Tell us what you are actually stuck on at work. A specific person. A specific moment. A question you cannot ask out loud. If your situation becomes the next letter, it will be composited, anonymized, and reshaped so nobody recognizes themselves. Every submission gets read.
What to send
Two kinds of submissions are most useful. The first is a situation. Describe what is happening with specifics: who the person is to you (direct report, boss, peer), what they did or did not do, what you have already tried, and what the stakes are. The second is a topic request. Tell us what question you wish someone would answer honestly for first-time managers.
What we do with it
Every submission is read by the editor. If the situation matches with something hundreds of other managers are also facing, we write a letter on it. Your exact details do not appear. Identifying facts change. Names change. Companies change. The advice is general even when the trigger was specific.
Privacy: we do not share your email with anyone. We do not quote your exact wording. We do not respond with unsolicited advice unless you explicitly ask. If you want a direct reply, say so in the form.
Submit
Examples of topics readers have asked for
To give you a sense of what gets turned into letters, a sample of the topics readers have submitted that became the basis for full pieces:
- How to have the first difficult conversation as a new manager
- What to say when a direct report cries in your 1-on-1
- How to manage someone older than you without pretending you are not nervous
- The cost model for keeping a disrespectful high performer
- How to protect your team when your own boss micromanages you
- How to fire someone for the first time
If something on this list is close to what you are facing but not exactly it, send it anyway. The specific situations are what drive the quality of the writing.