In A Complex Silo Structure, What Types Of Anchor Text Should I Use In The Posts Linking Back Up To Child Category Pages?

In episode 102 of our weekly Hump Day Hangouts, one viewer asked about the types of anchor text to use when linking back to the child category pages in a complex silo structured site.

The exact question was:

My site is a complex silo structure with an IFTTT brand network around it.

My confusion is on what types of anchor text to use in the posts linking back up to child category pages. I thought it was suggested in the IFTTT training to use long phrases and even an entire sentence to avoid short, exact match keyword anchor text being syndicated out to the 4 blogs in the network. But it also seems we should use strong important keywords to link up to the child pages to reinforce to Google what that child page is about.

I feel like I am missing out on strong internal linking power because, out of fear I am using long phrases instead of keywords for the anchor text. What text do you suggest for the links? Thanks.