Wes Kao's Newsletter

[Fundamentals] Start right before you get eaten by the bear

Fundamentals is a new series that highlights my core concepts in communication, leadership, and influence that I personally keep coming back to.

Sep 17 • 

Wes Kao

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Why "'no' is a complete sentence" is dangerous advice

If your colleague asks you to do a reasonable request that’s part of your job, and you simply turn say “no”... You are the jerk.

Sep 3 • 

Wes Kao

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August 2025

Stop trying to change your manager

Because you don’t have the leverage to turn your manager into a different person. Here's what to do instead.

Aug 20 • 

Wes Kao

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How to be an empathetic manager (without becoming a therapist)

You don't need to absorb everyone’s frustrations. Here’s how to listen to grievances without having folks dump their frustrations onto you.

Aug 6 • 

Wes Kao

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July 2025

To instantly sound more sincere, do this

If you aren’t careful, you may come across as less sincere because your writing doesn’t translate your intent. Here’s how to make sure that doesn’t…

Jul 23 • 

Wes Kao

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How to delegate while maintaining high standards

This is for managers who want to delegate AND maintain a high bar for quality of work. Here are the 5 tactics I learned over time that made delegating…

Jul 9 • 

Wes Kao

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June 2025

How to fix limbo writing

When writing is obviously bad, you delete it. When writing is obviously good, you ship it. But what if it’s not terrible, but it’s not good either? I…

Jun 25 • 

Wes Kao

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Take 3 minutes to delete these words and improve your writing forever

Before you hit “send,” delete these words from your writing. Your message will be stronger for it.

Jun 18 • 

Wes Kao

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Everything takes longer than you think

The problem isn’t that you’re not working fast enough. It’s that your expectations were never realistic to begin with.

Jun 11 • 

Wes Kao

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Leaders, stop accidentally scaring your team

"Painting a picture" by being concrete and specific is usually good. But when you're talking about negative ideas, you may want to be abstract and vague…

Jun 4 • 

Wes Kao

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May 2025

When too much CYA backfires

Some operators speak in a way that's overly CYA (cover your ass) as a defensive tactic to prevent getting into trouble if things go wrong. Here's why…

May 28 • 

Wes Kao

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Good struggle vs bad struggle

Not all struggle leads to personal growth. Learn to distinguish between good struggle vs bad struggle, so you can invest your emotional energy in the…

May 21 • 

Wes Kao

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