How I Avoided the Sunk Cost Fallacy by Firing My Book Publisher
A real sunk cost fallacy example from business: why I fired my book publisher after three months, and how to spot the trap that keeps you paying for the wrong vendor, hire, or partner.
What is an Executive Coach?
Executive coaching is a professional development process aimed at enhancing the leadership skills, performance, and effectiveness of executives and other senior leaders within organizations. It involves a one-on-one partnership between the coach and the executive, where the coach provides guidance, support, and feedback to help the executive achieve their goals and overcome challenges.
Executive coaching typically focuses on leadership development, communication, strategic thinking, decision-making, and managing change — without losing sight of the person doing the leading. The coach helps the executive see their own strengths, blind spots, and patterns, set meaningful goals, and build the self-awareness to lead at a higher level.
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- Real talk on cash flow, culture, leadership, and the inner game of growth
- Tactical moves to stop the slow bleed and actually pay yourself
- Micro-actions that help you reclaim your role—as a leader, not a laborer
- Coaching
- The process of guiding individuals to achieve personal and professional goals through structured conversations, feedback, and support.
- Executive Coach
- A trained professional who works one-on-one with CEOs, founders, and senior leaders to strengthen their leadership effectiveness, decision-making, and self-awareness — helping them see what they can't see about how they lead.
- Coachee
- The individual receiving coaching services, also referred to as the client or coachee.
- Psychological Safety
- The felt sense that you can speak the truth — name the fear, admit the mistake, ask the real question — without being punished for it. It's the foundation of every honest conversation, and most leadership problems trace back to its absence. Built on the work of neuroscientist Dr. Danny Friedland, it's the difference between a team that nods along and one that actually tells you what's going on.
- Itty-Bitty-Shitty-Committee
- The running committee of self-doubt in your own head — the voices telling you you're not enough, you're a fraud, you're about to be found out. Every leader has one. The work isn't silencing it; it's learning to hear it without letting it drive.
- Active Learning Cycle
- Real change doesn't happen by talking about a problem once. It happens in the loop: you try something, you feel what happens, you reflect on it, and you adjust — then you go again. The rewiring is in the reps, not the insight.
- Massive Curiosity + Massive Accountability
- The two engines of From Suck to Success. Curiosity asks "why is this really happening?" instead of defending. Accountability owns your part instead of assigning blame. Most leaders are strong on one and avoid the other. Growth lives where you hold both at once.
- Head Trash
- The clutter between your ears that clouds judgment and holds you back — old stories, unexamined fears, the reasons you've half-convinced yourself are facts. A coach's job is to help you see it for what it is so it stops running the show.
- Life by Design
- Building a business — and a life — on purpose, instead of waking up inside one you never chose. For founders, work and life aren't separate tracks; they're the same life. The goal isn't more hustle. It's designing the whole thing so it actually fits the person living it.
- The Sounding Board
- What a coach actually is in the moment that matters — not the scheduled session, but the 7am Tuesday text before you send the email you'll regret. Someone who knows your context, won't just validate you, and can help you unspiral before you act.
- Goal Setting
- The process of defining specific, measurable objectives that the coachee aims to achieve through coaching.
- Action Plan
- A detailed plan outlining the steps the coachee will take to achieve their goals, including timelines, resources, and accountability measures.
- Assessment
- Tools and techniques used to evaluate the coachee's strengths, weaknesses, personality traits, and leadership style.
- Feedback
- Constructive input provided by the coach and other stakeholders to help the coachee identify areas for improvement and leverage their strengths.
- Self-Awareness
- The ability to recognize and understand one's own emotions, thoughts, strengths, and weaknesses.
- Empathy
- The capacity to understand and share the feelings and perspectives of others, essential for effective coaching relationships.
- Active Listening
- A communication technique where the coach attentively listens to the coachee, seeking to understand their concerns, motivations, and objectives.
- Socratic Questioning
- A coaching technique involving open-ended questions designed to stimulate critical thinking, self-reflection, and problem-solving.
- Accountability
- The coachee's commitment to taking ownership of their actions, following through on commitments, and achieving agreed-upon goals.
- Performance Improvement
- The process of enhancing the coachee's professional capabilities, productivity, and results through targeted coaching interventions.
- Leadership Development
- Programs and activities designed to cultivate the coachee's leadership skills, competencies, and strategic thinking abilities.
- Work-Life Balance
- The equilibrium between the coachee's professional responsibilities and personal well-being, essential for long-term success and fulfillment.
- Resilience
- The ability to adapt to challenges, setbacks, and changes, enabling the coachee to maintain productivity and well-being in demanding environments.
- Feedback Loop
- A continuous process of giving and receiving feedback between the coach and coachee to assess progress, address obstacles, and refine goals.
- Trust
- The foundation of the coaching relationship, built on mutual respect, confidentiality, and rapport between the coach and coachee.
- Reflective Practice
- The habit of regularly reflecting on experiences, learning, and insights gained through coaching to promote continuous growth and development.
- Return on Investment (ROI)
- The tangible and intangible returns from executive coaching — clearer decisions, stronger leadership, better retention, and the costly conversations and mistakes you avoid because you saw them coming.
From Suck to Success
In From Suck to Success, Todd uses his own experience in professional purgatory to propel your business upward by embracing Massive Curiosity coupled with Massive Accountability.
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