I’ve played golf for 4 years.
Recently, while traveling, I got paired with a new friend who’s been playing… 4 months.

Similar score, his slightly better.

He even gave me a chipping tip that landed instantly. “How!?”

He smiled:
“I’m weird about it. I’ve played every day for 4 months. No misses. And I meet a coach twice a week to tune the basics.”

It hit me:
Consistency + coaching beats time served.

Not just in golf—in business.

If you want compounding results:

• Do one deliberate rep daily (30 focused minutes > 2 random hours).
• Get regular feedback (a coach, a peer review, a customer).
• Improve one tiny skill at a time (like my chipping).
• Track it for 30 days. Then decide what to double.

How long you’ve done it matters less than the daily commitment you’ve placed into the effort.

I left with a better short game—and a better golf week.

What’s your 30-minute daily rep for the next month?

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How I help teams pick an OMTM:

1. Tie it to money or risk. Revenue, cost, or exposure—decorate nothing else.
2. Review weekly. If you don’t see it often, you can’t steer it.
3. Name an owner. Weather reports don’t change the weather. Owners do.
4. Set a threshold (green/yellow/red) so action is obvious.
5. Pair one behavior you control (input) to the outcome you want.

Examples:

• Reduce onboarding time by auto-provisioning day-1 access.
• Increase qualified leads by two founder-led demos/week.
• Lower churn by contacting at-risk accounts within 24 hours of a usage drop.

Pick one, make it visible, and let it dictate your next three moves.

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I initially scope any project in 30 minutes with this.
If we can’t quickly define it in simple terms, we’re inviting surprises.

Try this outline:
– Problem in one sentence (no solutions).
– Who’s impacted (by role).
– Non-goals (what we’re not doing).
– Success metric + earliest deadline.
– One risky assumption to test in week one.

That’s enough clarity to say yes, no, or “not now” without a 20-page deck. Teams breathe easier, and “scope creep” becomes “scope choice.”

DM me your 2-line scope; I’ll suggest one risk to remove.

This content was originally posted on Linkedin.

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Ever cleared a new lane on the highway only to see traffic jam up anyway?

That’s what can happen during a cloud-migration: shiny route, hidden bottleneck.

Legacy imaging servers—the ones humming in a back closet—often hold untracked dependencies.
If you flip the switch without spotting them first, files stall, scans repeat, and schedules slide.

Take five minutes today and inventory one DICOM node that predates your youngest team member.
Map every system that still calls it home, then book its retirement before your next cut-over.
Future you—and every patient downstream—will thank you.

Need a step-by-step for zero-downtime hand-offs?

Grab my one-page Launch-Readiness Checklist.

Which dusty server is still hiding in your equipment closet?

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Snapped this at the gate this morning. Before a plane leaves, a crew runs checklists, ground teams prep, and the pilot makes the final call.

Security in business works the same way.

Every business needs a security auditor.

You don’t have to be one—but you do need one on your team (and a leader who turns their findings into business wins).

When I help clients build tech teams, here’s the split that actually works:
– Auditors map controls to recognized frameworks (NIST CSF, PCI DSS) and test what’s real—not what’s hoped.
– Leaders translate those controls into budgets, deadlines, and workflows people can run every day.

What “great” looks like in plain English:

• Advice you can act on (not just checklists).
• Communication that calms—clear updates, no scare tactics.
• Ongoing education + teamwork so the same problem doesn’t boomerang.

Next: Conduct a sanity check for your upcoming project(s) to verify where a security auditor and a clean plan fits.

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10:00 a.m. I was on a virtual call with a health provider planning 2026. We ditched the “big bang” and lined up a few small, high-value wins.

Around noon I went to help a nonprofit, in the Bronzevillle-area, through a down system. A 15 min outage can burn a week of goodwill.

Mid-afternoon a Will County township leader called, frustrated with their current provider. What they want isn’t a new ticket system—it’s clear priorities, honesty and accountability.

Late afternoon I met a client, in the South-Loop, just to talk. No agenda, no slides. Relationships prevent surprises better than any dashboard.

Across sectors the pattern is the same: set a clear plan, harden the basics, insist on fit and follow-through, and keep the human connection alive.

What’s one small win you’ll lock in this week for your 2026 plan?

If you’re curious what a short outage really costs, here’s a quick Downtime Calculator from our team.

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Ever feel like your patient-care plans still need a grown-up’s signature before they can leave the house?

Prior-auth can turn a same-day procedure into a slow-motion wait.

Hours stretch, costs climb, and everyone—from care team to member—wonders why “yes” takes so long.

Spend two minutes today with your prior-auth dashboard.

Sort by “oldest,” flag anything older than 24 hours, and jot down the top three reasons those cases stall.

Clear even one bottleneck and you reclaim dollars, goodwill, and a few Friday evenings.

Looking for a simple way to frame what you find? Download my one-page Clarity Snapshot worksheet (drop your email, and I’ll send the worksheet plus one practical tech tip each week—unsubscribe anytime). https://lnkd.in/gxr2V4nh

What’s the fastest prior-auth turnaround your team has achieved this year—and how did you pull it off?

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Yesterday a Chicagoland CFO sent an SOS:
“Our interface froze for 17 minutes—delayed care and $28K in overtime.”

In the manuscript I’m polishing, we tackle moments like this with the CARE Modernization™ Framework:

1. CLARIFY the real-world stakes (patients, revenue, reputation)
2. ALIGN every leader on a downtime-proof roadmap
3. REGULATE early—security, compliance, funding in one loop
4. ENGAGE teams to deliver upgrades without disruption

Each cover draft reminds me the real “cover” we need is a resilient tech backbone—so clinicians focus on care, not spinning hourglasses or “system unavailable” banners.

Skim the 2-page overview (PDF) — low-commitment read
Join the launch team — early preorder links & share graphics

Thanks for following the journey. Let’s turn downtime stories into uptime victories together.

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A plain-English playbook for Providers, Payers & Population-Health Leaders to secure and scale IT.

Why it matters

1. Silence hidden tech threats draining budgets & morale
2. Turn downtime into growth time with the CARE Modernization™ Framework
3. Lead with confidence—no coding required

What you’ll master

• Clarify the Wins 
• Align the Teams 
• Regulate as You Build 
• Engage for Lift-Off

Grab the 2-page overview (PDF) – low-commitment skim
Join the launch team – early preorder links + share-graphics

Huge thanks to every colleague who offered feedback, tools, or cheer-squad energy—you made this milestone possible. If you know someone wrestling with outdated tech, tag them below and let’s turn hidden threats into mission momentum together!

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I’ve met countless professionals who believe that earning certifications like CISSP, CISM, Security+, etc. is the key to advancing their careers. And while certifications are valuable—they demonstrate expertise, commitment, and a solid understanding of best practices—there’s one critical skill they don’t teach: how to communicate security and technology risks in a way that leadership understands.

I have several myself: CISSP, PMP, ITIL, MCSE and more — each one has helped me gain deeper technical knowledge and industry credibility. But none of them, on their own, prepared me for the real challenge of leadership: translating complex security concepts into business priorities.

A few weeks ago, I spoke with a colleague who had just completed a major certification. He was feeling confident about his technical knowledge, but then he walked into a leadership meeting and was asked to explain why his team’s proposed security initiative mattered to the business. He knew the technical details inside and out, but when it came to making the case to executives—framing security as a business priority rather than a technical challenge—he struggled.

That moment made it clear: Certifications don’t prepare you for the real challenges of leadership.

The Gap Between Certifications and Real-World Leadership

Certifications focus on frameworks, methodologies, and compliance—which are important. But in the real world, professionals must be able to:

• Translate security risks into business impact.
• Justify IT investments in terms of ROI.
• Persuade leadership to prioritize security initiatives.

I’ve seen too many skilled IT professionals hit a ceiling in their careers—not because they lack knowledge, but because they struggle to communicate complex ideas in a way that decision-makers care about.

For example, if you’re discussing Zero Trust security with your executive team, you need to go beyond saying,

“Zero Trust limits network access to reduce attack surfaces.”

Instead, translate that into business terms:

“Zero Trust ensures that only the right people have access to critical systems, reducing the likelihood of a data breach that could cost us millions in fines and lost customer trust.“

This shift in communication changes the conversation—and ultimately determines whether your initiatives get the support they need.

Three Skills Every Cybersecurity and IT Leader Needs

If you want to stand out and drive real change, focus on developing these three essential leadership skills:

1. Storytelling & Business Impact

Leaders don’t respond to jargon and technical specs—they respond to narratives that connect security to real business challenges.

• Instead of saying: “We need to implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) to strengthen security.”
• Say: “Over 80% of breaches come from weak passwords. MFA would immediately reduce our risk of unauthorized access, protecting both our data and our reputation.”

The difference? One statement sounds like an IT upgrade. The other sounds like a business necessity.

2. Risk-Based Decision Making

Security isn’t about eliminating all risks—it’s about prioritizing the most critical ones without disrupting operations.

• Understand risk appetite — how much risk your company is willing to tolerate.
• Learn how to quantify risk in dollars — leaders want to know what a security failure could cost the business.
• Frame recommendations in terms of business value, not just security best practices.

Example: Instead of saying, “This patch reduces vulnerabilities,” explain, “This patch could prevent an outage that would cost us $50K in lost revenue per hour.”

3. Stakeholder Influence & Negotiation

Your ability to secure buy-in for security initiatives determines whether they actually get implemented.

• Speak the language of finance, operations, and executive leadership—not just IT.
• Identify the real drivers behind security decisions (often compliance, customer trust, or financial impact).
• Build relationships before you need them—so when a crisis arises, decision-makers already trust your expertise.

If you can’t convince the CFO or CEO why security investments matter, even the best technology solutions will go underfunded or deprioritized.

How to Develop These Skills (Beyond Certifications)

So, how do you bridge the gap between technical expertise and executive influence?

1. Start practicing now. Present security insights to non-technical colleagues and get feedback on clarity.
2. Study leadership communication. Take courses on storytelling, negotiation, and business strategy.
3. Follow cybersecurity leaders who articulate security in business terms—watch how they frame discussions.
4. Get involved in executive-level conversations. Don’t just sit in IT meetings—engage with finance, operations, and leadership.

The professionals who stand out are the ones who combine technical depth with the ability to communicate its value to the business.

Certifications prove what you know—but your ability to connect security to business priorities is what sets you apart.

If you’re serious about advancing in cybersecurity or IT leadership, ask yourself:
Are you just learning technical frameworks, or are you preparing to lead?

Tech skills get you in the door. Communication skills put you at the table.

Are you ready for that next-level conversation?

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