A monthly letter from D.A. Abrams on leadership, growth, and building organizations that last.
This Month's Theme: What Actually Matters
Dear Reader,
As we close out another year, I want to share a pattern I have observed across three decades of working with executives, managers, and aspiring leaders. The people who advance—not the ones who simply survive, but the ones who build careers they are proud of—tend to master a set of competencies that are rarely part of any formal curriculum.
Technical skills get you in the room. These competencies determine how far you go once you are there.
The Competency Gap
I have identified fifteen competencies that separate high performers from high-potential-but-stuck professionals. They span four domains: self-leadership, relationship leadership, execution leadership, and strategic leadership. Some are intuitive. Others are counterintuitive enough that smart people resist them until they see the evidence.
A few examples:
- Managing up without selling out. Your relationship with your boss is the single most consequential relationship in your professional life. Managing it skillfully is not politics—it is strategy.
- Translating complexity into clarity. The ability to take a complicated situation and make it understandable—without oversimplifying—is one of the rarest and most valued executive skills.
- Strategic patience. Knowing when not to act is as important as knowing when to move. The best leaders distinguish between waiting from fear and waiting from wisdom.
A Year-End Review Process
Before you set goals for the new year, take an hour to review the one that is ending. Three questions that produce more insight than most formal review processes:
- What did I accomplish this year that required me to grow?
- Where did I avoid discomfort, and what did that avoidance cost me?
- What is the single most important capability I need to develop next year?
Honest answers to these questions will tell you more about your trajectory than any performance review.
From the Blog
As the year closes, these posts offer frameworks for career acceleration and purposeful leadership:
- 15 Competencies for Career Advancement Nobody Teaches You — The full framework: fifteen skills across four domains that drive careers forward.
- How to Prepare for the CAE Exam: A Strategic Approach — For association professionals pursuing certification, a structured study methodology that works.
- The Big Six Formula: Why D&I Is a Business Strategy — Diversity and inclusion as competitive advantage, not compliance exercise.
A Question Worth Sitting With
"If I continue on my current trajectory for three more years, will I be satisfied with where I land?"
This question has a way of cutting through the noise. If the honest answer is no, then something needs to change—and the best time to change it is before the new year begins.
What I'm Reading
This month I have been returning to Make It Happen, especially the chapters on career architecture and intentional professional development. If you are planning your next career move or simply want to be more deliberate about your growth, it is a practical companion for year-end reflection. Browse the full collection on Amazon.
Coming Up
In January, we start the new year with the business case for supplier diversity—why smart organizations treat diverse supply chains as a competitive advantage, not a compliance checkbox. We will also explore practical strategies for building momentum in the first quarter.
If you are planning your professional development for the new year, explore our online courses for structured learning across leadership, career development, and organizational excellence. For organizations investing in their teams, our corporate training programs deliver measurable results.
Wishing you a reflective close to the year and a purposeful start to the next.
D.A. Abrams