Dave Kline Profile picture
Jul 14 14 tweets 4 min read Read on X
After 25 years of building teams, I've learned:

Individual mindset shapes collective success.

How average teams become unstoppable forces:

1. Doubt Is Erased by Doing
↳ Teams hesitate because they overthink
↳ Start messy, iterate quickly, win consistently Image
2. Success Comes Slowly, Then All At Once
↳ Great teams look like overnight successes
↳ But they're usually many thankless years in the making Image
3. Indecision Fuels Fear, Action Erases It
↳ Waiting for perfect clarity paralyzes teams
↳ Action creates momentum, momentum creates impact Image
4. People Only Remember How You Made Them Feel
↳ Results matter less than relationships
↳ Build trust and connection, performance follows Image
5. We Are More Powerful Collectively Than Individually
↳ 1+0 always equals 1
↳ But sometimes, we can make 1+1=3 Image
6. Whether You Think You Can or Can't, You're Right
↳ Team belief becomes team reality
↳ Culture is just shared conviction out into action Image
7. Ideas Become More Valuable When You Share Them
↳ Hoarders lose, collaborators win
↳ Ideas without execution are just wishful thinking Image
8. If You're 100% Qualified, Aim Higher
↳ Complacency slowly suffocates great teams
↳ Growth happens at the edges of ability Image
9. Progress Is Never A Straight Line
↳ Expect setbacks, celebrate rebounds
↳ Resilience is a team sport Image
10. Ideas In Your Mind Aren't As Clear As You Believe
↳ Overinvest in defining and aligning on excellence
↳ What's obvious to you is invisible to others Image
11. Effortless Masters Begins as Woeful Beginners
↳ Excellence is earned through awkward starts
↳ Give everyone space for learning and growth Image
12. No One Sees the Effort, Only the Outcome
↳ Behind every win are countless sacrifices
↳ Build daily habits that quietly compound Image
13. You Can Be a Masterpiece And a Work In Progress
↳ Perfect teams don't exist
↳ But teams that persist become unforgettable Image
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Give me a follow @dklineii as well.

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More from @dklineii

Jul 5
Stop trying to motivate your team.

Fix your Energy Leak instead: Image
Quick energy audit for your team meetings:

How much time was spent on:

• Making decisions vs. debating decisions
• Solving real problems vs. talking about problems
• Moving work forward vs. explaining why work isn't moving

The answers will help you find the source.
The biggest energy leak isn't lazy people.

It's leaders who lack the courage to cut nonsense work.

Your job isn't to say "Yes" to every request. It's to protect your team's focus by saying "No" to work that doesn't move the needle.

Eliminate before you optimize.
Read 5 tweets
Jul 4
If I've learned one thing about leading teams the last 25 years, it's that you can't get anywhere without trust.

Here's how to build it (and keep it)🧵 Image
There are 4 types of trust.

Each one build upon the previous:

• Character Trust (integrity)
• Capability Trust (skills)
• Consistency Trust (reliability)
• Connection Trust (relatability)

Skip one and your foundation is shaky at best.
CHARACTER TRUST

• Do what you say you'll do
• Take radical ownership of mistakes
• Be honest even when it's uncomfortable
• Make decisions based on principles, not politics

Without integrity, nothing else matters.
Read 10 tweets
Jul 3
You finally delegated important work.

But how do you know it’s being done right?

5 steps to drive great outcomes w/o micromanaging 🧵
1. Set Expectations

Without agreement upfront, oversight will be random & unwelcomed:

-> Goal: What will be accomplished
-> Standards: Quality that signifies done
-> Process: How work will get done
-> Timing: When it will be done
-> Tolerance: How much risk you can handle
2. Call Your Shot

You should vary your level of oversight based on:
-> The criticality of the process
-> You confidence in the person to execute

Tell them how you'll monitor, or if you don't:
-> Whatever you do is a surprise
-> They'll think you're dumping useless work
Read 8 tweets
Jun 27
The telltale signs you're tolerating a toxic culture: Image
Toxic culture isn't always loud and aggressive.

Sometimes it's quiet and passive: • Avoiding hard conversations • Letting mediocrity slide • Never challenging ideas • Accepting "that's just how it is"

Silent toxicity kills performance just as fast as the loud kind.
The most expensive mistake leaders make?

Thinking a toxic culture will fix itself if they just ignore it long enough.

Spoiler alert: It doesn't get better. It gets worse. And it spreads.

Address it now or your best people will be the first to go.
Read 5 tweets
Jun 26
Your biggest leadership challenge isn't motivating your team. It's keeping them focused.

Every request you accept is a distraction you create.

Here are 5 ways to say No with finesse:
SAYING NO TO YOUR BOSS

• Build a capacity model that ties outcomes to headcount
• Show how new requests impact core results with data
• Use their agreed framework to make the decision for you

Script: "Based on our model, this means X drops by Y%. Worth it?"
SAYING NO TO YOUR TEAM

• Redirect their energy toward solutions, not complaints
• Make them think strategically about trade-offs
• Turn No into a learning opportunity

Script: "What would you stop doing? How does this hit our Q4 goals?"
Read 10 tweets
Jun 23
Brian Armstrong's letter to a Product Manager is actually the perfect blueprint for any people manager.

Why? Your team IS your product.

Let's apply his 5 principles to leading people: Image
1. UNDERSTAND YOUR TEAM DEEPLY

• Regular 1:1s to understand motivations and pain points
• Map strengths, growth areas, and working preferences
• Listen to what energizes vs. drains each person
• Empathize with career goals and challenges
2. BE METRICS DRIVEN

• Use data to identify team performance patterns
• Make decisions based on evidence, not assumptions
• Measure output quality, collaboration, growth velocity
• Track engagement, development progress, retention risk
Read 8 tweets

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