The stories we tell ourselves about ourselves end up coming true
The stories we tell about ourselves end up coming true. “I don’t have enough experience.” “I’m not the right person to lead this team.” “There is no way we will recover from this.” “Something is wrong with me.” Ryan Holiday’s book The Obstacle is the Way provides a framework all leaders should understand as they…
Read MoreGetting defensive is a leadership trap
“It’s you, Jacob. You are the problem. You used to be so positive. Now all we hear about is what we are doing wrong.” These words hurt my soul. It was not the feedback I wanted to hear, but it was what I needed to hear. I was a new manager fueled by ambition. My…
Read More“Quiet Quitting” is nothing new
We all probably had the same reaction when we found our quiet quitting wasn’t actually quitting at all. It’s employees refusing to do more than what is on their job description. I call it a disengaged workforce. I’m not advocating for employers to take advantage of their team, but it is a founder’s job to…
Read MoreHow to avoid the Micromanager Trap
It is challenging for high-achieving founders to avoid becoming micromanagers. Let’s look at the road map, You start a business from nothing. You sacrifice your time. You invest all of your money and energy to grow your business to the point where you need to hire help. Along the way, you find processes that work…
Read MoreWhat bad habits did your old boss teach you?
I’ve been looking forward to diving a bit into this Tweet by my friend Colin. A trap many founders and leaders struggle with is trying to lead the same way they were led. There is value in learning from others, but it can also lead to picking up bad habits. Here is an example: Early…
Read MoreWhat to do when your team isn’t performing
As I started building a career in leadership, I loved working with people who I knew were underestimated. I earned a reputation for helping turn around low performing teams–170% YoY Sales, 40% increase in NPS scores, blah blah blah. I observed underperforming teams always had three things in common: They overcomplicated their jobs They didn’t…
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