3D World and the challenges of working together.

Super Mario 3D World is our latest 4 player family video game. It’s a cute adventure with Mario, Luigi, Toad, and Peach who work together to stop Bowser. It’s also an INCREDIBLY FRUSTRATING game at times. How can something so cute and joyous be so frustrating? It’s all because the actions of the characters impact each other, so it’s easy to get blindsided and knocked off track. You might run into another character and accidentally knock them off the edge to their doom. You might go to one side of the screen, making the screen follow you, so no one else can see what they are doing, leading to their death. You might get lost in all of the chaos and get ambushed by a lowly goomba. In order to survive, we have to be able to look at our own character and how everyone else is moving. We also have to spend a lot of time coordinating and communicating. Sometimes, we even have to pause the game to talk about what we need to do, so we are all on the same page. This is the only way to capture the flag at the end of each level to advance.

What if work is just like Super Mario 3D World? Think about it. You have multiple players with various skill levels who all have their own power-ups and abilities. Everyone is racing to a goal. Your actions impact you and others around you and vice versa. Have you ever been blindsided by actions of a “player”? Maybe, you’ve been hit by an unexpected process at the worst time. Maybe, you were trying to zig, while everyone else was zagging. Maybe, you had a deadline ambush you from behind a corner. Maybe, you made a decision that had unintended ramifications down the road. I know all these things have happened to me. Like my family playing Super Mario 3D World, in order to be successful you have to understand your role AND look at the big picture to see how it all fits together with other players. You need to spend time communicating with the other players. Sometimes, you might even have to pause and slow things down to ensure everyone is aligned on the end goal. That’s the only way to win.

The challenge: How are you integrating with all of the players in your game? What are you doing to ensure everyone is working together?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

Disney, Eating, Leadership, and Setting the Tone (2-22-23)

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Description automatically generated with low confidence Happy Wednesday,

This week we are going to kick off a series about lessons I learned from the Disney Institute last year when I attended as a Team Lilly Ambassador. We will start with a story about eating, leadership, and setting the tone. The inspiration behind this week’s entry comes from Kip Chase’s wife.

It was the first night and we were at the restaurant. The food was set up, but no one was eating. Kip Chase noticed that people were just kind of awkwardly waiting. He nudged me and loudly says, “I’m going to grab some food, everybody let’s go eat.” I declare that I’m Kip’s first follower, and we grab food together😉. The moment Kip grabs the first morsel, other folks start lining up and grabbing food too. As we do this, Kip shares a story with me that goes something like this, “Sometimes you have to be the first to let others know it’s okay to start. It’s like taking friends out to dinner. You order the steak, so they know it’s okay to order steak too.” I was like, “Man, that’s good!” Then, Kip revealed that he learned that from his wife. I’m not saying that makes his wife better than him, but I’m not not saying it either. #loveyoubuddy

What does this have to do with anything? This is a story about someone taking the lead and setting the tone through their actions. Kip was the default leader in this scenario, and people followed his lead. One of the most important things a leader does is set the tone with their teams. Their actions and inaction drive what is and isn’t acceptable in a culture. I’ve been on teams where EVERYONE was always striving to improve and do better, because the leader set appropriate standards and drove accountability. I’ve been on teams where people were okay with lower levels of performance, because the leader didn’t expect quality work and didn’t hold people accountable. I’ve been on teams where I could be open and vulnerable, because the leader demonstrated those qualities on a regular basis. I’ve also been on teams where I didn’t feel comfortable being that way because the leader either never showed vulnerability or shut down open and honest conversations. Do any of these sound familiar to you? In these situations, people looked to their leader to see what tone they were setting and then responded accordingly. Think about your favorite and not so favorite leaders. What tones were they setting with their actions or inaction?

The challenge: Think about yourself. What tone are you setting with your actions or inaction?

Bonus-Kip probably never thought that a random story told over a buffet would stick with me. That’s one of the other parts of leadership. You never quite know how influential your words will be, and how people will latch onto different things.

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

15 Years- The Power of Small Gestures (6-22-22)

Last week was about caring enough to give tough feedback. This week is about the power of small gestures.

Let me take you back a few years. I had graduated from our marketing rotational program and was looking for my first official role in the marketing world. I had my heart and hopes set on market research, because I love sifting through chaos, connecting dots, turning insights into stories, and allowing my curiosity to run free. I was lucky to land a role with a market research team.

After my boss officially hired me, we sat down together for the first time and he said something like, “I’m a big Kentucky basketball fan. I think we need to do this right.” He grabbed a piece of flipchart paper and wrote up a letter of intent and had me sign it was like I was a top college prospect. We had someone snap a photo, and then he shared it with everyone as a way to say I had joined the team. It was a little thing, but it makes me smile whenever I think of it.

What does this have to do with anything? Can you think of a time when someone did something small to welcome you? How did it make you feel? This is a great example of how a small gesture can have a big impact on making someone feel welcome. My boss didn’t have to do that. I would have been happy just knowing I was part of the team. However, by putting in a little extra effort he turned a routine moment into something special. On top of that, he brought me in and made me part of his love for basketball. It was that little extra energy, which set the tone for a great adventure with the market research team.

The challenge: What small things can you do to help people feel more welcome and valued?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry

The Not So Polished Human Side of Things (2-9-22)

Last week we looked at giving yourself permission to not be perfect. Let’s continue that theme by giving ourselves permission to share the not so polished human side of things.

This is from lap 2 of the Abominable Snow Race. On the first lap I scaled the 8 foot wall like a pro. Not so smooth this time. I misjudged the distance, swung my leg incorrectly, and got stuck in a painful position. If you zoom in, you can see me dying on the inside from the pain or as my cousin said, “I can see your soul leaving your body.” It took me 30 seconds or what felt like 1 hour to shimmy my other leg over and slide down the wall. I was hurting. It was ugly. But I made it. #bestphotoever

Whether or not you’ve ever done an obstacle course race, we have all been in some version of this moment from the picture on the right. Everything is going smoothly, and then bam it turns painful and awkward in a heartbeat from a trip, stumble, or our minds just blanking. We’ve all been there. You can probably picture that moment in your mind right now. I hope you chuckle when you do. Sharing this story doesn’t make me look cool. It’s not a flattering photo. However, it is one way of showing I’m human. It is one way of helping us all connect to the fact that we are all human. I’d hope that by sharing something like this, it might make you feel a little comfortable sharing the human side of you whenever you’re around me.

What does this have to do with work? Have you ever been around a co-worker who only shows you the polished side of things? Have you ever been around a leader like this? I don’t know about you, but I have a real hard time trusting people like that. I have a hard time being open about my thoughts and feelings. If the leader never shows that they are human, how can I be expected to show that I’m human? Now, am I saying that everyone needs to share a painful picture of them getting stuck on an 8 foot wall? No. What I am saying is that it would be great if we all felt comfortable to share a bit of us that makes us human. This could mean sharing stories of our mistakes, flaws, joy, love, passion, and anything that gives an insight into who we are as people. These are the actions that create the environment where humanity can be shared.

The challenge: How are you sharing the not so polished human side of you? What are you doing to give people a place where it’s safe to show they are human?

Have a jolly good day,

Andrew Embry