The New Old Master

I have been inside the room where decisions are made that slowly, surely alter the trajectories of others. And I have been outside of it.

It is undoubtedly better to be inside. But the truth they never tell you is that even inside, you can find yourself completely powerless—a silent observer to a script you didn't write. I call this pseudo-power. It commands respect from the outside, but it’s a phantom on the inside.

My road trip to pseudo-power was long. The road out was incredibly short.

My path cut from a tiny, grinding firm to striking out on my own, to eventually finding myself floating in and out of those rooms of power. Along the way, I meticulously observed my clients and my partners. But mainly, I observed myself.

Decades later, all of those characters are still stuck inside my head:

• The master manipulator I found myself shilling for.
• The HR woman who arrived the exact moment we became too big to be normal.
• The old clients who tortured me with their personality disorders.
• And, of course, my original mentor—the original "Old Master." He wasn't a Rembrandt; he was a butcher.

If he was the butcher who carved up the reality of the game, what does that make my provenance?

The New Old Master

Every week, I unpack forty years of observation. I examine out-of-bounds clients, partners, employees, anyone, including myself, including you... because we are all the same.

No textbook theories, no HR-approved platitudes. Just the unfiltered mechanics of how the house wins, how people unravel, and how to survive inside or outside the room.

Step Across the Desk

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