17 leadership lessons I learned the hard way:

1. Leadership isn't getting your way.
Leadership is showing others the way. 2. Vulnerability is the surest sign of confidence.

3. No problem has ever been solved with worry.

4. Leadership is an identity, not a side hustle.

5. When in doubt, lead with the truth.

6. Indecision makes acute pain chronic.

If you want your team to trust you, copy this: Is it possible to restore broken trust? Yes!

- Acknowledge your mistake proactively
- Take full responsibility (no excuses)
- Make amends where possible
- Commit to specific behavior changes
- Ask for the chance to earn it back

You can't erase mistakes.
You can earn back trust.

I've trained 1200+ managers on delegation.

The top performers all follow the same 5-step oversight system that drives results without micromanaging their teams.

Here's exactly how they do it: 1. Create Clarity

Establish 5 parameters upfront:

• Outcome: What success looks like
• Quality: What signals done
• Method: Agree on how the work gets done
• Timeline: Set clear milestones and deadlines
• Risk: The boundaries for autonomy

Every company is just an algorithm.

Ignore it and everything suffers: Your team, your sanity and your career.

Embrace it and you make success inevitable.

Here's how: Most leaders make a critical mistake:

They optimize for their own metrics instead of amplifying the company's priorities.

Marketing: impressions >> revenue.
HR: time-to-hire >> quality talent.
IT: uptime >> innovation.

You can fix it fast:

I've got bad news you're not going to want to hear:

Adding more people won't solve your problem.

Chances are, it'll make things worse.

Here's what to do instead: Most teams fall into this pattern:

❌ Problem →
❌ Add People →
❌ More Complexity →
❌ Bigger Problems →
❌ Add Even More People

In their effort to add capacity,
They drown themselves in complexity.

When people make this distinction, they're just justifying bad management.

No one wants to be managed. They want to be led.

Let's break down each of traits below: Trait #1: Ownership vs. Instruction

Managers wait for instruction.
Leaders take radical ownership.

Stop asking "What should I do?" Start proposing "Here's what I recommend and why."

Your manager isn't the problem. Your approach is.

Most people want their boss to manage them well. High performers flip the script and manage up strategically.

Here's how to transform your relationship with your manager and accelerate your career: Managing up isn't about sucking up or playing politics.

It's about creating conditions where both you and your manager succeed.

When you make their job easier, they make your career better.

Good managers react quickly.

Great leaders prepare in advance.

8 essential leadership skills to learn now: Establish Clear Employee Expectations

Key Lessons:
- Author together for ownership
- Align on How, not just What
- Amplify w/ clear feedback

Bonus: Free Expectations Template

mgmt.beehiiv.com/p/setting-clea…

Great teams don't only do basics better.
They embrace principles most ignore.

The 8 Habits of High-Performing Teams: 1. Contagious Improvement

They fix small cracks early.
Before they grow into chasms.
Before they develop into catastrophes.

Excellence spreads.
Or excellence leaves.

It's allergic to deferred maintenance.

Everyone was working hard, but we were always behind.

My new company was a meeting-heavy culture. The last thing we needed was another one.

What we needed was focus, improvement, and mutual accountability.

That's when I asked my team to try this two-minute daily habit: Called Shots

The process is simple:

• Commit to the 3-5 things you'll complete that day
• Reflect on what you did or didn't accomplish at the end

And we made it all public.

Your boss is a coward and it's killing your career.

Here's the honest feedback you need to hear: You are not going to get paid the maximum you're worth.

You are going to get paid the minimum you'll accept.

77% of employees say leadership is lacking.
But only 5% of companies agree.

And that's your opportunity 🧵 There's a leadership crisis brewing.

10,000 boomers retire everyday.
5% of companies invest in future leaders.

That's a problem that's only getting worse.
And that crisis is your opportunity

Answer these questions,
To stack your team with talent:

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 2. Success Comes Slowly, Then All At Once
↳ Great teams look like overnight successes
↳ But they're usually many thankless years in the making

Stop trying to motivate your team.

Fix your Energy Leak instead: 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.

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)🧵 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.

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

The telltale signs you're tolerating a toxic culture: 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.

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?"

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: 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

Most people think they're intuitive and easy to work with.

They're wrong.

Here's how my Personal User Manual fixes it: I've worked with thousands of leaders. The ones who grow fastest share one trait:

They're ruthlessly intentional about how they operate.

- Clear principles
- Known preferences
- Deliberate development

Their clarity creates speed.

As a new manager, my biggest regret is how I handled underperforming employees.

I gave them the benefit of the doubt for too long and my team suffered as a result.

Here are 3 tests I now use to act more decisively: 1. The Keeper Test.

If this employee told me they were leaving to take a role at another company, would I do everything I could to stop them?

If my answer is No, that's strike one.