Sitemap - 2024 - Wes Kao's Newsletter

My top 9 articles to raise the bar for yourself and your team

How to write your own job description (and invent your role)

Wes Kao's Newsletter Holiday Gift Guide 2024

How to give a senior leader feedback (without getting fired)

Part II: The art of workplace finesse

Part I: What finesse looks like when reading people and situations

When you’re pigeonholed as “great at project management”

Frustrated by rejection? How to plan before you ask

“What will I tell my boss?”: Why founders should understand the worldview of bureaucrats

How to regain control of a meeting

How to market a product you don’t use

How to deliver bad news when it's not your fault

Stop learning to give feedback. Learn to receive it.

Intellectual honesty

Tone and words: Use accurate language

Announcing: My new course ✨

Part II: Derisking 12 common workplace scenarios

Part I: Derisking 101: How to identify and reduce risk in your daily work

How to be more concise

Too detailed in the wrong ways, not detailed enough in the right ways

Managers, be explicit about what you need from your team

Talking to vs about customers

Playing defense: How to control the narrative if your work is being questioned

Sales, not logistics

The OARB framework: Why you should appeal to self-interest when giving feedback

Turning a yellow spot into the sun

Good design can obscure poor logic

How I give the right amount of context (in any situation)

No more awkward performance reviews: How to give honest feedback without making your direct report rage quit

Emotional signposting: Why you should tell people how to feel

The CEDAF framework: Delegating gets easier when you get better at explaining your ideas

Why I have a love/hate relationship with scripts

How to sharpen your analytical thinking—even if you’re "not a numbers person"

The unspoken skill of finesse

How to share your point of view (even if you’re afraid of being wrong)

How I sharpen my mental models over time

When to disagree and commit

"Insecure vibes" are a self-fulfilling prophecy

11 ways to get better feedback from your manager

How to get an enthusiastic yes

How to interrupt (and be interrupted) respectfully in the workplace

Super Specific Feedback: How to give actionable feedback on work output

The #1 question every business case should answer

Work requests are not “favors”

Signposting: How to reduce cognitive load for your reader

How to talk about deadlines at work

Avoid incepting negative ideas

Be more assertive with customers

How to present to your CEO

Read your writing in a robot voice