Welcome—or welcome back—to The Thoughtful Executive.
I came across an article this week from an executive coach about how women leaders can communicate with more authority. Right up my alley. I figured it might shape a future Thoughtful Executive issue, so I clicked through, ready to be inspired but something distracted me from the message.
A few sentences in, I hit a paywall.
Now, I appreciate paying for journalism. I’m a former news reporter; I get it. I also spent time working inside the subscription software world that powers a lot of major news organizations, watching teams fight for every new digital subscriber. I really, really get it. Newsrooms need revenue, and putting some work behind a paywall is one of the levers. The newsrooms I worked in wrestled hard with what belongs behind that wall. You have to pick and choose. But this kind of content isn’t journalism, and it’s not something I’d pay for just to read once.
Today’s newsletter isn’t about that specific coach or that site. It’s about the broader idea of contributing to these kinds of paywalled publications in the first place—and whether that actually pays off for you or the executives you support.