Thread by @clairejlew

Several years ago, I got the idea to ask this question to leaders who I respected:

"What's one thing you wish you would've learned earlier, as a leader?"

I've since recorded the answers, and turned it into a podcast (knowyourteam.com/blog/podcast/).

Some of my favorite responses...

“Don’t worry about most things because most things don’t matter.”
- @jasonfried

"When your job is leading, you’re setting a precedent for acceptable and expected behavior. Which means, every single negative thing you do, every bad behavior you have, you’re admitting that you think that’s acceptable.”

- @destraynor co-founder @intercom

“Don’t be boring. It feels like companies hire people, but in fact people hire people.” - @AmandaLannert, CEO @Jellyvision

“You don’t want to be the blind leader. You don’t ever want someone following you and not questioning.” - @sarawsutton, CEO + founder @flexjobs

“If I ever am busy, I’m failing as a leader because I *shouldn’t* be busy. My job is to run the team well, and me being busy, it’s a fundamentally inefficient state.” - @rands VP Engineering @SlackHQ

"All the stuff that we actually spend all our time reading and doing all day that was the 1% of it. The real thing is it’s 99% people. Those people being inside your company and those people being your customers." - @dcancel CEO @Drift

"I always say, 'Don’t just be good on paper. Be good in real life.'" - @AynnCollins, Director of Talent Strategy @Mailchimp

"Am I just being nice? Or am I actually being honest?" - @hnshah

"I don’t actually expect you to trust me just because I’m your boss. I need to earn it." - @ryancarson CEO @treehouse

"People talk a lot about building culture – but changing culture is very hard. Understanding where decision falls and how irreversible it is a really important tactic for deciding whether + how to delegate or when you need to just make and own that decision." - @kmin CEO @TheMuse

"The more you can remove your sense of self-worth from the performance of your business, the better your business and your leadership will be." - @DesireeChicago CEO @pearachute

"Best intention is bullshit. What matters is outcomes, right, and whether you’re taking actually steps to anticipate those outcomes and mitigate those outcomes the best you can." - @dhh

"Disagreements are a central part of interacting with human beings and it’s a central part of doing good work. If you don’t have the skills and the courage to do that, you’re not doing your job." - @amyegallo Contributing Editor @HarvardBiz

Phew, a lengthy thread, I know! 🙈 But their wisdom is too good to *not* share.

Full episodes of all the interviews can be found here 👇 knowyourteam.com/blog/podcast