Insights / The Executive Insider

The Executive Insider

The Executive Insider is a series by Shamane Tan examining the decisions, assumptions and relationships that influence leadership and business growth. Drawing on her experience working with executives, boards and founders, each edition explores an aspect of leadership that is easy to overlook until it begins affecting outcomes.

By Shamane Tan | Published on LinkedIn

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Edition #4

The Executive Insider, edition #4: When “This Is How It Works” Stops Being a Good Enough Answer. Original red-and-black newsletter cover.

Established practices · Assumptions · Judgement

When “This Is How It Works” Stops Being a Good Enough Answer

A practice that once solved a real problem can become the very thing holding a business back. Shamane examines how inherited processes and the authority of experience can close down alternatives—and why, for founders scaling a business, the next growth move may be to question an old one rather than add another.

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A question worth asking

“Are we still solving the problem, or just repeating the solution?”

Before adding a new initiative, revisit the assumptions behind the current one.

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The Executive Insider, edition #3: Why Great Leaders Don't Have One Style. Original red-and-black newsletter cover.

Edition #3

Why Great Leaders Don't Have One Style

Decisiveness, expertise and speed can become defaults rather than choices. This edition explores leadership range: reading what a person or situation needs, then adapting your response without abandoning your values. For founders, that range shapes how teams, investors and customers respond as the business grows.

The perspective

Keep your values. Expand the responses available to you.

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The Executive Insider, edition #2: When What You Say Isn’t What They Hear. Original red-and-black newsletter cover.

Edition #2

When What You Say Isn’t What They Hear

Capable leaders can hear the same message and register very different signals. Shamane explores how attention to trust, risk, narrative or action shapes reception—and why executive influence, with buyers, boards or partners, depends on more than what you say.

The perspective

The same message can carry different meaning to different leaders.

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The Executive Insider, edition #1: The Invisible Phase. Original red-and-black newsletter cover.

Edition #1

The Invisible Phase

By the time a formal meeting begins, some people have already tested assumptions and addressed concerns. This edition looks at the informal conversations that shape alignment, and why timing your contribution matters as much as preparing it—a strategic judgement founders face whenever they need executive support.

The perspective

Understand where the conversation already is before entering the room.

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The Executive Insider, edition #0: When Decisions Feel Decided. Original red-and-black newsletter cover.

Edition #0

When Decisions Feel Decided

An idea can meet no objections and still win no support. Shamane examines the quieter role of timing and framing in stakeholder buy-in, and why adding more information can create friction rather than movement—a pattern founders meet when seeking commitment from buyers and leadership teams.

The perspective

No objection does not necessarily mean buy-in.

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From perspective to action

When it's time to make your next move

Good questions can change how we see a problem. The harder part is deciding what to do next. At AMBA, we work with founders and leadership teams to examine what's holding progress back and identify the move that deserves attention.

Find Your One Move