Diary of a Leader

Operations insights and leadership perspective for founders of growing service businesses

A space for what it actually looks like to lead a growing service business when things aren't clean, clear, or working the way they should. Written by Lindsay Sheldrake, founder of SOLVED Collective.

This isn't theory or recycled advice. It's the patterns I see inside real businesses where work gets stuck, decisions slow down, and things feel heavier than they need to. If you're building something and feeling the friction, you're not alone.

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New to the blog? These six posts cover the core of what we talk about here.

Why Productivity and Business Growth Are Not the Same Thing

The Gap Between Operational Clarity and Knowing Where to Start

When the Founder Starts Feeling Like the Bottleneck

Decision Fatigue in Leadership and the Cost of Carrying Too Much

Accountability in Leadership Must Be Defined, Not Assigned

The Hidden Cost of Informal Systems in a Growing Business

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Not sure where to start? Find the section that matches where you are right now.

Founder experiencing decision fatigue and operational overload in a growing business

Work feels harder than it should

Why Productivity and Business Growth Are Not the Same Thing

The Gap Between Operational Clarity and Knowing Where to Start

The Hidden Cost of Informal Systems in a Growing Business

Leadership team working through operational challenges in a growing service business

Your team isn't taking ownership

Accountability in Leadership Must Be Defined, Not Assigned

The Meeting Where Everything Made Sense — and Why Decision Ownership Was Missing

Why Business Operations Isn't "Common Sense" in Growing Companies

Two leaders reviewing documents together representing operational friction in a growing business

You're stuck in the middle of everything

When the Founder Starts Feeling Like the Bottleneck

Decision Fatigue in Leadership and the Cost of Carrying Too Much

When Growing Your Business Starts to Feel Like a Trap

Operations feel chaotic

The Cost of Comfort and the Reality in Operational Leadership

The Layer Most Leaders Never Stand In — Where Operational Design Actually Lives

Could Operational Clarity Be Missing?

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If the friction is real, the conversation should be too

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