People + Teams

Help!! with Real Life Scenarios

My team is struggling.

Flip for Helia's take
Oof, real. Here's the hard AND freeing truth: if your team is struggling, you're part of it.
Not because you're bad at your job, but because something you're doing (or not doing) created the conditions for struggle. The good news? If you're the problem, you can fix it.
Read "How to Reset a Struggling Team."

How long do I try to make it work with someone who, well, isn't?

Flip for Helia's take
Why is it that the relationships we try hardest to make work rarely do?
Be honest about what it's costing your team. Then have an "Opt-In Convo." Give the person a real choice to opt in and make it work OR allow for a graceful, supported exit.
Read "When It's Time for Someone to Go."

We need to do layoffs, and I want to do it right.

Flip for Helia's take
No one will ever thank you for doing a layoff in a good way. AND how you do them matters. A lot.
How you treat people through the hardest moments defines everything that comes after — for the folks leaving AND the team that stays.
Read "Layoffs 101: How to Do a Shitty Thing in the Least Shitty Way Possible."

We're always in meetings, but we still don't have a handle on things.

Flip for Helia's take
First, let's level set, NO ONE gets meetings perfect...
But good enough beats an imaginary perfect. Start with a shared agenda and clear expectations for when it gets filled in. Take two minutes at the top of each meeting to let your team prioritize the agenda, then start talking.
Read "Good Meetings Are Actually Possible!"

I want my managers to be, well, even better???

Flip for Helia's take
We hear you — managers are make or break!
How much support you offer depends on so much: org size, capacity, experience. Since there's no one-size-fits-all answer, getting grounded in what managers actually sign up for goes a long way.
Read "The Hidden Job Description: What Managers Actually Sign Up For."

How can I be a great manager?

Flip for Helia's take
We have worked with hundreds of managers — and Jesse Noonan is one of the BEST.
Her secret? Her 1:1 doc. Every question we asked: feedback, trust, accountability, when someone's struggling? "My 1:1." She shared all of it.
Read "The 1:1 Template That Changes Everything."

How do I set my team up to actually succeed?

Flip for Helia's take
The BEST question!!!
The best managers aren't just good at the work — they're great at setting their team up to own it. If there's one thing that moves the needle faster than almost anything else? Learning to truly hand things off — not just pass them along.
Read "Delegation That Actually Works."

How do I build a team that stays strong through the hard stuff?

Flip for Helia's take
Trust matters. Always.
And trust that can carry your team through anything? It's built in the ordinary day to day! Not through a great offsite or one perfect convo, but through the structures that make connection, clarity, and care present week after week.
Read "Structure Is How You Love Your Team."

What does a great interview process look like?

Flip for Helia's take
Twenty years of hiring (and every mistake you can make) went into building this one!
The secret isn't the best questions. It's honesty on both sides, early enough, that everyone knows enough to say YES with their whole being!
Read "An Interview Process Where Everyone Says HELL YES!"
Two emails a month — a real human’s story and a tool to use the next day.
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Featured Collective Members

Catherine Carrington Exec Search + Exec Coaching Catherine, a long time head of talent acquisition and executive coach, helps talent succeed in job searches across sectors.
A woman smiles in the outdoors near a tree Caroline Fitz-Roy Talent Strategy, Recruiting Caroline partners with growth stage nonprofits to find the talent to scale their organization successfully!
Woman smiles with beach in background. Emily Schaffer-Kling Sales + Revenue Growth Emily knows how to scale organizations. Her experience in sales, programs, ops, and finance have led to 5x growth in market-driven organizations without diluting social impact.

Want to talk to someone who’s been there?
These folks have done this work inside orgs like yours.

All People + Teams Articles

Article There’s No Such Thing as a Difficult Person How to work with people who drive you a little crazy (OR, how to drive people less crazy)
Rayne Martin with Rayne Martin
Resource Toolkit Working With Difficult People Toolkit Some tools to better work with the people who drive you a little crazy — whether you're managing one, working beside one, or you ARE one.
Resource Toolkit Caroline’s Custom Search Toolkit Tools for running searches that find you candidates you never would have considered
Caroline Fitz-Roy with Caroline Fitz-Roy
Article Stop Recruiting, Start Searching Why the Right Hire Isn't on Your Rolodex
Caroline Fitz-Roy with Caroline Fitz-Roy
Article The Building Blocks of an Effective Meeting Stop winging your meetings; build good ones instead.
Jess Britt with Jess Britt
Resource Toolkit Alyza’s How To Break Down Silos Toolkit Be the connector — with the tools to make it real
Alyza Jehangir with Alyza Jehangir
Article How to Break Down Silos Hear us out: It's meetings. (GOOD ones!)
Alyza Jehangir with Alyza Jehangir
Article The Magic in Reaching Out to Others Why a real human will almost always move you further than 5 hours with AI
Jess Skylar with Jess Skylar
Resource Toolkit Jess’s Reach Out Anyway Toolkit Everything you need to make the ask — from the email you've been sitting on for three weeks, to the seven-month job search that turns into a network-building practice.
Helia with Helia
Resource Toolkit Libby’s Good Meetings Toolkit Run meetings your team will actually want to attend.
Libby Fischer Connell with Libby Fischer Connell
Article How to Run Good Meetings Stop wasting everyone's time (including yours)
Libby Fischer Connell with Libby Fischer Connell
Resource Toolkit Sophia’s Hiring Foundations Toolkit The JD template, job boards list, and scoring rubric that does the work BEFORE anyone applies.
Sophia Zisook with Sophia Zisook
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Helia’s Social Contract
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