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Meaning Makers

Retention starts before hiring. Leadership starts before managing

Published about 3 hours ago • 2 min read

Hi Reader!

Last week was all about books: Kindle Flash Sale, LinkedIn Lives, collaborating with some brilliant business authors. Honestly, a lot of fun.

And somewhere in the middle of all of that, CLICKING hit #1 bestseller in Communication in Management on Amazon. The badge wasn't why I wrote the book. But knowing that so many of you picked it up, recommended it, talked about it — that means everything.

If you've read it and it resonated, please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads. It takes two minutes, and it genuinely helps the book reach the people who need it most.

The 99¢ price is still live until end of Friday. After that, it goes back to full price.

And if you want to get a feel for what CLICKING is really about before you dive in, Timothy Hughes interviewed me on #TimTalk, where I walked through the framework and the thinking behind the book. A good place to start if you want to know what you're getting into.

While all of this was happening, Built by People Leaders kept publishing — because that's what the show does.

Two of my latest episodes came out while I was heads-down in book world, and I want to make sure you didn't miss them. Very different conversations, but both serving the same goal: helping people leaders in fast-growing organizations navigate uncertainty, build stronger teams, and drive growth from the inside.

Jim Carlough joined me to talk about why great leaders are built, not born. Jim spent 30 years scaling organizations from $100M to $1B, and his Six Pillars framework is one of those things that sounds simple, but I wish more organizations actually used it. We talked about integrity as the non-negotiable foundation, about leading through layoffs with dignity, and about why mentoring is the most underutilized tool in leadership development. And the story he shared about keeping a whole team motivated and engaged through a three-year product sunset is definitely worth listening to.

Daniela Morein Bar, founder of Inspired Marketing, came on to talk about employer branding — and specifically why most companies are approaching it wrong. Employer branding isn't a communications exercise. When done right, it's a growth function. Build a recruitment funnel the way you'd build a product funnel. Understand your employer brand DNA before you market it. Control the narrative before someone else does. If you're in HR or leading a team that needs to attract the right people in a competitive market, this one is for you.

See you next week.

Daria

P.S. Amazon and Goodreads reviews are the best thing you can do for an independent author right now. If CLICKING has been useful to you, I'd really appreciate it — and it helps the book find its next reader

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Meaning Makers

by Daria Rudnik, Team Architect and Executive Leadership Coach

A no-nonsense newsletter for busy leaders who are done with overwork and ready to scale smarter. Join a community of 15K+ leaders and followers across platforms getting concise, actionable insights on leadership, team building, and how to use AI and hybrid intelligence to make work easier—so you can earn more, go home earlier, and lead with purpose without burning out.

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