Laura Gassner Otting

Let’s be honest. When salespeople feel overwhelmed, they point fingers.👉 The leads are weak.👉 The market is shaky.👉 Politics, inflation, tariffs, Gen Z, remote work… But here’s the truth: salespeople have been selling through wars, recessions, and disruption forever. So, if excuses aren't the real problem, what is? It's the burden of their own potential. Hear me out: Every time your team hits a number, crushes a quota, or closes a deal, they see a bigger, better version of what else might be...

Thank God for evolution. I mean, seriously—without it, we’d still be licking light sockets and chasing saber-toothed tigers off cliffs. Jump off that bridge? Nope, instincts say hell no.Stick your head in a lion’s mouth? Probably not ideal.Eat day-old gas station sushi? Well, I *was* pretty hungry... Our instincts are built to keep us safe. Alive. Upright. Our instincts are great for avoiding death. But, terrible for leadership. Because those same instincts? They’re the ones that stop you...

It’s Day One of my doctoral program. YEAR NINETEEN, if we’re counting. (Of course we’re counting. Also, you know I took a First Day of School photo like a damn proud kindergartener.) But, between us, even now, with a couple of bestselling books, a thriving speaking career, and a few decades of professional experience under my belt, I still feel that funky cocktail of excitement and terror at the idea of starting something new. And I'm telling you the real truth: I'm already overwhelmed by the...

Me: "Hey, August, love you. Glad you are always a slow month."August: "Hahahahahahaha." August was anything but slow.So, I am taking time to smell the flowers. Last week alone? Ten days straight on the road. San Antonio. LA. NYC. Keynotes, media hits, and yes—shout-out to the unsung heroes of every damn event: the A/V guys. I got home for one night, hugged my pillow like it owed me money, then turned around and did six more days. Today? I’m sitting in my backyard like it’s the goddamn Garden...

I don't know about you, but my social media feed right now is filled with two things -- Taylor Swift's new album tease, and those perfect first day of school photos. It's honestly hard to know which of the two is more manufactured. I'll leave Taylor alone. I'm a Swiftie. I'm cool with that sort of manufactured experience. But, I'm not cool with the other: the endless parade of perfection: perfect parents with perfect kids on the perfect first day of school, all with matching outfits and...

A couple of weeks ago, I read an article that got under my skin. (Strap in, friends. Peeved LGO incoming.) Nina Ajemian wrote a solid piece in the new MPW Daily about female founders heading back to school after their exits. It’s thoughtful. It’s well-researched. And still—it misses the mark. Because it frames these women like they’re slinking into classrooms, heads down, chasing validation. As if their success wasn’t enough. As if they need a permission slip to start again. As if the...

What if the real reason you feel stuck isn’t because you’re lazy or ungrateful or broken—but because you don’t feel in control? Control isn’t about being the boss. It’s about having agency. About owning your choices, your work, your results. About knowing that the way you spend your time is actually adding up to the life you want to live. Let me tell you about Tara Diab, the last in my series of "let me tell you about my friend" emails I've been sending as part of our July Special. Tara was...

Ambition has gotten a bad rap of late. And, because of that, you've lost some of your power. You see, somewhere along the lines, I'm guessing that a person in power persuaded you to allow your ambition to be subsumed into something that is more socially acceptable: faux humility. They convinced you that you shouldn't want more, that you shouldn't ask for more, that you shouldn't demand more. I think that's bunk. Why do you want to get ahead?What do you want to do with that power?Do you want...

What if you didn’t show up to work tomorrow? Would anyone notice? Would it matter? Brutal question, I know. But if your answer is a hesitant shrug, let me tell you: that’s not just burnout. That’s disconnection. You see, it’s not that your work doesn’t matter. It’s that you can’t see how it matters. The sightlines are fuzzy, and in the chaos of answering every email, making every meeting, checking every box—you’ve lost the plot. You’re moving, sure. But are you making an impact? Let me tell...

Army Captain Joshua Mantz was dead, shot and killed by a sniper bullet in Baghdad. Until he wasn't. He flatlined for fifteen full minutes, while medics pounded on his chest, shocked his heart, pumped him full of do-or-die drugs. And then—somehow—he came back. Alive. Alert. Brain intact. But with a burning question that wouldn’t let him go: Am I really doing what I was put on this earth to do? That’s Calling. He assumed calling had to be lofty or higher... but what if it wasn't? Calling is the...