Download my customizable 90 Day Plan here: https://deliveringvalue.co/90

High performers don’t get stuck because they lack talent. They get stuck because the habits that made them successful as individual contributors quietly stop working once they’re leading others. In this episode of Growing Forward, I sit down with Dan Wolchonok, founder of Work Coach, to unpack what happens when a strong operator runs into the “player-coach” trap. Dan reflects on a painful 360 review from his time at Reforge that forced him to confront how jumping in to do the work himself was unintentionally holding his team back.

We talk through a defining moment in Dan’s journey: presenting a company-wide growth model to the executive team after weeks of preparation, only to be met with silence. No questions. No debate. Just a hollow reaction that left him gutted. Dan shares what that experience taught him about leadership at higher levels, including the importance of bringing a clear point of view, strong next steps, and enough conviction to spark real discussion and action.

Dan also walks us through how he responded to tough feedback without spiraling, using executive coaching, systems, and intentional changes to rebuild trust and momentum. We explore why remote work and flatter orgs make career guidance harder to access, and how Work Coach was born from the desire to give people a reliable sounding board as they navigate growth, feedback, and leadership transitions.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

• How the “best doer” instincts can create a manager death spiral, and how to break it
• Why a presentation can flop even if the work is strong, and how to lead with a clear take + next steps
• How to respond to brutal feedback with maturity, momentum, and “next play” energy

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Intro

(02:20) Dan’s early building roots in tech

(05:12) The messy side of success

(07:04) Thank you to our sponsor, Hire Overseas

(08:45) Why talking about failure matters

(09:57) What setbacks can reveal

(10:45) Trying to scale with the company

(15:15) Pitching a growth model to execs

(17:46) When the feedback hits hard

(23:11) Resetting after a missed swing

(25:12) Turning feedback into momentum

(26:28) Shifting from doer to leader

(27:19) Reading painful 360 feedback aloud

(40:14) Why Dan built Work Coach

A huge thanks to this episode’s sponsor:

Hire Overseas: Exceptional Talent for Less - https://www.hireoverseas.com

Resources:

Connect with Dan:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielwolchonok/

X: https://x.com/danwolch

Learn more about Work Coach: https://work.coach/

Connect with Andrew:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcapland/

Substack: https://media.deliveringvalue.co

Hire Andrew as your coach: https://deliveringvalue.co/coaching

Join Growth OS: https://deliveringvalue.co/growth-operating-system

Swipe my growth resume template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FR6Bbdwg80Hu-6TSz-8aGe4GgIBDukUzYXTdbr4pd0I/edit?tab=t.0

New role? Get my 90-day Growth Leader onboarding plan here: https://deliveringvalue.co/90

In this solo Field Notes episode, I break down a simple but powerful career reframing I’ve been sharing with clients who feel stuck, burned out, or misaligned in their current roles: the idea of treating your next job as a one-year deal.

Borrowing from how professional athletes think about their careers, I go over why looking for a great one-year fit instead of a perfect long-term home can lead to better decisions, less pressure, and more momentum, especially once you’re well into your career.

In this episode, you’ll hear:

• Why long-term “forever job” thinking often backfires in fast-changing companies

• How the one-year deal mindset helps you maximize fit, impact, and optionality

• When this approach makes sense and when it’s better to stay put and build depth

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Intro to the “One Year Deal” concept

(00:29) Example and parallels in an athletic career

(01:33) The One Year Deal in a professional context

(02:39) Practical application of the One Year Deal

(04:30) How to take this further

Resources:

Connect with me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcapland/

Substack: https://media.deliveringvalue.co

Apply for coaching: https://deliveringvalue.co/coaching

Join Growth OS: https://deliveringvalue.co/growth-operating-system

Download my customizable 90 Day Plan here: https://deliveringvalue.co/90

In this episode, Jay Desai, Growth Lead at Navattic, shares his approach to stepping into an early-stage growth role with clarity and purpose. He reflects on how his first 90 days were spent gaining product knowledge, ramping up without burnout, and aligning cross-functional teams around a unified vision of growth.

Jay talks about the ambiguity of growth roles and how the early days are about building relationships, learning, and strategic prioritization. He explains how he uses frameworks like “task-relevant maturity” and sprint systems to manage expectations while delivering early wins.

Now leading growth at Navattic, Jay discusses his role in designing operating systems, building trust, reducing capacity confusion, and creating a repeatable model for experimentation to drive long-term success.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

• How to architect your first 90 days for impact across product learning, trust-building, and operating system design
• A practical framework for capacity planning, effort scoring, and balancing quick wins with long-term bets
• The most common misalignments growth leaders face and how to proactively prevent them

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Intro

(01:52) Jay’s role and scope at Navattic

(03:20) How Navattic defines “growth”

(06:03) What feels new vs. familiar in the role

(08:37) Why the first 90 days set the tone

(17:46) Learning the product and meeting the team

(32:42) Capacity limits and prioritizing work

(34:16) Tools Jay uses to run growth

(38:22) Applying engineering workflows to marketing

(49:11) Quick wins vs. long-term initiatives

(54:04) When to share the first strategy draft

(57:09) Pitfalls that derail growth roles

A huge thanks to this episode’s sponsor:

Navattic: Interactive Product Demo Software - https://navattic.com/value

Resources:

Connect with Jay:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jayanishdesai/

Navattic: https://navattic.com/value

Connect with Andrew:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcapland/

Substack: https://media.deliveringvalue.co

Hire Andrew as your coach: https://deliveringvalue.co/coaching

Join Growth OS: https://deliveringvalue.co/growth-operating-system

Swipe my growth resume template: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1FR6Bbdwg80Hu-6TSz-8aGe4GgIBDukUzYXTdbr4pd0I/edit?tab=t.0

New role? Get my 90-day Growth Leader onboarding plan here: https://deliveringvalue.co/90

In this solo episode, I kick off a new series called Field Notes, by walking you through a framework I’ve developed for making resumes clearer, more compelling, and easier for non-experts to understand — especially in growth roles where titles mean wildly different things at different companies.

In this conversation, you’ll hear:

• Why most growth resumes fail to show meaningful context
• How the CATER framework helps tell a clearer career story
• How to translate your impact for hiring managers who aren’t “native speakers” of your field

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Intro

(01:07) The importance of updating resumes

(01:58) Common resume challenges

(04:19) Introducing the CATER Framework

(04:54) Breaking down the CATER Framework

(05:45) Examples and application of CATER

(10:12) An invitation for coaching and support

Resources:

Connect with me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcapland/

Substack: https://media.deliveringvalue.co

Apply for coaching: https://deliveringvalue.co/coaching

Join Growth OS: https://deliveringvalue.co/growth-operating-system

In this solo episode, I share the thinking behind a major evolution of the show and its new name: Growing Forward.

I walk through what I learned while building the podcast, where the original positioning fell short, and how listener feedback helped clarify the show’s true purpose.

In this conversation, you’ll hear:

• Why the original name worked early on, and why it was time to change it
• What listener feedback revealed about who the show is really for
• How the new direction centers on growth through real leadership moments

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Announcing the new name and why it matters

(01:03) How the original name came together

(02:19) Early signals the positioning needed work

(03:28) What listeners are trying to solve

(04:48) Clarifying the show’s new focus

(08:58) Inviting listener feedback to shape what’s next

Resources:

Connect with me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcapland/

Substack: https://media.deliveringvalue.co

Hire Andrew as your coach: https://deliveringvalue.co/coaching

Join Growth OS: https://deliveringvalue.co/growth-operating-system

In this episode, Scott McNeely, Head of Product and founding team member at Epicurate and co-founder of Modern Adventure, traces his journey from “kid with an Apple II+ in his mom’s dessert business” to building and scaling product teams in travel, publishing, and tech. He reflects on growing up in humble circumstances while attending an elite LA boys’ school, stumbling into travel writing, and then helping Lonely Planet and Viator navigate the shift from print to digital products. Along the way, Scott shares how his bias for action, love of ideas, and willingness to figure things out on the fly shaped his career.

Scott opens up about the moments when those same strengths became liabilities, like a shouting match over digital transformation with Lonely Planet’s leadership, and the emotional gut punch of being passed over twice for what felt like his perfect VP role. He talks candidly about anger, grief, and self-doubt, and how he rebuilt his confidence by zooming out, leaning on movement and thinking time, and staying curious. From scaling a team from 1 to 65 at Viator to learning to delegate, slow down, and create space for others, Scott offers a grounded, human look at what it really takes to keep growing as a leader.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

• How to read your environment and decide whether to push for change or move on, using Scott’s Lonely Planet experience as a case study.

• What it really takes to evolve from “get stuff done” operator to leader of a 60+ person team, including delegation, structure, and support systems.

• A grounded way to rebuild confidence after major setbacks, from being passed over for a dream role twice to anchoring your identity beyond one job.

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Intro

(02:09) Scott’s upbringing and early influences

(08:28) Thank you to our sponsor, Navattic

(05:53) Early career pivots and first big lessons

(13:16) Pushing change and hitting resistance

(27:27) Reading your situation with clarity and EQ

(28:48) Leadership growing pains and delegation

(31:29) Scaling fast teams and personal evolution

(42:48) Career setbacks and shaken confidence

(52:09) Centering habits for focus and resilience

A huge thanks to this episode’s sponsor:

Navattic: Interactive Product Demo Software - https://navattic.com/value

Resources:

Connect with Scott:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/scottmcneely

Learn about Epicurate: https://epicurate.vip/

Learn about Modern Adventure: https://modernadventure.com/

Connect with Andrew:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcapland/

Substack: https://media.deliveringvalue.co

Hire Andrew as your coach: https://deliveringvalue.co/coaching

Join Growth OS: https://deliveringvalue.co/growth-operating-system

In this special solo episode, I pull back the curtain and share a behind-the-scenes look at the evolution of the show.

In this conversation, you’ll hear:

• Why I started the show - and what I’ve learned after 85 eps.
• How I’m reshaping the show to blend storytelling with practical leadership lessons you can apply immediately.
• Why expanding the format unlocks more impact, more value, and more meaningful connection with listeners like you.

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Intro

(00:32) The journey so far

(01:39) Behind the scenes

(06:37) The challenge of podcast growth

(11:57) The evolution of Delivering Value

(15:39) Let’s build together

Resources:

Connect with me:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcapland/

Substack: https://media.deliveringvalue.co

Hire Andrew as your coach: https://deliveringvalue.co/coaching

Join Growth OS: https://deliveringvalue.co/growth-operating-system

In this episode, Don McGray, product marketing leader and Head of Growth PMM at Vimeo (formerly Dropbox and Airtable), shares how to separate identity from performance without dialing down ambition. From being told his launch plan was “C-plus work” to navigating a surprise layoff, Don shares the inner-game shifts that helped him rebuild trust, make cleaner calls, and keep moving in high-stakes environments.

Don gets specific about executive alignment (and the invisible pre-meeting “backchannel”), the moment he realized he was in the wrong role—and said it out loud—and why cultivating distance from work (and toward real hobbies) made him a steadier operator when pressure spiked.

In this conversation, you’ll learn:

• How to detach self-worth from outcomes so feedback, layoffs, and big swings don’t break your momentum.
• How to earn executive buy-in before “the meeting” and turn harsh input into an actionable A-grade plan.
• How to diagnose a role misfit early, have the hard conversation, and land where your strengths actually compound.

Things to listen for:

(00:00) Intro

(02:10) Don’s early career

(04:37) High stakes and career growth at Dropbox

(09:42) Thank you to our sponsor, Navattic

(13:50) Lessons from Airtable: handling tough feedback

(18:31) Navigating executive expectations

(25:04) Facing imposter syndrome

(25:25) Struggles in a new role

(28:19) The importance of vulnerability

(30:10) Navigating career changes

(38:32) Handling layoffs and job insecurity

(42:58) Balancing work and personal life

A huge thanks to this episode’s sponsor:

Navattic: Interactive Product Demo Software - https://navattic.com/value

Resources:

Connect with Don:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/donmcgray/

Connect with Andrew:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewcapland/

Substack: https://media.deliveringvalue.co

Hire Andrew as your coach: https://deliveringvalue.co/coaching

Join Growth OS: https://deliveringvalue.co/growth-operating-system