Opening Scaling Tension
Every owner carries a project that never ships. A book. A framework. A signature offer. The idea is clear, the market is real, the person has the credibility. And still, nothing leaves the desk. The reason is rarely talent. It is the operational weight sitting between the concept and the finished asset, and the founder is the only person available to carry it.
That weight quietly caps growth. Leadership bandwidth gets absorbed by the coordination, editing, formatting, follow-up, and vendor management that no one else on the team owns. The idea stays a Google Doc. The impact never compounds.
The Hidden Constraint
On this episode of Scale Smart Grow Fast, publisher and multi-author book creator Kathy Dirksen surfaced a truth that applies far beyond publishing. Most people who never share their message assume the problem is confidence or content. Kathy has helped over two hundred authors reach print, and the pattern is different. The real block is infrastructure.
A solo book means an owner has to source editors, manage a publishing timeline, understand Amazon’s launch mechanics, coordinate cover design, and hold the calendar accountable. That is not a writing problem. That is a systems problem. And it is the same shape as every stalled initiative inside a growing business: a new service line, a hiring push, a repositioned website, a partner outreach program. The founder can generate the substance. The execution scaffolding is missing.
When execution systems do not exist, the founder becomes the execution system. That is where scaling discipline breaks down.
The Operating Shift
Kathy’s model reframes the problem. Instead of asking an author to build a publishing operation, she gives them a single, contained deliverable: one chapter, roughly 2,500 words. Everything around that chapter, from the editing team to the launch campaign to the Amazon mechanics to the community coordination, is already built and staffed.
That is the operating shift. Compress the founder’s contribution to the zone only they can occupy. Transfer ownership of everything else to a structured system with people accountable for the outcome.
This is how operational leverage actually works. It is not about pushing harder or extending the workday. It is about narrowing what the leader touches so their input carries more weight, and building a repeatable execution layer underneath so the surrounding work does not disappear, it moves to someone whose job it is to own it.
The parallel to running a business is direct. Every owner has a version of the 2,500 words. It is the strategic work, the client relationships, the judgment calls, the vision. Everything else is scaffolding, and scaffolding is where founders quietly bleed hours they should be spending on capital allocation, positioning, and growth decisions.
Execution in Practice
A few mechanics from Kathy’s process translate cleanly into any operating model.
Contain the founder’s scope. She sets a firm word count. Not a preference, a boundary. That is a decision-making framework in disguise. It removes the endless calibration of “how much should I write” and replaces it with a fixed input. The same principle applies to project scoping inside a business. Leaders who define the ceiling remove the drag of re-deciding what the deliverable should be every time.
Standardize the coordination layer. Monthly group calls, a persistent chat channel, a known publishing sequence. Authors are not inventing the process. They are stepping into one. When execution systems are documented and repeated, the founder stops being the coordination hub. Contributors self-orient.
Match the support to the person. Kathy does not force one workflow on every author. Seasoned writers get less hand-holding. First-time authors get more structure. That is risk management applied to delegation. Support flexes to the actual gap, so no capacity is wasted managing people who do not need managing, and no one falls through the cracks because the process assumed too much.
Distribute the launch. Twenty authors, twenty communities, one coordinated push. The founder is not the only megaphone. This is the same reason a business with a functional referral engine outperforms a business relying solely on the owner’s outbound reach. Distributed activation compounds. Solo activation caps at the founder’s calendar.
Leverage Outcome
The result of this model is not that authors work less. It is that their work counts for more. The 2,500 words they produced were the highest-leverage version of their contribution. Everything else was owned by people whose job it was to own it.
For a business owner, the same shift protects leadership bandwidth. When the founder stops absorbing coordination, formatting, follow-up, and vendor management, the hours that come back are not general hours. They are decision hours. They move revenue, close deals, and set direction. That is what operational leverage buys. Not a lighter workload, a higher-value one.
Ideas do not scale on effort. They scale on structure. The owners who ship the projects that matter are the ones who stop trying to be the publishing house and start being the author.
Connect With the Guest
To learn more about Kathy Dirksen and her work: Website: https://inspiredtenacity.com LinkedIn: Search “Kathy Dirksen” on LinkedIn
The Immediate Move
Leadership bandwidth is the constraint, not effort. The owners who ship the work that matters are the ones who stop absorbing coordination and start transferring ownership. Structure beats hustle. A clear deliverable, a documented process, and a person accountable for the outcome will always outperform a founder trying to hold every thread alone.
The move is not to add more to the calendar. The move is to narrow what the founder touches and route everything else through a system built to carry it. That is how execution stops slipping. That is how leadership bandwidth stops leaking into work that no one else was going to catch.
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Full Podcast Transcript
Do you ever feel like you’re working hard every day, but your biggest impact never gets out into the world? Well, today on Scales Today on Scale Smart Grow Fast, we’re gonna talk about how to solve problems like that. Now, here at Worker Genics, our full-time ultimate executive assistants help busy owners stay consistent with execution so they can focus on what matters most. Kinda like what gonna talk about today, where I am joined by Kathy Dirksen, who’s the founder of Inspired Tenacity. She’s an international speaker and a 25-time number one best-selling author who’s helping people turn their stories into lasting impact. Thank you so much for being with me today, Kathy. thank you so much for having me. I am excited to get into this and I’d like to start with a little bit of your own story here, Kathy. I understand that you made a big life shift in your 50s. What was the moment when you realized I’m not done yet? Yes, well my my first shift I made around twenty ten and I I would say that was in response to a a fatal car accident that my family was involved in that really got me on this, you know, that that shakeup of thinking, okay, what am I supposed to be doing with my life and recognizing that my my marriage, my workplace were both very toxic. And I think that was really what got me started. And I made a one big career change. I went from medical genetics to financial planning, thinking this is how I could really help big people change their life in a big way. And but after a decade in that field, I recognized that that wasn’t the right answer. I needed to really come up with it myself, knowing, like you say, that there’s something bigger I’m supposed to be doing. There’s something that’s really creating a different impact in a broader way. And so it’s been about five years since I became an entrepreneur and set out on my own to figure that out. And yes, creating the multi-author books is where I landed and I know that this is this is exactly what I’m supposed to be doing. I am so excited to to dive into these multi-author books and learn more about it from our time together, Kathy. Now, I I am passionate about people and their stories, right? And I love, I kind of figure like talking to people and hearing from them is like the original Google, right? To learn about different things in the world. And so a lot of people have these stories, ideas, or lessons, but they never make it out into the world. Why do you think that happens? In my experience, what I found is the most common reason is that they feel that their story’s not important enough. And or it’s that feeling that of that imposter syndrome that they they might want to get their story out there, but it’s like, well, I’m not an author. No one’s gonna want to read my story. So I I find it’s a combination of those things, feeling it’s not big enough and that I’m not an author, I can’t do that. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I know when I first I was actually in a small group about book writing, about being an author, that I kind of was part of a mastermind I was in. So I just kind of joined it to be like, hey, here’s a place I can learn about something I might do later. And I remember in like that first call saying, well, you know, I could write about this, but there’s already a really well known book on this topic, by this guy that everybody knows. And the person facilitating the call was immediately like, Yes. And there’s space for another person’s perspective because your insights and your thoughts and your wisdom on this topic are not gonna be the same as that guys. which I thought was really helpful in motivating me to get started. Yes. And I often get that with my the people that that are in my books as well, that feeling, well, well what if somebody else writes a similar kind of thing? It’s like, well, everybody’s story is different. I mean the the the one little point might be in common, but the bigger story is always unique. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Now, when somebody comes to you, they say, I think I have a book in me. They’re thinking about writing some of their story. Where do you usually start? Yes, and all of the books that I do are all multi-author books. And so if if someone does come and they’re determined to do a solo book, then I can get them started and then I send them to my my contacts that focus on solo books. But but I always really start with a conversation, a conversation around, you know, what is that one message you really want to get out in the world? And what parts of your story feed into that message? And and I find that that really helps clarify. You know, because for most of us there’s all kinds of different parts of our life that we could talk about in a book. But really narrowing it down to what’s that impact discussion and topic that you really want to have out there. Mm-hmm. Yes, right. And that’s I think part of the challenge people have is they feel like there there’s so many things they may be passionate about, especially I think with women, we can have so many aspects and so many places we feel good. And it’s like, where’s the book? But I’d like to also, Kathy, let’s talk about a little bit with these multi-author books. How did how did what it for listeners who aren’t familiar with them, can we start with maybe a what is a multi-author book? Yes, so so basically the books that I create, I aim for having twenty people per book. Each book has its own theme and title, so everyone is writing in the direction of that, but sharing their own personal journey, what they’ve come through, what they’ve learned along the way. And for those that are entrepreneurs, that often leads to what they’re doing now. So it kind of becomes a taste of what they’re up to and what their business is. But but yes, so basically 20 people each write one chapter. So really each chapter is a standalone story. With the books that I do, I don’t look for weaving them together in a way that makes them one big story. I like each one to be completely independent and really reflecting the voice of the person who wrote that chapter. So so we take these 20 people, these 20 stories, we bring them all together under that title, and we publish that, and we do the whole. bestseller campaign through Amazon. We create all kinds of opportunities to get into speaking and to learn how to use the book to really build your business for those people who are entrepreneurs. Mm-hmm. And it seems like it would be a little bit easier of a give me one second here. There’s some children we need to pause in the background. You will see one child is having to be separated and move in the background. We just came where I’m I’m in Antigua, Guatemala. We just came to a new location like yesterday. So we are still figuring out the dynamics of this house and getting our work done and doing our homeschool without harassing our siblings. So yes. Yeah. Gotcha, gotcha. Yeah, that’s any any move is can throw you into that kind of thing. But but yes, definitely so were you always in Guatemala? I guess we should go back to right. We we travel internationally full time. So we were in Guatemala back in July and then we went to the US for weeks and now we’re we’re back here again. But overall we go to a lot of different places. So Cool. yes. okay, now we’ll get back to the topic. I want to dive into the multiauthor books a little bit. So Kathy, I know when I first ran across this idea of multi-author books. I thought it was really cool because it it kind of makes it less intimidating to write an entire book and it kind of makes it something that you can do with your friends. I’m curious, you know, what attracts people or what you find are big motivations for people to come do these multi-author books. There’s definitely a couple different angles that people often come to it from. When I did the first book that I ever participated in, my only goal goal really was to share my story with the feeling that it could help other women. So at that point I’d gone through that first career change. I went through a divorce at the same time, had two teenagers with me for the ride, and and it literally was like this calling that my story needs to help somebody else. And so that’s I think a one big thing. So and the other side is for entrepreneurs. These days I would say it’s almost a requirement for entrepreneurs to have the word author in your profile. I I find that quite often if you don’t have it, it’s almost like that feeling of, well, why aren’t you an author yet? And and especially for people that want to get into speaking, to have the word author in your profile and a book you can talk about. takes you into speaking opportunities that you wouldn’t be invited to if you weren’t an author. So so Mm-hmm. I would say those are the most common reasons why people decide to get published. And then from the angle of a multi-author book versus a solo book, I would definitely say it’s like you said, that combination of it’s a great way to get started in the publishing world because you only have to write one chapter. Everything else is done for you. You don’t have to find editors, you don’t need to figure out the system, you don’t need to figure out Amazon. It’s all done for you. And then the other side, like you’re saying, when you’re working together with a group, there’s a whole different energy about creating something together. And especially most of my books are women only. And a lot of the themes are ones that are really about inspiring, motivating, lifting as a community. And and so to come together with a group of women and create something like that that you know is gonna create impact in the world, there’s a whole different energy about it. Right. Now I’m sure you run into some some limiting beliefs that hold first time authors back. Maybe some thoughts about fear, clarity, confidence. What do those conversations look like to help people get past that? to I guess realize the impact and and the point of getting their voice out there. I think part of it is helping them reflect on that side of understanding the impact that their story can have on other people and realizing that and I I always like to look at it from the ripple effect point that as each of us share our story and put it out in the world and we’re impacting different people along the way, then that’s also impacting the other people that they’re interacting with. And to me a story and how it impacts just ripples out further and further and further and really to the point that you have no idea who will Right. be impacted and how you will change lives with your story. So I think really helping people understand that part helps them get through those nerves and you know reminding them too that all authors had to start somewhere. Like Stephen King did not start out as, you know, the the best writer in the world. you know, he obviously had to start with one book and then move out from there. So reminding them that that we all have to start somewhere. And of course reflecting it back on the point that everything else is done for you. You’re in a group that is supported. You’re you know, your the chapter development, the editing, everything. You are supported the whole way through and the complicated things are done for you. Yes, I know that most, you know, business owners and entrepreneurs, the last thing they need is another job or a project, like figuring out how to publish a book. Now, so much of this story, like you said, with the ripple effect is is, you know, connection Hold on one second. Let’s redo that. All right. So you so much of the story, the reason to get your story author is the effect it can have on society, right? It’s about that connection and that community. And I’m curious, the great thing about these multi-author books is that you’re part of a community while you’re writing the book. So how does that Yeah. change the writing and publishing process as well? I think when people are are working on a solo book, it is a very lonely job. That’s, you know, you spend hours locked away by yourself, plugging away. Whereas with a multi-author Yes. book, when you’re only writing one chapter, in my books I focus on 2,500 words. And so that’s roughly four to five pages in a paperback. And for most people that do, you know, quite a bit of writing and content and things in their business. That’s probably something that they could put at least the first draft together in an afternoon. And so kind of knowing that the rest of it you don’t have to worry about. Right. It just makes that workload a lot less because yes, as somebody who’s written a solo book, there were a lot of solo hours grinding away, getting that content done, thinking about it and writing it and providing. Yes. And part of what I part of what I bring into the process too, we do group Zoom meetings roughly once a month so everyone can introduce themselves, get to know each other as a group. We always have a group chat, usually on LinkedIn. So again, everyone can see who else is in the book, they can connect with each other. And then of course when it gets to the time of launching the book, now you’ve got twenty communities around the world that are promoting the same thing at the same time. So it’s not just you out there tooting your own horn going, Go buy my book, go buy my book. You know, it’s twenty people, twenty communities all amplifying each other. So a whole different energy from that point too. Right. And speaking of that and and kind of thinking about the promotion part of the book, you’ve helped create a lot of best-selling authors and in addition to being a best-selling author yourself a lot. What what leads to that success? Mm-hmm. Yes, yes. And and you mentioned in the intro that it was that I’ve been involved with twenty-five published books. It’s actually twenty-six now. And of wow. those, eleven of them are my books, so ones that I’ve brought people together. Others are other people’s books that I’ve contributed to. And so so in that yeah, four and a half years, eleven books out there. And so that’s over two hundred people, mostly women, who have become published authors through my books. And what is the what is the secret sauce that makes these books successful? What makes a story actually connect with people where they are buying the book, maybe buying it as gifts for others, recommending it to other people? I would say a big part of it is, you know, as I mentioned, so each one has a different theme. Different people really kind of connect with different words. Like one of the ones that we’ve got coming out soon is inspired metamorphosis. So really that whole idea of transformation, and especially with women through various ages and just the transitions we go through. So I find some people are just really drawn to that transformation. one of my other books is Ripple Effective Impact. So some people are drawn to that idea of how are we creating impact. One of the books will be coming out later this year is called Rooted in Resilience. And so again, resilience is kind of a theme that people are connected to or not. So I find that the books kind of draw the right people to them. And I I love too that they’re quite an easy read because each chapter is a standalone piece. You can sit down. Read one chapter, close the book, put it down for tomorrow. So it’s not like a a a full book where you feel like, I’ve got to get through that next chapter. I’ve got to like, what’s gonna happen next? You know, that kind of thing. It’s really like, okay, I finished that one. I can go come back to it later. So I think that makes it a an easy read that way too, which Mm-hmm. kind of encourages people to want to to pick it up. Mm. Yeah. I will say as as an avid reader, I have read some of these types of of multiauthor books, or even I recently read a book where each chapter was like a biography of a different woman in history. And I do I do enjoy, I find that with my busy life it is really easy to read a book where each chapter is kind of like its own self contained story, like that resonates a lot with me. So now you’ve mentioned it you put a lot of books out there and and you’ve mentioned some systems, some processes you have, right? Like the groups on LinkedIn for all the authors and things like this. As your work grew and you now do more of these books, what had to become more systemized behind the scenes? Hmm. Yes, and there’s definitely a lot of systems that I still need to put in place. And but things around communication with the group is really important to have that systematized. even at the very beginning of the process when I am just putting out the information of, you know, here’s the next book that’s gonna be available, who wants to participate, even that whole process of getting it out there, having a like marketing campaign, having a follow-up, and how do people get registered, so all of those really do create places in the process where a system would be very helpful. Mm-hmm. Right. Yes, cause so much of it is you’re doing the same thing again and again. And now you have systems so the individual authors don’t have to think about that. Yeah, exactly. Now it’s always that balancing act between having systems, having a you know, guiding people, and then also letting people do their own thing. Where have you learned to let go of control while still maintaining some the quality that you expect from your books? Mm-hmm. Yes, yes. And and and like I mentioned too, I really it’s really important to me that each chapter reflects the voice of that that author and looking at it from I I give them a lot of flexibility around like what format or what style they like to write in. You know, some people like to use a lot of subtitles, some people like to use a lot of bullet points and you know, kind of really allowing them to choose what’s gonna work for them in that way. And one of the other things is I have a a publishing team that I work with. So I do the front end, they do all the professional publishing end. And so really I I trust that my publishing team knows what they’re doing. So once we hand over the chapters, I I really leave it to them. So I don’t oversee all those other parts along the way. I just know that they’ll send to me that next piece and it will come together. Right. I love that. It’s like you’re staying in your lane and your zone of genius and you’ve figured out the other team members to do their part. Yes, yes. And I also love that you mentioned that the bullet points. I’m a huge bullet points numbered list person. So love that. okay. Now that actually leads conversation about, you know, you have your zone of genius and you have some team members. Let’s talk about that support a little bit more, you know. What does that look like if somebody comes in and starts working with you? You know, where are they working with you? Where does it go to your team? How do you work as a part of a community within your business to get this book from idea to bestseller? Yes, so so at the beginning when they are clarifying what they’re going to write about, developing their chapter, I work directly with each author in a way that works best for them. So I find that some people are obviously very seasoned writers, so they don’t need so much of that kind of support. Whereas other people, this is the first time they’ve done something like this. So to really to have a few meetings where we are talking about the ideas, then bringing it together as an outline, then reviewing different chapters. So I’ve really learned to leave that up to the authors to tell me what level of support they need. But I’m here for all of that, whatever support they need. And then what when it does go over to the publishing team, there’s a whole team of editors that they work with over there. So that team works directly with one of the authors, each author. So I don’t get involved in that part unless there’s some kind of issue, then they bring me into it. But generally speaking, the editors work directly with the authors to finalize their chapter and then the whole thing moves forward with the rest of the the publishing process and marketing. Okay, that makes sense. And we’re gonna continue to ignore the children running around in the background. Theo, please don’t come downstairs again. The this is like the most they’ve inter ever interrupted any video. So my goodness gracious. okay. So, Kathy, if somebody’s listening and they’re intrigued, can they come and reach out to you to work with you as like an individual author within a book that you already have underway? Or what if somebody has an idea for an entire book project? I imagine there’s a couple different paths there. What does that look like? Yes, yeah. So really there’s kind of three options. The majority of my books is just individuals coming to me to that join into the group as I build it. So definitely, yes, if if one person wants to jump in, then definitely connect with me, let me know, we’ll find the right book. I always have a few different books on the go at any given time, and that’s really one of the reasons why. So I’ve got a selection of themes so that individual can choose which one of those themes really fits. what they want to be putting out there in the world. The other one is, yes, when I when some of my books get published, I’m obviously starting new ones. So I’m open to new ideas that people might come to me as you know, I’d love to have a book about this theme or that theme. And so always open to those kind of ideas. And then the third thing that I do, I create books inside a community. And so it can be branded and titled around the organization and then filled with members from that organization. So it really becomes a great way of marketing the group at the same time as, you know, shining the spotlight on each one of those authors in the group. So so it’s kind of a a great kind of multi-marketing asset. Right, I love that. And the good thing is that we are actually going to produce this episode in about a week and a half. So I’m curious if you wanted to share any themes for anybody who is listening, you know, in the first week or so that it comes out, where you might still have some availability in these books. What are some of the themes you have available right now? Yes, so one of the ones we’ve got right now that’s about half filled is called Intentional Perspective, Finding Joy When Life Gets Messy. And that one is for women and men. One of the other ones is called When Women Rise, the World Follows. So that one obviously is all women. And the another one is called The Leader Within, which is also all women, and that will be, you know, each individual sharing their own journey around leadership. how they’ve grown into leadership, what their leadership looks like, and then also sharing some tips or strategies for other women that that want to step you know more into a leadership role. So so those are three of the options that I’ve got right now. I love that because one of the great things about stories is how we can inspire other people to maybe get past limits or fears that they have because they hear our story and they see what we were able to do and that gives them the confidence that they can do it themselves. Yes. Now, for somebody listening who feels like they’re sitting on a story, a message, or a next chapter, what’s one small step they can take this week? Well, definitely connecting with me is a great next step. one of the other next steps they could take is really kind of narrowing down and fine-tuning what is that core message, like I mentioned before. And another step would be to get started writing. That the writing really is often can become a habit, you know, something we do regularly. And obviously, the more we do something, the more comfortable we are with it, the more confident we are with it. And and generally create more of a flow with what we’re working on. So so those are you know a few of the ways I’d suggest getting started. Perfect. And that feeds for that feeds so well into what I was going to ask next, which is Kathy, where can people connect with you, learn more about your work, and start taking that first step toward sharing their own story? Yeah, so the best social media to connect with me on is LinkedIn. That’s where I’m the most active. I’m also on Facebook and Instagram. You can also find me there. And my website is inspiredtenacity.com. And on there you’ll find the list of the current projects that are open to jump into. You’ll find another page that has my previous books where you can link to Amazon to get them. And then I also have a gift section where you can get onto that page and get free PDF downloads of several of my books. Amazing. That’s awesome. Well, thank you so much, Kathy. And for our listeners, what I love about Kathy’s work is the reminder that your story still matters. And sometimes the next chapter is the one with the most impact. And that’s true in business too. And so often as entrepreneurs, we’ve got these big ideas that could be very impactful. Yet follow through can be where things slip. And that’s why at Worker Genics, we have full-time, ultimate executive assistants. that help you with that follow through so that your big ideas can be out there in the world. You can learn more at workergenics.com and then join me next week for another episode of Scale Smart Grow Fast.