Hi Reader,

In our last email, we explored the first pillar: We all want to be part of something exceptional.

The desire to contribute, to win together, to be part of something meaningful are all already there in your people. The work is about unlocking that hunger.

Let's dive in to the second pillar of fulling leadership:

Pillar Two: Where it hurts is where you'll grow

We point to this frequently in terms of self-discovery: Your triggers are a gift.

They tell you where your unexamined patterns live, and where your freedom can be unlocked.

The same applies to companies. Every conversation you avoid with a direct report. Every decision that keeps getting pushed. Every tension that everyone can feel but no one names. These are all signals pointing to internal inefficiencies and untapped opportunities.

Most leaders spend enormous amounts of energy managing around these friction points. They restructure teams, add new rules, or quietly hope that things will resolve themselves. But the friction remains, because no one is willing to go towards it.

To give you an idea of what I'm talking about, I'd like to share a memo that our CEO Mattia Gheda recently shared with our team here at Art of Accomplishment.

It's a beautiful example of what it looks like to embrace "where it hurts" and trust that it's "where you'll grow":

What I love about this memo is how Mattia names the discomfort directly: the anxiety, the loss of fun, the natural stress that comes with growth. He doesn't pretend it isn't there. And he doesn't treat it as a problem to eliminate.

Instead, he asks a different question: How do we make the pursuit of our goals an avenue for self-growth and not self-abuse?

This is the shift. Today's business culture often treats stress as the cost of ambition. We think we just have to push through it, ignore it, or outwork it. But that approach has a ceiling, and it often breaks people before it breaks through.

The leaders we work with in the Council learn to move toward the discomfort rather than around it. It’s about addressing what's actually there, instead of carrying it silently and hoping it will go away on its own.

In our next email, we'll explore the third pillar: Your team mirrors your inner landscape.

It's one of the most uncomfortable truths in leadership, and one of the most liberating.

Ready to apply?

If you're reading this, that means we've received your previous inquiry about the Council. You do not need to apply again. We will be in touch if you are a good fit for one of our available slots. Thank you.

Big Love,

Joe