What Is Love? / November 22, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Love is letting the Other be.

We're talking otherness in anything or anyone, including yourself.

It's easy to root for what's familiar and predictable. Safety and comfort slide in without a fight. That's the womb-bubble: all for you, no one but you.

Different story when you trip over otherness.

For example:

Sudden events wreck what you've built.
A man turns out nothing like the one you thought.
You've got urges that shame or scare you just to name.

Right away come irritation, anxiety, disappointment, pain, and anger. You lose control, and then you lose peace. Where there is a wound, there is death, right?

Yes — but it is not you who dies. Only your opinions, convictions, and fantasies. If they're thick and dear, goodbye turns to torment.

And what does Otherness offer in return?

The world’s unpredictability makes your play with it alive.
People's differences let them stun and spark each other.
Your "black hole" ends up a horn of plenty.

Feels like a fair trade to me. You?

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

Light in the Dark / November 21, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Here’s my power-outage schedule from yesterday and today.
It’s obvious how many inconveniences appear at once.
Gloom and anxiety circle like sharks.

Yet I was struck by something else: upside lurks here too.

My apartment sits in the city center. All day long, there’s a buzz: screech of cars lunging at green lights, hammer clang from some neighbor's fix-up, flash of billboard glow, and so on.

When the power cuts out, the whole district freezes.
Fall dusk drops fast. The odd silence shocks the ear.
The gaze turns inward on its own.

These are perfect conditions for introspection, that dive into self.

The outer world calms down, and the inner one does too.
Bad Wi-Fi kills the urge to dive into social media. Now it’s just you.

The light will return someday. But right now you’re in the “in-between”.

That's how I felt once, leaping from a plane—two or three rapt minutes adrift between sky and earth.

In that space, the grip of past and future loosens.
A paradoxical calm rises despite the chaos around.

From the dark depths come new sensations, emotions, thoughts.
For some reason, I want to be honest, completely open.
I won’t call it grace, but there is something sacred in it.

The mystery fades the moment the lights come back. I even feel a bit sad.

Still, the waking world pulls me back fast.
Piles of pings and tasks wait, impatient.
Had my flight? Time to walk the earth.

And I can’t help wondering:
Is it possible to feel grateful… for everything?

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

Smart Neck / November 20, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

A strong neck is a good thing, right? The muscle frame shields your vertebrae from harm. It matters in sport and in everyday life.

Thinking this way, beginners start training their neck with a “wrestler’s bridge” or by hanging a heavy kettlebell from a helmet strap.

Mike Tyson once admitted he ruined his neck with daily bridges, doing a crazy number of reps for 20–30 minutes at a time. And this with a bull-thick neck measuring 50+ cm around!

“How should I train my neck?” I asked a sports rehab specialist. “You don’t,” he surprised me. “What’s the main muscle of the neck?”, now he turned the tables. “Probably the traps,” I guessed. “Right. And what fires the traps best?” he pressed. “Any kind of pulling with the arms!” I lit up. “Yes. That's plenty,” he sealed it, then added: “And if you really need it for sport, go isometric with a band.”

A beginner tries to copy free-style wrestlers or tunes in to fitness influencers, whose goal is to grab attention with things that are exotic, freakish, or shiny new.

But the person you should ask is the expert who has no time for social media because he has a line of athletes on crutches waiting for him. From statistics, patterns emerge. And patterns are stubborn things.

Takeaway: everyone needs a strong neck. But not at any price.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

The Gift of an Obstacle / November 19, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

We get angry when something slows us down, holds us back, or boxes us in.

Resistance feels like a waste of time and energy.

Our very freedom feels pinched.

We mutter: “Without all these obstacles, life would be so much better.”

But would it? Take these:

Soil's pushback lets us walk and run.
Lifting weights strengthens muscles, bones, and ligaments.
An opponent returning the ball makes the game interesting.
A needle scratches hard through lacquer to create an etching.
A stubborn dilemma, in the end, gives birth to a fresh insight.

It seems obstacles annoy us before and delight us after.

They trip us up until they are integrated into our life.

So let's hurry the question: "What good will this snag bring me?"

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

A Psychotherapist Talks with a Business Therapist / November 18, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

I want to share with you my conversation with Dr. Greg Madison, a psychologist and psychotherapist from England. What’s most interesting is not my answers, but Greg’s way of relating — something you rarely meet.

Greg is a master of Focusing, a therapeutic method I’ve also studied for many years. He listens and hears like no one else. With him, you want to tell everything.

Here are the themes we touched on:

2:10 – my first encounter with Focusing
4:20 – what makes Focusing unique
5:45 – the unconventional nature of my career path
10:10 – what Focusing taught me
14:25 – the role of Focusing in business therapy
18:50 – Eugene Gendlin, the founder of Focusing, as a model
21:20 – where confidence comes from when you’re stuck
23:50 – how trust is born in business therapy
29:45 – why it’s hard to think about the future of your business
31:20 – a common problem in strategic sessions
33:10 – why I work with founders, not top-managers
37:00 – why a founder must craft the vision
40:00 – how to model a different way of relating inside a team
43:25 – the problem of disintegration in the “corporate body”
45:25 – the forgotten art of blending the “mundane” and the “sacred”
47:55 – the cyclical renewal of a person and an organization
51:25 – where the true value of a growing company lives
54:05 – the real purpose of strategic sessions
56:25 – the fractal nature: self–team–society
1:01:15 – consequences of alienation from one's own desires
1:03:30 – how violence spreads on a planetary scale
1:06:25 – the importance of seeking global creative solutions

If you enjoyed the interview, please share it with someone who might find it helpful or inspiring. Thank you in advance!

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

Catch of the Day / November 17, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Only now am I beginning to understand the meaning of this newsletter. It turned out to be practice in trusting what's valuable yet unseen.

From the very beginning, I made a firm decision not to have a “content plan.” I was inspired by the fisherman’s sign in the harbor: Catch of the Day.

On one side stood my desire—and even my promise—to come home not empty-handed. And on the other, the power belonged to the ocean, not to me.

Each time, the blank screen weighed on me and stirred fear: “What if there are no ideas today?” All I could do was calm myself down and stay patient, trusting that the inner ocean would guide some fish into my net.

Day after day, the newsletter kept proving the ocean’s generosity. Only the surface was barren. The depth hid billions of tons of fish. So all my worries about a lack of ideas turned out to be laughable.

More or less, but there is always a catch. Sometimes I reel in something exotic—bluefin tuna, fugu, or a giant crab. The hunt excites. Unpredictability shifts from enemy to friend.

In truth, every day I build a relationship with the black abyss inside. It turns out it doesn’t want to swallow me—it wants to feed and amaze.

And what is required of me? To leave the safe shore, cast the net, and wait.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

Exponential You / November 16, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Venture investors don’t care about a startup’s current valuation. The wisest of them don’t haggle—they just write the check. If there’s a chance to hit a billion, it doesn’t matter whether the entry price is one million or two.

What excites an investor is the startup’s Wow-future, and its growth rate today is what makes that future believable.

On the opposite end of the spectrum stands the vulture capitalist. He buys a company under stress, cuts it into parts, and sells them off. There’s no talk of investing in the future at all. A vulture loves only the price-spread he can capture right now.

Funny thing: we tend to see people in the same two ways.

The temptation is to notice only what’s visible at the moment—someone’s troubled state and the current balance of “assets and liabilities.”

But unlike companies, every one of us holds a sleeping capacity for exponential growth. Some will wake up. Some, sadly, won’t.

And what serves as the alarm clock? A rare gaze from another that hits like this:

“Through who I am today, He/She sees who I can be, want to be, and will be.”

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

Desires Who? / November 15, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Suppose some hypnotist wants you to do X. Forcing you would be costly and risky. The ideal outcome is when you exclaim: “I desperately want X!”

How does he make that happen? He narrows the infinite variety of the universe to a tiny segment — X, Y, and Z. Within that frame, X gains maximum weight.

Then the hypnotist puts on a white coat and, through monopoly, excludes all other opinions. Now the “right” choice is obvious.

But the real trick is this — the subject himself helps the hypnotist.

We’ve lost the ability to hear our true desires and got used to silencing them — a side effect of entering culture through imitation.

The question “What do I want?” feels unbearable because it brings the discomfort of uncertainty. So the mind looks for a model — similar, but higher up. Where does He look? At X. Therefore, X is valuable.

“I want that too! I’ve always wanted only X!”

The way out isn’t to find another guru — it’s to turn your attention inward. Into the desert silence, until your own “I want” begins to speak.

The real battle is for your attention. Who does it belong to?

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

Words of Freedom / November 14, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

To be honest, I didn’t believe her at first. I kept opening up, more and more, watching her closely: “What if This tips too far?” I was afraid that what I had carried inside for so long would be too heavy for anyone to bear.

But I saw this clear just lately. All along, I'd pegged myself an introvert.

Turned out, I held back from folks because I sensed their psychological fragility. They could accept me only “up to a point.” Truly unbreakable people—I hadn’t met any before.

Maturity doesn’t come with age; it takes enormous work. Otherwise, even the slightest Otherness in someone will upset or scare you, stirring the urge to reject.—or better yet, destroy—what feels foreign.

A healing therapist has faced, grasped, and embraced every part of herself. Of course, she’s imperfect too—and gladly admits it. The key is that she must be far less breakable than her client.

Only then does a space emerge where you’re free to say Everything.

Oh, what a release! Like that first gulp after holding breath. A wild cascade of truths. And look — your “black hole” is not evil or ugly, but a source of beauty, creativity, and love.

So through words, we help each other turn darkness into light.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

The Body of Your Business / November 13, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

They call business a corporate body for a reason.

If the body runs right, it keeps growing—bigger, tougher, stronger. Folks say a tight team moves like one living organism.

But here’s the nuance most skip: the big body of a business is fractally similar to its smallest part—the body of the founder. At least it is, as long as control hasn’t passed to private or public investors, but remains with the one who created it.

If the company starts stumbling, slowing down, or bleeding losses, don’t rush to blame the team, fix the processes, or chase funds. Eye the top dog close.

A pale face? Puffy eyes? A scattered voice? Bet the whole company feels it too. Teams start clashing. Contractors fail. Clients make mountains out of molehills.

Want to heal the business? The founder must recover first.

Every renewal of a company’s body repeats its birth—when the Creator once burned with a Wow-idea that simply had to be brought to life.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

Break the Spell / November 12, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

When you join a new group, it’s almost inevitable — someone will attract you, while someone else will unsettle, annoy, or even scare you.

If you’re curious why, read about the phenomenon of transference. Simply put, it’s when we unconsciously “recognize” in another person someone from our past — someone who once loved us deeply or hurt us badly.

In truth, we’re not seeing a person but a phantom. That’s why any interaction with him, even in our thoughts, leads to misunderstanding, disappointment, and conflict.

I used to fall into that trap often, but the sheer dumbness wore me down. Now, whenever I feel dislike for a stranger, I look for any excuse to start a conversation… about nothing in particular.

My goal is simple: to break the spell by touching real life. And you know what? The "spell" breaks instantly. Every time, I’m surprised to discover I actually like the person who first made me tense.

Huh. How many world woes arise from ghost encounters, not human souls?

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

Free Fall / November 11, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Your foe outsmarts you and launches a big throw. Your body senses the drop to the mat—or worse, the pavement. So you resist the pull with every ounce of strength.

Too late. There’s a point of no return. Your feet leave the ground, and your body is flying. “Chief, we’re doomed!”

Stop. Don’t panic. Some things are still in your hands—just not what you think.

Yes, you will fall. But the how stays wide open.

You’ve got options:

Slam down hard, black out, and lose the bout.
Tuck tight, soak the shock, and roll to guard.
Touch down, then strike while your rival foretastes the win.

The first one takes zero effort. It just happens. The second—and especially the third—demand a mindset shift and the skill to make space for new ideas.

When everyone around thinks it’s over, you remember the old English saying: “There’s many a slip 'twixt the cup and the lip.” In that moment, doom turns into creative freedom. Freedom to do… what?

Anything! Anything’s better than being a falling object headed straight to point B. Especially if you’ve been here before—and maybe even prepared a counter.

Now, instead of one move, you’ve got three. Or four. Maybe ten.

At first, you resist the throw 100%. But the moment X comes, and you must switch. Stop fighting. Surrender fully to the fall.

Then pour all your energy and focus into adapting.

Uncertainty becomes your pal. Your quiet backer. Wild twist, huh?

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

Awaken the Beast / November 10, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

We can learn plenty from animals.

For one, how to endure—calmly and with dignity—what, alas, cannot be changed. Beyond luck, every creature on Earth meets its share of misfortune—plain bad luck.

Search the web for a crocodile without a lower jaw, a hawk pierced by an arrow, or a fox left with only its hind legs and tail. Each was doomed by fate, yet somehow managed to survive.

What’s striking is how little their behavior differs from the others. They still live to the fullest potential of their kind. No despair. No tears. No blame, anger, or whining.

They are dissolved in the flow of being—without labeling it “good” or “bad.”

Of course, animals lack what man has—the gift of consciousness—and so, they’re spared its curse. But unlike them, man has a choice in how to relate to his circumstances.

Sadly, we often turn that great power of consciousness against ourselves. We imagine in detail how perfect life could have been, if only A, B, or C hadn’t happened. These bitter thoughts drive us into despair.

“I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself,” wrote D.H. Lawrence—and he was right.

After all, much of the beast still lives in us. Our split from the common ancestor with the chimpanzee happened around six to seven million years ago, while modern human consciousness appeared only fifty to a hundred thousand years back. A wild love of life still pulses in every cell of our body.

Awaken the Beast within—and nothing will ever stop you.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

The Other Within You / November 9, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

There are two ways for divided parts to feel whole again.

The first is to agree on who’s to blame for all misfortune. Once the “stranger” is purged, relief floods, calm holds.

But unity never lasts long. The victim must be offered again. To duck the blame for blood, they forge an imperative — sacred rite, law, duty, or cruel god.

This method has always been the most popular. Aztec sacrifices, the Spanish Inquisition, China’s Cultural Revolution, and today’s cancel culture—all one kin.

Worse yet, the individual acts the same way toward himself.

The second way is rare because it demands a shift in worldview. Instead of exile, it calls for the creative integration of the “stranger.” You must see not a threat in otherness, but a hidden good—for everyone.

That becomes possible only when, on one hand, a man is weary of inner violence, and on the other, inspired by the idea: In Sterquilinis Invenitur—“In filth it will be found.”

Something in you annoys, disgusts, or frightens you. Stop and ask: “What if this ugly form hides a precious meaning?”

Violence is easy. Try showing love toward the Other within you.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

When I’m Tired, I Sleep / November 8, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Have you ever suddenly felt an urge to sleep in the middle of the day?

Your first instinct is to fight it:

Push yourself with a looming deadline.
Splash cold water on your face.
Brew a cup of coffee.
Blast upbeat music.
Do a few stretches.

Sometimes the fog lifts. Other times, it fights back. Like a saboteur, it cuts off your energy supply, poisons you with apathy, and derails your train of thought.

You're a zombie now: eyes wide, but output's zero.

One day, I tried something different. When the wave of sleepiness hit, I thought, “Maybe I’m missing something. What if this is care, not sabotage? Let's test”. I sat in my favorite chair, closed my eyes, and drifted into a nap.

Twenty minutes later, lids rose on their own. The difference was stunning. My head felt crystal clear, my body energized, and ideas started flowing again.

Turns out, my body hadn’t asked for half a day off—just a short pit stop.

To a student's query on Zen, the master said: "When hungry, I eat. When tired, I sleep." He doesn’t waste strength fighting himself. Funny enough, in the end, the sage rediscovers the way of a child, a cat, or a dog.

Well, let's learn from them, shall we?

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

Between Zero and One / November 7, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

What else blocks the flood of plenty in every corner of life?

Yesterday, we discussed the inability to tolerate uncertainty.

The flip side's the same beast: rejection of the flawed, aka perfectionism. Hit the ideal, and hit it now. Anything less? Worthless. It’s either a zero or a one.

But in such binary thinking, there’s no room for the state “in-between.” So "what I have" and "what I want" end up as rims of a chasm. No bridge spans it.

Building something new means enduring long stages of “ugliness”:

Idea
Research
Sketch
Prototype
Production Plan
Pilot Model
Finished Product
Idea for Version 2.0

At every stage, the product both exists and doesn’t. For the all-or-nothing man, that in-between limbo's pure hell. Shielding himself, he stamps the edge: "I’m burning to start—but I won’t."

The irony is that abundance in his life also both exists and doesn’t. The pedant could change everything at any moment. Nothing wild: just microdose imperfection.

That's how you taste the strange kaif (كايف) of self-realizing in motion.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

Hold the Unknown / November 6, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

What determines growth, prosperity, and abundance?

How about this factor—uncertainty? More precisely, one’s ability to tolerate it for a long time.

Let’s look from the opposite angle. When a person is too tired, weak, scared, or greedy, he looks for quick and guaranteed fixes. Every moment of waiting turns his discomfort into torture.

Imagine a choice. On one side—immeasurable treasures, but not right away, only after years, and fate might interfere. On the other—a VIP all-inclusive vacation on a tropical island, with a private jet and chilled prosecco waiting.

A vulnerable state leaves no room for choice—he needs relief now. Even if it’s a fake solution, even if it harms later, it stops the pain for a moment. That’s all that matters.

Such a person always chooses certainty. And in doing so, he gets stuck in the past. The future has no way to slip into his life. Novelty flirts with him desperately, but he doesn’t respond.

Fortunately, the reverse is also true. Say you drill it small: learn to hold the fog. You carve and widen that "between" space, so the water of life can flow in.

Over time, in the in-between, torment quits. You start anticipating… what?

The Unknown Everything.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

Opening the Closed System / November 5, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Each of us is a patchwork of selves. Some parts we secretly love—or even show off in public. But others we despise so deeply, we almost forget they exist.

And yet, those rejected parts are still there. We’re not indifferent to them. Just watch your emotional reaction when someone or something suddenly drags them up from the depths.

This status quo keeps the personality from feeling whole. You live with a faint sense of lack—and an inner war. You can outlaw a part of yourself, but you can’t destroy it. So the guerrilla fight drags on for decades in the dark forest within.

Such a person becomes like a closed system. And according to the laws of thermodynamics, entropy keeps rising. The mind tangles, the body breaks, the soul suffers. Time runs out. Talent goes to waste.

Can a closed system fix itself? Can a person truly self-heal? Given that you’d need to reverse long-established relationships inside yourself by 180 degrees, the odds aren’t great.

Even when it seems someone has changed on his own, it usually comes from an astonishing encounter with Another.

That person gives you living proof that your rejected part isn’t cursed or evil. He sees not your flaw, but wow-fullness. That new way of relating begins the healing within.

Why can he do what feels impossible to you? Simple—he once lived through something just like it.

Once healed, you too will help others—with your word, your presence, your gaze.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

Co-Creation Only / November 4, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Recall how we speak of forging something new:
The Creator makes Something out of Nothing.
It sounds as if he performs this sacred act solo.
That’s a lie—though it’s the way our culture likes to imagine it.

To bring new life into being, it takes two.
Nature decided that, not us.
In this sense, the value of one is zero, not one.
No matter how rich her promise or how strong he is.

In truth, there is no such thing as creation—it is always co-creation.
The new blooms from link, bond, dance between X and not-X.

So what is a creative block?
It’s when one ignores the Other, trapped in self-spin: “I... Mine... Me...”
That act can ease or heat—but won't conceive the new.

Stuck?
Forget yourself to spot the Other—who calls you to the Game.

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.

Your Company Transforms When... / November 3, 2025 by Alexander Lyadov

Turning a company from crisis demands pinning two points firm.

First, an honest map of where she stands now. The work bites hard, scares deep, so most rush it formal, fast as they can. Illusions keep the wheel.

Why? Because of a culture that punishes mistakes and hunts for culprits. Fear, resentment, and frustration make people deaf to others and afraid to speak up. How to be honest and open when a year all hold tight?

Second, you need to offer a meaning worthy of all participants. Not just profit, but something bold and magnetic—something too big for one person to achieve alone.

Turns out, discussing the future is also hard. Folks dash to nod at worn *.ppt lines. In business where "nothing's personal," they dodge: “What do I actually want?” Easier swallow another's desire, then grumble about it later.

No wonder so few transformations succeed, and “strategic sessions” degenerate into empty rituals that breed apathy and cynicism. You can’t keep going, but you can’t quit either. Sounds like a dead end.

So what can be done?

Show another road to self and kin. Everyone must experience firsthand that: – I’ve forgotten what I truly want. – Someone hungers to know me deeper than I do. – I can speak my truth—and miraculously, no one dies. – Mistakes are welcome, because they contain gifts. – Naming the “horror” brings relief, not drama. – A colleague’s stance I hate hid something I also share. – We can dare to do what no one before us has done.

Who becomes the crystal center in this saturated company solution?

The one who can't—and won't—mutter: "Yeah, I don't give a damn."

Yours sincerely,

-Alexander

As a business therapist, I help tech founders quickly solve dilemmas at the intersection of business and personality, and boost company value as a result.

Stuck? Your business grows when you do. I’m your business therapist to guide your shift. See testimonials here. Ready? Book your Catalyst session.